Hughes was never in many ways, cut out for marriage (though after Sylvia's death, he married multiple times and note too, that Assia Weevill too took her life, taking with her their daughter, Shura.) But Hughes was always a flirt and somewhat of a scoundrel, but as the years went on and his star rose (with Sylvia's help, for surely though Hughes had great talent, hhe did not have the talent of sending out the work, typing the manuscripts and getting them seen the way only Plath's relentlessness would. She had the business savvy that he lacked and he used what she offered. His part of the deal, as noted, was to be respectful and faithful. In the film as in reality, Hughes fell fall short of this goal, and it began not long after they were married. Or perhaps continued would be a better word. On return from Benidorm, Spain, where the couple honeymooned, Hughes and Plath returned to teaching and she taught at Smith while Hughes read his poems for a few classes. During this time, we know of at least one woman of whom Plath was suspicious, though Ted could always be seen flirting with other women. AT least, it looks like flirting and whatever he may have called it, it was more than simply being "friendly." He couldn't help but fall to any woman who had some words of praise for him, and after he won prizes for his poetry, many women wanted to be with this colossus of a man, for his poetry was the stuff that made them swoon as he read it in his big and booming voice.

The film moves from the major events that we all know all too well; the first meeting at the St. Boltoph Party with the cheek-bite that draws blood, and Hah! I've got your earring blah blah scene closely followed by the two living together; the honeymoon in Benidorm; the Smith years; the return to England; the house at Court Green in Devon where the Hughes returned to after, fatefully, rented their London house to David and Assia Weevill. The real trouble began in earnest at that moment.

Things were not as they seemed when Assia and David showed up, as if by chance, to rent the couples apartment in London. Assia was already well aware of Sylvia's work and even knew some of the same people and friends. She had read Sylvia's first book, The Colossus, and had, by Jillian Becker's account, even listened to their broadcasts on the BBC (which Sylvia and Ted had often done together for a Young Poets Series).