How Feminist Activist Robin Morgan Helped Preserve the Legacy of Sylvia Plath
On the Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend, my best friend Dani, also a writer, wrote to tell me that Robin Morgan, the landmark American feminist activist, organizer, and writer, had died. In the midst of the rush to finish
On Labor Day weekend, my friend Dani, a fellow writer, informed me of the passing of Robin Morgan, an American feminist activist, organizer, and writer. Robin, born on January 29, 1941, had a remarkable career, with 23 books to her name and notable achievements such as organizing the protest of the 1969 Miss America Pageant and founding the National Network of Rape Crisis Centers.
However, few tributes mentioned her influence on Sylvia Plath's legacy, which in turn impacted her own life and career. The obituaries mostly highlighted Robin's poem "Arraignment," known for its critical stance against Ted Hughes. Robin's relationship with Plath's work was complex, as her poem "Arraignment" initially accused Hughes of both murdering Plath and committing rape.
However, Robin's original version was pulled due to concerns of libel, as Random House lawyers deemed the poem's accusations of murder and rape grounds for legal action. Undeterred, Robin rewrote "Arraignment" to soften the accusations, changing "I accuse" to "How can I accuse," while maintaining the poem's core argument that Hughes' censorship of Plath's work had effectively killed her artistic and political legacy.
This rewrite allowed the poem to be published, and it went on to inspire the legendary Plath myth of women interrupting readings by shouting "Arraignment." Despite the controversy surrounding "Arraignment," Robin's voice and influence remained powerful, as evidenced by the resurgence of interest in her work following the discovery of previously hidden letters by Plath.
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