Prouty is also known for her philanthropic works, and for her resulting association with the writer Sylvia Plath, whom she encountered as a result of endowing a Smith College scholarship for "promising young writers". She supported Plath financially in the wake of Plath's unsuccessful 1953 suicide attempt: Plath's husband, Ted Hughes, would later refer in "Birthday Letters" to how “Prouty was there, tender and buoyant moon”. Many, including Plath's mother Aurelia, have held the view that Plath employed her memories of Prouty as the basis of the character of "Philomena Guinea" in her 1963 novel, "The Bell Jar", a figure who is described as supporting the protagonist because "at the peak of her career, she had been in an asylum as well", and who arguably represents a role model to be ultimately rejected by the protagonist.