Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath s Separation Ultimately Led To Her Demise
In “A Pink Wool Knitted Dress,” Ted Hughes writes a detailed account of his wedding day, not focusing on his happiness, but more on his apprehension to wed Sylvia Plath. On their day of matrimony, when they are to be eternally bound together, one would think that the couple would be overjoyed, but this is only half true, representing Plath’s feelings, and not Hughes’s. ... While Hughes focuses on his feelings throughout the poem, he gives the audience Plath’s feelings of their wedding and marriage as well. Through this kind of multiple characterization Hughes gives the reader a true account of their marriage, why it failed, and ultimately why it was the cause of her death. When they met, Sylvia Plath could not have been better suited for him. ... Her mother, Aurelia was attending Boston University when she met Otto Plath, who was teaching German there. ... After they wed, Aurelia dropped out of school to focus on raising her daughter, Sylvia. ... This caused severe emotional trauma that Plath would never recover from. Despite this tragic situation Aurelia did a pretty good job; pushing Sylvia toward education. Then in 1955 Sylvia graduated from Smith College, and went on to Study at Cambridge as a Fulbright Scholar. This is where she met Ted Hughes. Hughes was captivated by her beauty and talent. ... Hughes states, “You were a new world. ... Hughes goes on to say that the only furnishings he had on his wedding day that was not “three years inured” was his umbrella (ln. ... In this case it was Sylvia. When he says he inured, he is referring to his time spent with Sylvia showing how he was not in love with her. Hughes was an introverted person, only focusing on himself, but not realizing this. Throughout “A Pink Wool Knitted Dress” he often refers to how he is feeling and gives himself a sense of importance over Sylvia. He is often caught in this poem describing how good a groom he was, but still not living up to Otto’s expectations. It was a constant battle between the men of the Plath household. ... Hughes tries to justify himself by being good enough for Otto’s daughter by saying how he was a Royal Air Force veteran, and how he was a “post war utility son in law” (ln. ... stealing this daughter’s pedigree dreams from under her watch towered future” (ln. ... Sylvia loved her father and even in death she tried to please him. In Birthday letters Ted Hughes puts the blame of Sylvia’s death on trying to be with her father. He “insists, repetitively that Plath died to rejoin her father” (Churchwell 124). His affair triggered Sylvia’s breakdown. Leaving her gave Sylvia severe abandonment issues, leaving her to face the bitter harshness of reality by herself. ... He did not even tell his own family of their marriage, almost embarrassed of Sylvia. ... He even confessed to “destroying one of Sylvia Plath’s ledgers” (Bundtzen 434). ... “Hughes was often portrayed as a dark pessimist” (Robinson 9). ... At one point in the poem Hughes refers to himself as St George, who was a martyr for the Church of England. ... This pessimistic mentality might have led to the deterioration of their marriage. Negative thoughts ate away at their positive relationship, being perpetuated by Sylvia’s clinical depression.