"The first version is a short, lyrical essay constructed on a single Blakean theme—the theme of a 'real self' that finally emerged from among Plath's warring 'false selves' and found triumphant expression in the Ariel Poems, which were written in the last half year of her life and are the whole reason for her poetical reputation."
Part One, Chap. 1, p. 3

"The branch of the law that putatively protects our good name against libel and slander withdraws from us indifferently. The dead cannot be libeled or slandered. They are without legal recourse."
Part One, Chap. 1, p. 8

"We lied to our parents and we lied to each other and we lied to ourselves, so addicted to deception had we become. We were an uneasy, shifty-eye generation."
Part One, Chap. 2, p. 15

"But the most frightening thing she said was, 'When you give someone your whole heart and he doesn't...