2. Plath’s legacy lives on – and original manuscripts and items from her life are highly sought-after by fans
Today, Sylvia Plath is remembered as one of America’s great writers. Above all, she is seen as a pioneer of ‘confessional poetry’. She is also seen by many as a feminist icon. In 2018, Plath’s daughter Freida auctioned a number of items from her mother’s life. These included a tartan skirt from her undergraduate years at Smith College, an old typewriter she used throughout her 20s, and a draft copy of ‘The Bell Jar’, which sold for $125,000. Tragically, Plath’s son Nicholas Hughes, also a poet, committed suicide in 2009, aged 47.
