Sylvia Plath wrote in her 1959 journal: “I want to begin my Bed Book. Something freezes me from my real spirit: is it fear of failure, fear of being vulnerable? I must melt it” (The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath 476). This short children’s book in verse became a battleground of sorts where her poetic worthiness and confidence would be won. “Yes, after half a year of procrastinating, bad feeling and paralysis, I got to it yesterday morning […] I chose ten beds out of the long list of too fancy and ingenious and abstract a list of beds, and once I’d begun I was away and didn’t stop till I typed out and mailed it (8 double spaced pages only!) to the Atlantic Press.” Why, in this exercise of imagination, is there such a thing as “too fancy and ingenious and abstract”? And yet, “Funny how doing it has freed me”—the completed process is in fact liberating. Share your answers and other questions you may have by replying below.
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Roundtable Conversation 
Hello, I’m Panas and I’m responsible for my final paper about The Bed Book
Firstly, I think that in the exercise of imagination, things can be “too fancy and ingenious and abstract”. Since what sets the standard in people perspective is supposed to be the reality, something beyond reality in people’s imagination can be categorized as “too fancy and ingenious and abstract. So, personally, I support her statement. However, I also think that the concept that doesn’t exist in the imagination is a possibility. Things, both normal or too fancy, can be real in people’s minds. It goes beyond the boundary and nothing can block people’s imagination either.
Secondly, I’m not sure if I got the point right. After I read her biography while working on my final paper, it seemed like she had some kind of mental illness. I think that writing this work and spreading her imagination on it can be a way to escape the cruel reality she was encountering.
There was a question that Prapa asked me after the class and I want to answer here either to share my opinion. She asked how could I know that The Bed Book is the book for children before bedtime. I think this is an interesting one. Actually, I think the title actually implies the answer, but there’s something more. The book contains a lot of pictures that children can enjoy and a word choice is easy so that kids can understand it easily. the story leads the reader or the listener to somewhere beyond the reality which is similar to other bed-time tales for children. Lastly, as the very last part of the book, the message is kind of an alternative “goodnight” for kids.
Panas