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Bertelsen and Stewart ^
Poetry: Plath became feminist icon
■ Continued from Page 5
standing with critics worse. He
was supposedly giving Plath to
the world, but her poetry was
heavily edited, not to mention the
fact that Plath’s "crazy-suicidal”
identity had solidified under his
editing guise.
“The whole 'giving Plath to the
world’ seemed to be manipulated
and deceptive. He took out nearly a
dozen poems and added a dozen,”
Ford said. "Her book, she always
said, began with the word 'love'
and ended with the word ‘spring,’
and it was a narrative of the dog
matic soul ending with the resur
rection, the promise of spring.
“He made a new narrative ...
Miss America and a Nobel Prize
winning poet at the same time.”
Because many feminist readers
and critics have tried to make her
into an icon, they blame Hughes for
her death. However, they should be
more concerned with his interest in
cashing in on his dead wife’s name.
Although he claims “Birthday
Letters” is an outpouring of years of
torment, he is still refuses to grant
interviews. Yet friends, editors and
critics are applauding the book for
its emotional vulnerability and
sense of impending disaster. There
is definitely an aspect of disaster:
Hughes’ editing.
No matter what Hughes plans to
do in the future, the
fact remains that he altered Plath’s
poetic art and reputation forever.
And contrary to Hughes’ support
ers, this book in no way “unmasks”
their relationship.
Major Jackson, a graduate student
in English, sees the book as damage
control. “England has not produced
a significant poet since [W.H.] Au
den, save for [Philip] Larkin,” he
said. “So the publication of‘Letters’
is a means of inserting a mediocre
English poet into the consciousness
of the world of poetry.”
Ford is also skeptical about his
motivations. “If we’re supposed to
believe that this is not self-interest,
that this is not the ’old’ Hughes
managing everything, there ought
so that the book he published
doesn’t bear enough relation to
Plath’s 'Ariel' to warrant our
attention anymore except as
an oddity and aberration of
editing.”
to be a book about his second wife
who killed herself and
their daughter m the
same manner.” In an
eerie imitation of Plath,
his second wife, Assia,
Hughes control over Hath s
literary work has caused femi
nist scholars to portray her as
an icon. Plath’s role is compli
cated: Her work and editing
are a prime example of how
women have been sup
pressed in art and writing; i
however, she doesn’t fit the
mold of the “traditional”
feminist icon. Her ambi- L
tions as a writer and as a I
■ and their daughter, Shu
■ ra, died after putting
■ their heads together in
W the oven.
/ “I refuse to be drawn
/ into reading ['Birthday
/ Letters’] as a kind of psy
chic healing for Hughes or
as a recognition that we
should forgive him,” Ford
said.
So how are readers sup
wne conmctea.
"We see in her strug
gles a kind of 1950s femi
ninity come up against
the brick wall of how
can a woman be a ge
nius and a real woman,
too,” Ford said. “Plath
is sort of the culmina
tion of that vein of
women’s writing
where it seems that
these are mutually ex
clusive pursuits ... she
simply wanted to be
COUH'^SYPHoro
posed to be attected by this
book? Is there really going to
be a transformation in the
minds of “the consumers of
literature and poetry, those
who have a true interest in the
art and not the sensational de
tails,” Jackson asked.
Ford sums it up best: “In the
abstract you might think he’s
kind of a creep for abandoning
her ... none of that is very inter
esting finally. What is interesting
— what’s unfoigivable — is what
he did with the literary remains.”
Got Involved
in University Affairs
Join
The International Student Advisory Committee:
• Discusses issues concerning the University’s
international community
• Helps build bridges among international
students, faculty and administrators
Applications are now available at:
• the Office of International Education & Exchange (330 Oregon Hall) &
• International Student Association Office, located in (room 206, EMU)
Extended Application Due Date:
Wednesday, February 18, 1998
4:30 pm
OIEE Office
For questions, please see Ginny Stark in OIEE or e-mail:
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