Date of Award
Spring 5-2016
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Program
English
Department
English
Major Professor
Hazlett, John
Second Advisor
Boyd Rioux, Anne
Third Advisor
White, Leslie
Abstract
Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath are two well-known women writers of the twentieth century who committed suicide. The narratives created by their deaths have in some instances become as important as the canonical work they produced. In an effort to understand their motivations and struggles, critics and the public alike have sometimes reduced these women to victims of the patriarchy, mental illness, or even themselves.
Beginning with my own discovery of this issue in the legacies of Plath and Woolf combined with my personal dealings with suicide in my family, I recount how I lost these two women as exemplary figures because of their choice to commit suicide. I then take a look at what others have said about their deaths and how it has affected their legacies as writers. Finally, I take a look at Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway and Plath’s The Bell Jar for an alternate perspective on suicide. Through this journey, I recount how I have been able to regain my respect for these two talented women by considering multiple viewpoints and acknowledging the nuance inherent in any account.
Recommended Citation
Dunn, Jessica, "Unearthing Real Women: Reclaiming Sylvia Plath and Virginia Woolf from Their Suicide Narratives" (2016). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 2139.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/2139
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.