Citation

Leenaars AA, Wenckstern S. Death Stud. 1998; 22(7): 615-635.

Affiliation

University of Leiden, The Netherlands.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/074811898201326

PMID

10342968

Abstract

Personal documents have a significant place in psychological research. Suicide notes, diaries, novels, poems, and so on allow us to better understand the suicidal mind. The works of Sylvia Plath--a poet who killed herself at age 30--are prime examples for such protocol study. This article examines the last 6 months of Plath's poetry, revealing a suicidal malaise. Associating the results to the lives of Cesare Pavese and the case study of Natalie, a Terman-Shneidman subject of the intellectually gifted, the study shows a unit thema that facilitates the process of death. The poems reveal such themes as unbearable pain, loss, and abandonment that likely contributed significantly to death becoming the only solution.

Language: en