What time is Life Inside The Bell Jar on BBC Two, when was Sylvia Plath’s book published and what is the doc about?
Sylvia Plath was an extremely talented and gifted writer who produced numerous short stories and poems, before publishing her one and only novel, The Bell Jar
BOSTON-born writer and poet Sylvia Plath was best known for her semi-autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar.
Now, the BBC are launching a new documentary based on her tragic life. Here's everything you need to know...
When is Life Inside The Bell Jar on BBC Two?
Sylvia Plath — Life Inside The Bell Jar airs tonight (Saturday, August 11) at 9pm on BBC One.
It will be narrated by Maggie Gyllenhaal and Ina Marie Smith, combining Plath's own words with interviews from her friends and family.
The programme airs at the same time as Casualty on BBC One, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies on ITV and Eye in the Sky on Channel 4.
When was Sylvia Plath's novel published?
Published in 1963, The Bell Jar was the only novel written by Plath before she ended her life in 1963, aged 30.
The book is semi-autobiographical and follows the life of a young woman named Esther Greenwood, who starts a summer internship at a New York magazine.
While Esther is expected to be stimulated and inspired by the big city, she finds the experience disorienting and there is a clear sense of ennui throughout her time there.
Adding some historical context, Esther muses over the execution of the Rosenbergs, coming back to it time and again.
Returning home to Massachusetts after the summer, she's equally disillusioned and lethargic as she learns she's not made it onto a prestigious writing course.
Instead, she attempts to write a book at home and sets up an office in her mother's garden.
Esther becomes increasingly depressed and is plagued with insomnia, which prompts her mother to recommend - or force her to see- a psychiatrist.
The psychiatrist, Dr Gordon, then prescribes her electrotherapy.
Her mental state gradually destabilises after this, and Esther makes several suicide attempts.
She then spends time in an asylum and is issued more shock therapy by her new, female psychiatrist, Dr Nolan.
During her psychotherapy sessions, Esther opens up to Dr Nolan about her fears of motherhood and falling pregnant.
Over time, Esther's mental state seems to stabilise somewhat, and the novel ends with some hope for Esther.
What is the new documentary about?
While her protagonist Esther survived and seemed to be improving, Plath's mental health worsened.
On February 11, 1963, she killed herself, dying of carbon monoxide poisoning in her Primrose Hill property.
Beforehand, she had sealed the doorways between the kitchen and the room where her children were sleeping.
The documentary includes a series of interviews with Plath's friends and families, including her and Ted Hughes' daughter, Freida.