Part One: Chapter IV Summary and Analysis

Linda Wagner-Martin wrote a biography of Sylvia Plath. She had worked with Olwyn Hughes, Ted's sister, and with Ted himself. They at first were cooperative, but upon completion of the manuscript, their relationship deteriorated. Ted cut approximately fifteen thousand words and Olwyn pointed to her manuscript's inaccuracies. Alvarez applauded Wagner-Martin for not caving to the demands of the "evil" sister as Anne Stevenson had done. Alvarez saw himself as the defender of the poor dead women whose husband had abandoned her.

Another critic, Ronald Hayman, wrote in the Independent that Stevenson's biography was vindictive. He derided her proclamation that, with Bitter Fame, she hoped to dispel the fantasies and rumors surrounding the life and death of Sylvia Plath. Hayman cited her cruelty in blaming Sylvia for the failed marriage and portraying Ted as patient and...