Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes

The Bell Jar

This flow follows the major changes in Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes’s partnership as recorded in the biographical note, from marriage and family life to separation.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Meeting in Cambridge A Meeting in Cambridge from "The Bell Jar". Two Poets Meet A new partnership Sylvia meets the British poet Ted Hughes while studying in England.

A Meeting in Cambridge from "The Bell Jar". Two Poets Meet A new partnership Sylvia meets the British poet Ted Hughes while studying in England.

Two Poets Meet A new partnership Sylvia meets the British poet Ted Hughes while studying in England. Their meeting begins a relationship between two writers with strong creative ambitions. A decisive commitment They marry in London on June 16, 1956, Bloomsday. Sylvia’s academic fellowship and poetic work continue within the new marriage.

Return to America Return to America from "The Bell Jar". A Shared Academic Life A move together Sylvia and Ted move to the United States, where Sylvia teaches at Smith College.

Return to America from "The Bell Jar". A Shared Academic Life A move together Sylvia and Ted move to the United States, where Sylvia teaches at Smith College.

A Shared Academic Life A move together Sylvia and Ted move to the United States, where Sylvia teaches at Smith College. Her colleagues regard her as an unusually fine instructor. Creative pressures Teaching and marriage coexist with Sylvia’s developing writing plans. The move gives her professional recognition but does not remove uncertainty about the work she wants to pursue.

A Year in Boston A Year in Boston from "The Bell Jar". Choosing Uncertainty Leaving teaching The couple live in a small apartment at Beacon Hill, and Sylvia gives up teaching in hope of making more time to write.

A Year in Boston from "The Bell Jar". Choosing Uncertainty Leaving teaching The couple live in a small apartment at Beacon Hill, and Sylvia gives up teaching in hope of making more time to write.

Choosing Uncertainty Leaving teaching The couple live in a small apartment at Beacon Hill, and Sylvia gives up teaching in hope of making more time to write. Her poems face repeated rejection. Strain around work The decision exchanges a secure academic path for a less certain life. Sylvia’s frustration with unpublished writing exposes the personal stakes of that choice.

Family and Writing Family and Writing from "The Bell Jar". Children and Ambition A growing family Sylvia and Ted return to England, and their daughter Freda is born in 1960. Their son Nicholas arrives in January 1962.

Family and Writing from "The Bell Jar". Children and Ambition A growing family Sylvia and Ted return to England, and their daughter Freda is born in 1960. Their son Nicholas arrives in January 1962.

Children and Ambition A growing family Sylvia and Ted return to England, and their daughter Freda is born in 1960. Their son Nicholas arrives in January 1962. Divided days Sylvia manages childcare, housework, and writing while completing The Bell Jar. The biography records both the demands of family life and her determined effort to preserve time for art.

The Separation The Separation from "The Bell Jar". A Marriage Under Pressure A difficult summer Repeated illness and strain make another winter in Devon seem impossible.

The Separation from "The Bell Jar". A Marriage Under Pressure A difficult summer Repeated illness and strain make another winter in Devon seem impossible.

A Marriage Under Pressure A difficult summer Repeated illness and strain make another winter in Devon seem impossible. Sylvia and Ted decide to separate for a while. A new London plan Sylvia moves with the children to London, finds a flat, and continues to write. The separation changes their domestic arrangement at a moment when her poetry and plans appear newly energized.

1956, while Sylvia is at Newnham College

spring 1957

1958–1959, at Beacon Hill

December 1959 to January 1962

after the summer of 1962