Sylvia

Silvia (Two Gentlemen of Verona) Silvia is the spirited daughter of the Duke of Milan who is in love with Valentine, one of The Two Gentlemen of Verona, William Shakespeare’s early comedy of about 1590/91. Silvia seems to be a gal who has it all; yes, she’s the probably overprotected daughter of nobility, but she also has beauty, spunk and suitors galore. It seems, however, that Daddy the Duke is in favor of one (Thurio) who doesn’t quite meet her standards, so he locks her in a tower every night to be sure she doesn’t get up to no good. Never underestimate a lady in love. When Valentine’s pal, Proteus, joins him in Milan, Proteus also falls in love with Silvia, quite forgetting he had just pledged eternal love to Julia back home in Verona. Having received Valentine’s confidences about his and Silvia’s plans to elope, Proteus wastes no time in telling on them, allowing the Duke to thwart their plans. Valentine is banished and falls in with a band of outlaws. Silvia then escapes but is waylaid by the outlaws (minus Valentine, of course), and Proteus comes to her rescue. Don’t be too soon to laud him – his price is her virtue, which she refuses and which he threatens to take forcibly, but she is saved by Valentine, who has been watching unseen. And no, don’t be too soon to laud him, either – as soon as Proteus apologizes to him, Valentine offers Silvia right back to him. And we’re not even mentioning what a raw deal Julia is getting all this time! Needless to say, everyone is absolutely reconciled and happy with everyone else at the end, and all that’s marrying gets married, with Daddy’s blessing thrown in. With all due respect to the times and mores, we say: “Silvia! Ya shoulda stood with the outlaws!”

Son & Sylvia - a song by Eric Clapton

Sylvia - a song by the Eurythmics

Sylvia - a song by Stevie Wonder

Sylvia - a song by The Briefs

Sylvia - a song by Paul Robeson

Sylvia Plath - a song by Ryan Adams

Dear Sylvia (Alan Cumyn) - Now in paperback, Dear Sylvia is a sequel to The Secret Life of Owen Skye (winner of the Mr. Christie’s Book Award) and After Sylvia. Much to his despair, Owen Skye watches his true love, Sylvia Tull, move away. But he still has the stationery set she gave him for his birthday, so at least he can keep telling her stories, even if it’s only by mail. So Owen begins to write down all the things that are going on: his little brother getting his head stuck in the banister, the disastrous camping trip with his horrible girl cousins, how his new baby cousin will only stop screaming in his arms. But despite his carefully crafted efforts, Owen can’t bring himself to mail the letters. While he knows he’s a born writer, getting the right words onto the page is another story altogether. Young readers can easily identify with Owen as he wrestles with spelling, his insecurity as a writer, and his deep desire to tell Sylvia what’s going on in his life — and in his heart. With this irresistible epistolary novel, Alan Cumyn has given his acclaimed series an original and engrossing twist. Recommended for ages 8-12.

Sylvia & Aki (Winifred Conkling) - Sylvia never expected to be at the center of a landmark legal battle; all she wanted was to enroll in school. Aki never expected to be relocated to a Japanese internment camp in the Arizona desert; all she wanted was to stay on her family farm and finish the school year. The two girls certainly never expected to know each other, until their lives intersected in Southern California during a time when their country changed forever. Here is the remarkable story based on true events of Sylvia Mendez and Aki Munemitsu, two ordinary girls living in extraordinary times. When Sylvia and her brothers are not allowed to register at the same school Aki attended and are instead sent to a “Mexican” school, the stage is set for Sylvia’s father to challenge in court the separation of races in California’s schools. Ultimately, Mendez vs. Westminster School District led to the desegregation of California schools and helped build the case that would end school segregation nationally. Through extensive interviews with Sylvia and Aki—still good friends to this day—Winifred Conkling brings to life two stories of persistent courage in the face of tremendous odds. Recommended for ages 9-12.

Sylvia and Bird (Catherine Rayner) - Sylvia is the only dragon in the world and very lonely. But then she meets Bird. Bird is tiny and chirpy, nothing like the huge dragon. And Sylvia worries that maybe she and her little friend are too different to remain friends. Together the two friends take a journey that will change Sylvia’s life forever. From the award-winning creator of Augustus and His Smile comes a tender story about belonging and the power of true friendship. Recommended for ages 3-6.

Sylvia Jean, Drama Queen (Lisa Campbell Ernst) - Wildly costumed for every occasion, Sylvia Jean is famous for always having the perfect outfit. She’s a superhero when she wants to be brave, a swan when she must be elegant in ballet class, and a clown when people need cheering up. When a town-wide costume contest is announced, everyone assumes Sylvia Jean will be triumphant. But Sylvia Jean panics. How will she ever top her previous performances? After some musing and mulling (and not a little moaning), she once again conjures up an astonishing way to amaze the crowd—by going as herself. Recommended for ages 4-8.

Sylvia Jean, Scout Supreme (Lisa Campbell Ernst) - When Sylvia Jean's scout troop sets out to earn their Good-Deed badges, the boisterous girl pig knows just what to do: take care of her old, injured neighbor. Unfortunately, Sylvia Jean's over-the-top energy proves too much for the ailing Mrs. VanHooven, whose doctor has prescribed peace, quiet, and no Sylvia Jean. Not to be deterred, the crafty pig scout heads straight to her handy dandy costume closet, and soon Mrs. VanHooven is visited by an artist, a cowboy, a ballerina, and others. But how will Sylvia Jean earn her badge if she can't take credit for her good deed? Recommended for ages 4-8.

Famous People Named Sylvia - Sylvia Plath (writer); Sylvia Browne (psychic); Queen Silvia of Sweden (royalty); Sylvia Crawley (basketball player); Sylvia Robinson (musician/record executive)

Famous People Who Named Their Daughter Sylvia - We cannot find any celebrities or famous people who have named their child Sylvia.

Sylvia Plath (27 Oct 1932 – 11 Feb 1963) - Sylvia Plath was the much lauded and tormented poet and author of The Bell Jar, who tragically took her own life at the age of thirty. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, she was the daughter of a professor of German and biology, Otto, and his wife, Aurelia Schober Plath, whom he met while she was his master’s student at Boston University. Otto died when Sylvia was only eight years old, and this seems to have had a profound effect upon the rest of her life. Sylvia was ambitious and driven from the start, writing poetry and journals from an early age. Along with her literary proliferation, Sylvia suffered from bouts of depression and attempted suicide, enduring psychotherapy and electroshock treatments. In 1952, she won the magazine Mademoiselle’s fiction contest, earning her a place as a guest editor for a month the following year, out of which grew her experiences as related in The Bell Jar. Upon graduation from Smith College, she matriculated at Cambridge University in England, where she met and married, in 1956, the man who was to later become England’s Poet Laureate, Ted Hughes. Together they embarked upon a golden future of love and poetry, which, as is well documented, fell into ashes before many years passed. While happy about giving birth to her daughter and son, Sylvia was nonetheless still subject to depressions, a state that was not at all helped by Ted’s affair with another woman, for whom he left Sylvia and the children. Deeply awash in her own sorrows, Sylvia committed suicide by oven-gassing herself in her little London flat on February 11, 1963, while her small children slept in a sealed-off bedroom close by. Her prolific output remains to offer some consolation for a life cut so short, but the tragedy of that suicide seems to have recreated itself over again. In 1969, the woman for whom Ted Hughes left Sylvia, Assia Welville, killed herself and their four year old daughter. In 2009, one of those little children in the bedroom, her son, Nicholas, killed himself at the age of 47. In 1970, Ted Hughes married again, to Carol Orchard; they remained married until his death in 1998 and they had no children. Months before Sylvia committed suicide, Ted Hughes wrote to a family member that no one seemed to understand “Sylvia’s particular death-ray”, which apparently made it “… impossible for me to live married to.” Indeed.