WRITING REMAINS, IT GOES ALONE IN THE WORLD

The worst enemy of creativity is lack of self-confidence

Meeting Benches is a fascinating concept that celebrates the importance of benches as places of meeting and reflection. Imagine a park or a square where benches become silent witnesses of chance encounters, deep conversations, love stories and moments of reflection. This project is a tribute to these public spaces that, despite being often overlooked, play a fundamental role in people’s daily lives. The Meeting Benches website is a virtual place dedicated to all the expressive possibilities of art. To share the works and experiences of artists, writers and travelers, exploring themes such as freedom and gender equality, the website also offers Sylvia Plath‘s poems: “Writing remains: it goes alone through the world!” The digital images that capture the dark sides of her human psyche, were created by Dastilige Nevante.

Known for her confessional writing style, the Boston-born American poet and novelist had shown a talent for writing from an early age, publishing her first poem at just eight years old. Despite her literary success, Sylvia Plath had struggled with severe depression throughout her life. She married a poet, sharing a tumultuous life and two children with him. Tragically, she committed suicide at the age of 30 and was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize for a collection of poems in 1982. Her most famous works include the poetry collection “Ariel“, as well as “The Bell Jar“, a semi-autobiographical novel she published under the pen name Victoria Lucas. Her writing often delved into themes of mental illness, personal trauma, and the struggles of being a woman in the mid-20th century. Her writing was deeply influenced by personal experiences and mental health. “On existence: I took a deep breath and listened to the old boast of my heart. I am, I am, I am.”

Sylvia Plath‘s struggles with depression and experiences with psychiatric treatment shaped her work in a remarkable way. Her poetry, therefore, could not help but reflect her intense emotional states and battles with mental illness. Her tumultuous relationship with her husband, as well as her complex feelings towards her father, are also recurring themes in her work; poems such as “Daddy” and “Lady Lazarus” explore these intensely personal dynamics. In terms of gender roles and social expectations, her writing often addressed the pressures and limitations placed on women in the mid-20th century. Her novel “The Bell Jar,” therefore, was a moving exploration of a young woman’s struggle with social expectations. Plath was influenced by other writers and poets, including Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, as well as Robert Lowell and Anne Sexton. These elements combined to create his own distinctive voice characterized by raw emotional intensity and vivid imagery. “On expectations: If you expect nothing from someone, you are never disappointed.”

Celebrated for its vivid and poetic language, as well as its unflinching look at the challenges of mental illness and the constraints of gender roles in mid-20th-century America, Sylvia Plath’s only novel, “The Bell Jar,” is semi-autobiographical and draws heavily on her own experiences. The story follows Esther Greenwood, a young woman who wins a summer internship at a prominent New York City magazine. Despite the exciting opportunity, Esther feels increasingly detached and disillusioned with her life. The novel explores her descent into mental illness, detailing her struggles with depression and her experiences with psychiatric treatment. As you read, you’ll discover that key themes in this novel include identity and self-discovery, mental health, and gender roles. “On happiness: I felt my lungs swell with the rush of the scenery: air, mountains, trees, people. I thought: This is what it means to be happy.”

Sylvia Plath‘s inspiration for “The Bell Jar” came from several deeply personal experiences and broader social observations. Plath’s personal struggles with depression and her experiences with psychiatric treatment are central to the novel. The protagonist, Esther Greenwood, mirrors Plath’s own descent into mental illness and her journey to recovery. Drawing heavily from Plath’s own life, like Esther, Plath had also won a prestigious internship at a New York City magazine. Plath was influenced by the restrictive gender roles and social expectations of the 1950s. Plath’s “The Bell Jar”, highlighting the conflict between personal ambition and social norms, critiques these pressures. These influences combined to create a powerful and enduring work that continues to resonate with readers today. “On silence: The silence depressed me. It wasn’t the silence of silence. It was my silence.”

“The Bell Jar” is full of poignant and memorable quotes. Here is one that, more than any other, captures the essence of Sylvia Plath‘s introspective and evocative writing style. “On life choices: I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig in the story. From the tip of each branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked at me. One fig was a husband, a happy home and children, another fig was a famous poet, another fig was a brilliant professor, another fig was Ee Gee, the publisher extraordinaire, another fig was Europe, Africa and South America, another fig was Constantine, Socrates, Attila and a bunch of other lovers with strange names and unusual professions, another fig was an Olympic champion in women’s rowing and beyond these figs there were many more figs that I couldn’t quite distinguish. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, hungry, only because I couldn’t decide which of the figs I would choose. I wanted them all, but choosing one meant losing all the others and as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to shrivel. and turn black and, one after the other, they fell to the ground, ground at my feet.”