Sylvia

Sylvia Plath is born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1932. The same year she faces the sudden death of her father, an event that casts a shadow over her childhood and fuels her early storytelling.

Plath demonstrates precocious talent as a writer, publishing her first poem at the age of eight. This early achievement foreshadows a lifelong commitment to poetry.

In 1950, she begins studying at Smith College on a literary scholarship. The demanding academic life coincides with bouts of extreme depression that haunt her during this period.

Following her junior year at Smith, Plath attempts suicide for the first time. She survives, but the act signals the depth of her ongoing struggle.

In 1955, she is awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study in England at the University of Cambridge. This opportunity shifts the course of her life toward international study and writing.

As a student at Cambridge, she rides a red bicycle and wears an academic gown. At a party celebrating the magazine St. Botolph's, she meets Ted Hughes, and the two soon fall in love.

Plath and Hughes marry in 1956. They relocate to Massachusetts to be with her mother, Aurelia, and begin their life together.

The couple returns to England, living first in London and then in Devon. Sylvia struggles to carve out her own writing career while living in Hughes's shadow as he achieves fame and success.

After David and Assia Wevill rent their London flat, Sylvia accuses Ted of infidelity. She kicks him out, and the couple's relationship fractures further.

After the separation, Plath begins writing the poems that would be published posthumously in Ariel, signaling a shift toward her most celebrated work.

Sylvia moves back to London with her two children, continuing to pursue writing amid personal turmoil. She strives to establish her voice in a male-dominated literary world.

At Christmas, Ted Hughes visits and they make love again, but he tells her he cannot leave Assia, who is pregnant. The film portrays the strain of competing loyalties in their marriage.

She prepares for suicide by sealing off the children's room from the gas oven. A nurse arrives to take the children away, and Ted discovers Plath's manuscript on the desk, marking a grim turning point.

Plath's poetry collection Ariel is published posthumously, securing her place as a beloved poet. The closing title notes that Ted Hughes wrote Birthday Letters in 1998, reflecting on their life together.