'That Alchemical Power': The Literary Relationship of A. Alvarez and Sylvia Plath

This essay tracks, first, the nature and extent of the influence of A. Alvarez upon the poetry of Sylvia Plath and, second, the way in which Alvarez presented and interpreted Plath's life and poetry. Plath's interest in Alvarez's essay 'Beyond the Gentility Principle', the introduction to his best-selling Penguin anthology The New Poetry, is analysed at length, and there is a detailed inquiry into the nature of its impact upon the poems Plath wrote in 1962. Alvarez's aesthetic is interrogated, both as an inspiration to Plath and as a means of interpreting her work; Alvarez's role in the publication and promotion of Plath's work is detailed. The essay asks to what extent a proper understanding of Plath and Alvarez's literary relationship should lead us to reassess Plath's poetic reputation.