Kara,
This is a really great idea. I've read a lot of plath's work, so for me it's very interesting to read and think about how the songs you've chosen apply to her, her life, and her contributions to modern literature. Your playlist made me think a lot about how Sylvia Plath is seen; that is, most of the time her work is read in the context of her suicide. People read her work knowing that she committed suicide, and that often colors how they read her work. Your playlist made me consider how people would read her work if they didn't have that context, if they knew nothing about her life. Of course, this led me to think about the importance and relevance of context, and about exactly how important it is to know the context of a writer's life when you're trying to deal with/analyze his or her work. I mean, if you didn't know that Nathaniel Hawthorne was the grandson of a Puritan minister or that Faulkner was a southerner, you'd be missing some essential elements of their work. But at the same time, I don't think you can judge something solely based on the context of the author's lfe; although Langston Hughes wrote within the Harlem Renaissance, you can't judge his work based only on that. His work also has to be judged on literary merit, apart from its place in American history. The question is, I suppose, is where is the line? How important is it that a reader know the author's background, especially when he/she begins to read one of that author's major works? Is it essential, simply helpful, or even detrimental? By detrimental, I mean to ask if it is possible that knowing the context would hinder the reader's analysis of said work by limiting it in some way.

At this point, I'm rambling. But I wanted to let you know that your playlist caused a lot of good thought on my part--thanks!

login to post comments

OK. THIS TIME FOR REAL. This is my playlist. It is the playlist suicide note of Sylvia Plath as I imagine it would turn out. As Far as these songs seeming appropriate for this list, I would like to point out some particulary good lyrics for each...

**1.Evaporated- Ben Folds (thinking of her relationship with her dad)
woke up way too late
feeling hungover and old
and the sun was shining bright
and I walked barefoot down the road
started thinking about my old man
it seems that all men
want to get into a car and go anywhere

**2.You Oughtta Know- Alanis Morisette (Thinking of Ted Hughes relationship with Assia Wevill)
Does she speak eloquently
And would she have your baby
I'm sure she'd make a really excellent mother
Cause the love that you gave that we made wasn't able
To make it enough for you to be open wide, no
And every time you speak her name
Does she know how you told me you'd hold me
Until you died, till you died
But you're still alive

**3.Time Is Running Out- Muse
Now that you know I'm trapped sense of elation
You'd never dream of
Breaking this fixation
You will squeeze the life out of me

**4.Best I’ll Ever Be- Sister Hazel (Reflecting on time at Oxford together)
So I wait and I wait
And I run old scenes through my tired head
Of the days we laid by the school and said forever
Was that the best I'll ever be

**5.Don’t Cry- Guns N Roses (Just to loved ones in general)
And please remember that I never lied
And please remember
how I felt inside now honey
You gotta make it your own way
But you'll be alright now sugar
You'll feel better tomorrow
Come the morning light now baby

**6.Hole In My Soul – Aerosmith (pain of loss in general)
Is it over
Yeah it's over
And I'm blowin' out the flame
Take a walk outside your mind
Tell me how it feels to be
The one who turns the knife inside of me

**7.Left Outside Alone – Anastacia (What she might want to say to Ted)
And I wonder if you know
How it really feels
To be left outside alone
When it's cold out here
Well maybe you should know
Just how it feels
To be left outside alone

**8.One Last Cry – Brian McKnight
One last cry
Before I leave it all behind
I've gotta put you out of my mind this time
Stop living a lie
I guess I'm down to one last cry

**9.Trouble – Coldplay (little bubble = bell jar)
Oh no, I see
A spiderweb and it's me in the middle
So I twist and turn
But here am I in my little bubble
Singing and I never meant to cause you trouble
And I never meant to do you wrong
Ah, well if I ever caused you trouble
Oh no, I never meant to do you harm

**10.Down So Long – Jewel (She also says "My pocketbook and my heart both just got stolen" which alludes to Plath's poverty in her new london home with the kids)
But I've been down so long
Ooh, it can't be longer still
I've been down so long
that the end must be drawing near

**11.Faint – Linkin Park
I can't feel the way I did before
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored
Time won't heal this damage anymore
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored

**12.In Too Deep – Phil Collins
I know you're going, but I can't believe
it's the way that you're leaving
It's like we never knew each other at all, it may be my fault
I gave you too many reasons, being alone, when I didn't want to
I thought you'd always be there, I almost believed you
All this time, I still remember everything you said
There's so much you promised, how could I ever forget

**13.I Think God Can Explain – Splender
The world seems bigger Than both of us
Yet it seems so small when I begin to cry

login to post comments