Sylvia Plath Quiz

She was born in Boston in the fall of 1932. Her father studied bugs and botany at Boston University.

Aurelia was a student at Boston University when she became involved with one of her professors, named Otto. Sylvia was born 10 months after they were married.

She published just one titled, "The Colossus and Other Poems," along with one novel, "The Bell Jar."

Ted, it turns out, is not the kind of guy that Sylvia probably needed in her life. Their marriage ultimately caused her great anguish.

Sylvia was extremely depressed for much of her life. She survived more than one suicide attempt.

She was 8 years old when complications from diabetes killed him. His untimely death (and his strict discipline) left lasting marks on his daughter's psyche.

Sylvia was a fantastic student who graduated with honors in spite of her emotional difficulties.

Sylvia was outgoing and expressive. She wore fashionable clothes and even posed in a swimsuit for the university newspaper.

"Christian Science Monitor" published one of her poems in 1950, when she was just 18 years old.

She often felt as if she was trapped under a bell jar, unable to catch her breath.

She felt very fortunate at first to became a guest editor for "Mademoiselle," but in some ways the experience was more limiting than enlightening.

She used the name Victoria Lucas. The critics who bothered to read the book were less than impressed.

Both of them were keenly interested in the supernatural. They played with Ouija boards and delved into astrology.

They attempted to help her using electroshock therapy. Unfortunately for Sylvia, her depression didn't permanently lift.

Sylvia was 21 in 1953 when she gulped some of her mother's sleeping pills in an attempt to end her life.

Three days passed before she was found. She recalled the blackout experience as being pleasant, a temporary escape from the dark depression.

For half a year, doctors watched over her progress in hopes of preventing a relapse into suicidal behavior.

She applied for Harvard's writing program but was deemed unsuitable. This came at a very low time in Sylvia's life.

"Ariel" is her best-known collection, and it was published two years after she died. Many of the poems were written during the last couple of months of her life.

When she and her husband moved to Boston, Sylvia decided to take a receptionist job … in the psychiatric unit of the hospital.

She had two kids, Frieda and Nicholas. She also had at least one miscarriage, which deeply affected her.

Ted began working with bees, which is why the little bugs began appearing in Sylvia's poems.

She was involved in a car accident that she later admitted was a thinly veiled suicide attempt.

In the end, Plath couldn’t fight off the dark demons of depression. She killed herself in 1963.

Her novel was published in the UK … and one month later Sylvia was dead.

He married three times, and two of his wives killed themselves. The last wife (who didn't commit suicide) was two decades younger than him.

Sylvia killed herself by turning on the gas oven and then sticking her head inside. She left a note instructing a neighbor to call the doctor.

Like so many other women, Assia was drawn by Ted's charisma. After they married, she killed herself, along with the couple's four-year-old daughter. She killed herself the same way as Sylvia … by sealing the house and leaving the gas stove turned on.

She won the prestigious prize in 1982, nearly 20 years after her death. She was the first poet to be awarded the prize posthumously.

She won the prize for "The Collected Poems," which was published in 1981. This collection features the advanced, mature poetry that Plath wrote during the final years of her life.