Wednesday, April 25, 2012


S=T=E=L=L=A DALLAS


“Sure—I like a good time!”
—Barbara Stanwyck, Stella Dallas

Bette Davis—in “Now Voyager” (1942)
Ida Lupino—on Lux Radio Theater
Barbara Stanwyck—in “Stella Dallas” (1937)

These were Sylvia’s—true Mentors & Avatars
Olive Higgins Prouty—philanthropic queen bee
Taking Sylvia Plath—under her wing

Endowing a Smith College—scholarship to Sylvia
For being one of the—“promising young writers”
Paying the expenses—after her suicide attempt

Prouty’s own struggles—and nervous breakdowns
Making her sensitive—to such emotional matters
Both Plath and Prouty—Soap Opera Queens

How much Stella Dallas—Melodrama Muse?
How much Barbara Stanwyck—inside Sylvia Plath?
How much campy Soap Opera queen—inside Sylvia?

How much kitschy Bette Davis—inside Plath?
How much Tragic “Now Voyager”—“What a dump!!!”
How much Ida Lupino—Soap Opera Bitch queen?

Quite a bit, honey—if you ask me, my dear
Dykes, Divas, Big Daddies—so many Drama Queens
Sylvia Plath’s true Mentors—


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