Editing Sylvia Plath (section)

===Final depressive episode and death===
Before her death, Plath tried at least twice to take her own life.<ref name="Cooper-2003">{{cite journal |last=Cooper |first=Brian |date=June 2003 |title=Sylvia Plath and the depression continuum |journal=J R Soc Med |volume=96 |issue=6 |pmc=539515 |pmid=12782699 |pages=296–301 |doi=10.1177/014107680309600613}}</ref> On August 24, 1953, she overdosed on sleeping pills;<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-_ROQ1v4l68C&pg=PT205|isbn=9780571266357|title=The Journals of Sylvia Plath|date=February 17, 2011|publisher=Faber & Faber|access-date=October 4, 2021|archive-date=February 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210093521/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Journals_of_Sylvia_Plath/-_ROQ1v4l68C?gbpv=1&pg=PT205&printsec=frontcover|url-status=live}}</ref> then, in June 1962, she drove her car off the side of the road into a river, which she later characterized as a suicide attempt.<ref>''The Dedalus Book of Literary Suicides: Dead Letters'' (2008) Gary Lachman, Dedalus Press, University of Michigan, p. 145</ref>

In January 1963, Plath spoke with [[John Horder]], her general practitioner. She described the current depressive episode she was experiencing; it had been ongoing for six or seven months. While for most of the time she had been able to continue working, her depression had worsened and become severe, "marked by constant agitation, suicidal thoughts and inability to cope with daily life." Plath struggled with insomnia, taking medication at night to induce sleep, and frequently woke up early.<ref name="Cooper-2003"/> She had lost 20 pounds (9&nbsp;kg) in a short time.<ref name="Cooper-2003"/> However, she continued to take care of her physical appearance and did not outwardly speak of feeling guilty or unworthy.<ref name="Cooper-2003"/>
[[File:23 Fitzroy Road, London - Sylvia Plath - W.B. Yeats.jpg|thumb|23 Fitzroy Road, near Primrose Hill, London, where Plath died by [[suicide]]]]
Horder prescribed her an anti-depressant, a [[monoamine oxidase inhibitor]],<ref name="Cooper-2003"/> a few days before her suicide. Knowing she was at risk with two young children, he made strenuous efforts to have her admitted to a hospital; when that failed, he arranged for a live-in nurse.<ref name="Cooper-2003" />

Hughes claimed in a hand-written note to the literary critic Keith Sagar, discovered in 2001, that the anti-depressants prescribed were a "key factor" in Plath's suicide. He said Plath had previously had an adverse reaction to a prescription she had taken when they lived in the U.S. These pills were sold in England under a different name, and although Hughes did not name the pills explicitly, he claimed a new doctor had prescribed them to Plath without realizing she had taken them before with adverse effects.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Drugs a 'key factor' in Plath's suicide, claimed Hughes {{!}} Books {{!}} The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/aug/08/artsandhumanities.highereducation |access-date=2023-07-16 |website=theguardian.com|date=August 8, 2001 }}</ref> Several commentators have argued that because anti-depressants may take up to three weeks to take effect, her prescription from Horder would not have taken full effect prior to her death; however, others have pointed out that adverse effects of anti-depressants can begin immediately.{{sfn|Alexander|2003|p=325}}

The live-in nurse was due to arrive at nine on the morning of February 11, 1963, to help Plath with the care of her children. Upon arrival, she could not get into the flat but eventually gained access with the help of a workman. They found Plath dead with her head in the oven, having sealed the rooms between her and her sleeping children with tape, towels, and cloths.{{sfn|Stevenson|1990|p=296}} She was 30{{nbsp}}years old.<ref name="Feinmann-1993"/>

Plath's intentions have been debated. That morning, she asked her downstairs neighbor, art historian Trevor Thomas (1907–1993), what time he would be leaving. She also left a note reading "Call Dr. Horder", including the doctor's phone number. It is argued Plath turned on the gas at a time when Thomas would have been likely to see the note, but the escaping gas seeped downstairs and also rendered Thomas unconscious while he slept.{{sfn|Kirk|2004|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=NBlJYGHVESwC&pg=PA103 103–104]}} However, in her biography ''Giving Up: The Last Days of Sylvia Plath'', Plath's friend [[Jillian Becker]] wrote, "According to Mr. Goodchild, a police officer attached to the coroner's office... [Plath] had thrust her head far into the gas oven... [and] had really meant to die."{{sfn|Becker|2003|p={{page needed|date=March 2022}}}} Horder also believed her intention was clear. He stated that "No one who saw the care with which the kitchen was prepared could have interpreted her action as anything but an irrational compulsion."<ref name="Feinmann-1993"/> Plath had described the quality of her despair as "owl's talons clenching my heart".<ref>{{cite news |last=Guthmann |first=Edward |date=October 30, 2005 |title=The Allure: Beauty and an easy route to death have long made the Golden Gate Bridge a magnet for suicides |work=San Francisco Chronicle |url=http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Lethal-Beauty-The-Allure-Beauty-and-an-easy-3302966.php#page-6 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525104344/http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Lethal-Beauty-The-Allure-Beauty-and-an-easy-3302966.php |archive-date=May 25, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Plath Grave15.jpg|thumb|Plath's grave at a church in [[Heptonstall]], [[West Yorkshire]]|alt=Flowers in front of a simple headstone bearing the inscription, "In memory Sylvia Plath Hughes 1932–1963 Even amidst fierce flames the golden lotus can be planted."]]