Part One: Chapter III Summary and Analysis

The first "official" bad review of Bitter Fame came from A. Alvarez in the New York Review of Books. Like Merwin's account, Alvarez's memories of Sylvia Plath became more autobiographical than biographical. When speaking of her suicide, the reader learned of his own attempts. Alvarez claimed the Plath expected to be rescued and did not intend to end her life. Alvarez knew Sylvia and Ted as a couple. He was initially much more impressed with Ted—thinking of Sylvia as a dowdy little housewife. He thought that Ted was one of the best young poets of the time. He reviewed Sylvia's collection, The Colossus, and gave her props for technique, but felt there was an underlying flaw in her poems stemming from emotions that were being withheld. A year later, when he saw them...