Sylvia Plath may be one of the most extraordinary and idolized modern poets of the twentieth century. Sylvia Plath had an emotional life and difficult past with the death of her father, insecurities due to self-doubt, a tragic breakup with her husband and severe depression, which led to her suicide in 1963. These tragic events in Plath's life had a far-reaching impact on her career as a poet and writer, inspiring her to create her melancholy and infamous masterpieces. Born on October 27, 1932 in Boston, Massachusetts, Sylvia Plath was the daughter of Otto and Aurelia Plath. Growing up during the Great Depression, the family lived under Mr. Plath's care until he became ill with diabetes, dying shortly after Sylvia's eighth birthday. Despite her father's death, Plath's childhood appears to have been relatively simple (Austin). It is said that "Sylvia conformed to the concept of the model child, excelling in school and in whatever intellectual pursuits interested her, being docile and responsive to the wishes of her family, and constantly aiming for honors and success in the American tradition of the 1950s." . "(Wang). However, beneath the surface of her apparent perfection were some serious and troublesome problems, caused by the death of her father. To release some of the stress of the recent death in the Plaths' lives, Aurelia moved the family to Wellesley, Massachusetts. Aurelia enrolls Sylvia in a new school, feeling that studying and being with children Sylvia's age would comfort her (Alexander 21). In contrast, it is said that “Sylvia was still confused and angry about the death of her father... Her strong and conflicting emotions of love, hate, anger and grief over the loss of her father would affect Sylvia for the rest of her life" (A...... middle of paper... ... A Biography of Sylvia Plath. New York, NY, USA: Viking, 1991. Print.Plath, Sylvia, and Karen V. Kukil. Austin, David Craig. "Sylvia Plath." Ed. Elaine Showalter, Lea Baechler and A. Walton Litz Sons, 1991. Scribner Writers Series. Web. April 25, 2014. Wanger-Martin, Linda "Plath, Sylvia (1932-1963)." Benet's Encyclopedia of American Literature Vol. 1. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. 850. Web Literary Resource Center April 22, 2014. Middlebrook, Her Husband: Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath: A Marriage. Print.Freedman, William (1993): "Plath's Monster in the 'Mirror'." Articles on language and literature, 108.5: 152-69.