Part Three: Chapters I and II Summary and Analysis

In chapter one, Clarissa first knew Sylvia when she was teaching at Smith in 1957-58. Even though Sylvia had less than kind things to say about Clarissa, and in particular about her husband, Paul, Clarissa maintained the non-biased professional in writing about Sylvia. Sylvia resigned from Smith when she and Ted decided to make a living on their writing. Sylvia saw a therapist who felt that her relationship with her mother was central to her problems. Ted was seen as a father figure. Sylvia wrote in her journal that the fight at the end of the school year had caused her to lose faith in him. She asked why the wife was the last to see the husband's "ulcer." At school, Sylvia had seen Ted walking with a young girl. Was...