Part Two: Chapter II Summary and Analysis

On the way to Durham, Malcolm read a recent letter from Anne in which she provided her take on Sylvia and her work. Sylvia had used poetry as a way to stage her own psychodrama. Anne felt that there was enough misery in life that it was inappropriate for Sylvia to use art in such a way and that by so doing she had lost all perspective of her importance in the world. Malcolm was surprised that Anne confessed to having had a problem with alcoholism and could relate to the despair that Sylvia surely felt though for different reasons. There was something that Anne fundamentally disliked about Sylvia. Her extremism and narcissism were things that Anne deplored.

Anne had a rather turbulent life herself, with multiple marriages, and was guilt-ridden at times when she...