Nicholas Hughes was killed by Sylvia Plath, his envious mother

Tortured by the ghost of his envious mother, Nicholas Hughes's suicide was inevitable says Coline Covington

FIRST POSTED MARCH 23, 2009

Nicholas Hughes had a nightmare start in life. His mother, Sylvia Plath, had a history of fighting her own inner demons that must have made it especially difficult for her to be there in her mind for her two children, Frieda and Nicholas - born a year apart.

Ted Hughes separated from Sylvia before Nicholas's first birthday and only months later his mother, Sylvia Plath, committed suicide. As a small infant, Nicholas would have been extremely sensitive to his mother's depression and this would leave an indelible fault line in his own personality. Forty-six years after his mother committed suicide, Nicholas has followed suit by hanging himself at his home in Alaska.

Children whose parents have committed suicide - at no matter what age - tend to feel not only responsible for their parent's depression and ultimate suicide but also profoundly rejected by them.

Nicholas may have felt his love was lethal and could only result in death and loss

In short, the parent who kills herself is perceived by the child as not loving him enough to want to live. Any close relationships that might arise subsequently are fraught with trauma, insecurity and dread.

The impotence experienced by the child in not being able to keep his parent alive is also unbearable. If the child is very young, as Nicholas was, it may leave him feeling that his love is lethal and can only result in death and loss. The experience of loving is tainted from the start.

Nicholas Hughes did not marry and had no children. We might speculate that this felt too risky and dangerous an undertaking for him. Nevertheless, he is mourned by family and friends as "an adventurous marine biologist with a distinguished academic career behind him and a host of friends and achievements in his own right."

What is most striking about the timing of his suicide is that it seems to have coincided with his resigning from his university post and setting up a pottery at home. A family friend explained that Nicholas wanted to devote time "to advance his not inconsiderable talent at making pots and creatures in clay". It is possible that this decision was the tipping point in his life.

Although Nicholas struggled with depression for much of his life,

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Please encourage all who bear such pain to seek professional help, they can survive!

Posted by MHF at 5:01pm on March 24, 2009

What a completely pointless article, written in nothing but the bad taste of a tabloid. It's overspeculative and contains no solid evidence for any of these absurd claims. Sylvia Plath the woman and mother was not the same as Sylvia Plath the poet, and there is little to be gained by trying to read her poetry to unlike autobiographical clues. Every sentence here contains "seems", "may have" or "might". There is nothing informative or worth reading here. Nicholas Hughes was an individual in his own right and clearly had his own mental health problems; to suggest that these are connected to Plath's own depression is far-fetched and sensationalist.

Posted by Scorp at 9:46am on March 26, 2009

Completely agree with Scorp. On what is this analysis based exactly, personal familiarity with the subject? His friends have debunked similar nonsense in the press. Its just more twaddle from Covington. Maybe we could have a psychologist analyse why she has to post this tat. To 'The First Post': if you have to post analyses of various personalities in the news can we have it done by somebody a) who is familiar with the person and b) knows what they are talking about. Alternatively you may want to label articles such as this 'For (poor) entertainment only'.Thanks.

Posted by The Anti-Pawn at 7:26pm on April 12, 2009

This is disgusting and speculative. Anyone with any background in mental health sciences understands that suicide is a.) A choice made by the person committing suicide, nobody else, and b.) generally the result of mental illness, which has proven to have genetic components. Is it surprising that the child of a mentally ill woman who committed suicide committed suicide himself? Not really. He had the right combination of genetics and not-good-enough childhood and whatever else factors into the mental illness "perfect storm" that creates a suicide. Nobody, not myself, not the writer of this article--nobody except Nicholas Hughes can even begin to explain why he chose to end his life. But blaming his mother is offensive and absurd. Plenty of people overcome mentally ill parents without resorting to suicide. Look at Nicholas' sister. There's something so alarming about suicide that makes people want to jump into a blame game. Maybe it makes them feel more in control, less like suicide is chaotic and real and possible for anyone. If there's someone to blame, it's easy to sweep under the rug. In truth, it's more complex than that. If you're going to write about things like this, you should be sure to have your facts in order and not speculate about what the sufferer may have felt, or "did not seem to inherit." How insulting.

Posted by Shannon Beck at 4:39am on July 6, 2009

It is such an absolute shame that Freudian psychology has left us with absolutely no compassion for the mother and second wave feminism has left us with no respect or means of support for her. Sylvia was a deeply troubled and sick individual with, at that time, little means of real support for her illness. What she did was indeed tragic and selfish but where she was left - utterly alone with two small children and a philandering irresponsible husband - was the emotional equivalent of a handgun. Sylvia might have made better choices. So might have Ted Hughes. There can be no doubt that facing the suicide of your mother at such a young age would leave an indelible mark. But this sort of blatant, heartless unforgiveness of weakness, illness, or inability to mother facing what must have been total isolation and helplessness is cruel, judgmental and incredibly counterproductive for a time that requires healing and hope for the family of this man. What a farce that you call yourself a Jungian analyst and set about writing such callous, cruel and hateful things about someone you have only read about in books.

Posted by Jen Hubbard at 4:59am on October 11, 2009