Analysis Of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar

Freedom is something that is very often sought after, whether that is freedom from one’s self, others, or society. That last point is demonstrated best in the novel known as The Bell Jar. The story demonstrates a desire towards independence from societal expectations that was and very well still is felt in many people. The novel focuses on a young woman’s story, in her best times and worst times, her plight for freedom from what is expected of women, and most of all the sacrifices she makes in order to attain it. The author, Sylvia Plath, wanted to create an understanding in the reader that would have them understand what. That is, what a woman had to do for freedom and the struggle that it entailed, a feeling that may have been lost with the recent changes in societal expectations towards women. So, in The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath uses setting, plot, and tone to illustrate how women in the 1950s were forced to make sacrifices to obtain freedom from societal expectations.

It has been thought that The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath depicts Esther’s identity re-birth; with her attempted suicide functioning as the catalyst for this transformation. While this may at first appear apt, I think Esther’s supposed alteration at the end of the book is very ambiguous and indefinite; constructed like this purposely rather than being a distinctively obvious self-renewal. The resulting effect leaves readers to ponder over whether she really has completed a successful transformation, resulting in a new and improved version of herself, or whether she may end up just lapsing back into her previous ways following discharge from the asylum. What the ending does do however, is to position Esther in such a way that hints at new, tentative steps being taken towards adulthood and individual autonomy; accentuating gradual development from her previous self, consisting of alienation and identity loss.

The postwar 1950s launched the modernist period in English Literature, which suggested a more pessimistic perception of society through societal nonconformity, decay, and alienation. Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, a parallel to her life, expresses Esther Greenwood’s character in pursuit of morality in the reality she faces in the modern society. Esther discovers that the society is not as pure as it seems and has underlying truths behind its deceptive appearance. To emphasize her realization, she mentions the color white two hundred-fourteen times in the novel. Although the color white often symbolizes purity, goodness, and innocence, Esther gives white a negative connotation in the novel. Esther depicts the reality of the society as fabricated through the recurring motif of the color white, which symbolizes hopelessness and a stigma in the optimistic society.

Depression can be defined as part of a psychological state of mind that a person might encounter. Most famously recognized psychiatrist Sigmund Freud is known for his Psychodynamic theory. His psychoanalysis theory is known to be successful for treating patients with mental illness. Sylvia Plath, the author of the Bell Jar, makes the main character Esther go through a psychological transformation. Esther’s transformation can be realized through Freud’s psychoanalysis theory as the story unfolds from the beginning to end. The influences of people and events around Esther have affected her transformation.

Throughout literature, authors have used stories to tell personal experiences and address public issues. Sylvia Plath conveyed her suicidal thoughts with her poetry and novel The Bell Jar. Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle described the gruesome working conditions in the Chicago meat-packing industry. Today, storytelling has expanded to include oral stories and art, using visual cues and sound to convey the author’s emotions. Lynda Barry and Kevin Kling use their novels One Hundred Demons! and The Dog Says How to remediate their internal battles with depression and disabilities.

Depression is defined as a deep psychological illness that has a variety of problems associated with it, including the inability to perform daily activities and even suicidal thoughts or actions (Mayo Clinic). The intensity of the side effects vary drastically depending on biological and social factors. Based on the common signs of depression, Sylvia Plath’s character Esther Greenwood in The Bell Jar suffers from this invisible, life-changing disease, causing her to become very dependent on others for basic survival. Whether it is getting food or going to the hospital, she can not do this herself. Esther has been suffering from serious depression and at this point in the novel she is sharing her experience.

Sylvia Plath’s writing chronicled a wide variety of subjects; from a descent into mental illness in The Bell Jar to doomed hospitals in the titular short story Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams. She was married to Ted Hughes and had two children with him before he left her and she committed suicide in 1963. Her works shared some common elements that were based on experiences from her own life. Discussions of depression, sexuality, and feminism were prevalent in her writing and were directly inspired by her own experiences both during and post-college. Her characters illustrate how she viewed her life during the 1950s, exploring details such as how women were not allowed to pursue a multitude of careers and were seen as inferior to men. Sylvia

In Sylvia Plath’s novel, The Bell Jar, Plath expresses her opposition to the idea of men having complete control over every aspect of women’s lives by utilizing the narrator Esther; a radical feminist, to speak out against conformity in a society run by men. Esther represents everything controversial about domesticity in the twentieth century. Throughout the novel she touches on taboo subjects such as radical feminism, rape, and resistance of patriarchal dictates, all of which were touchy topics to speak out about for women of this time period. From the beginning of the novel Esther is constantly torn between what defines her as an individual and what she should conform to because that is what society expects of her as a woman. Esther has a pessimistic outlook on domesticity and despises the idea of playing the role of a helpless puppet that a man holds the strings to. She is not completely against the patriarchal dictates placed on her gender but instead wants to put her own twist on the part she will inevitability be forced to play one day.

I gave up on football for a little bit because I didn’t know if I would be able to play at the next level because how short I was and how small I am then everyone else that plays at the next level.

The works of Sylvia Plath have always been at least slightly controversial; most of them have themes of feminism, suicide, or depression. Plath was born in 1932 in Boston, Massachusetts, and by the age of twelve she was reported to have had an IQ of about 160 (Kelly). Growing up in an age in which women were expected to be nothing more than conservative housemaids, Plath stood defiant against the views of society, choosing to expose any misogynistic prejudices or hateful prospects against mental illness through her writings (Allen).

Book Summary. The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath was published in 1963. It is an autobiography that is said by some to correspond to the author’s life. Throughout this research paper, I fully agree that this is an autobiography of Plath’s life, but will get into why further into the paper.

One is often enticed to read a novel because of the way in which the characters are viewed and the way in which characters view their surroundings. In the novel The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, Esther Greenwood is a character whose "heightened and highly emotional response to events, actions and sentiments" (Assignment sheet) intrigue the reader. One of her character traits is extreme paranoia that is shown in different situations throughout the novel. As a result of this, she allows herself to be easily let down, as she believes that all events that are unsatisfactory are directed towards her. Finally, it is clear that she attempts to escape this notion by imagining an idyllic yet impossible life that she

According to the data from the Center for American Progress and Elle Magazine, “Nearly 30 percent of women report experiencing discrimination in the workplace.” However, this report is only based on the environment in employment settings. Women experience and visually see gender roles and inequity against females in everyday surroundings, and they are often accepted and practiced without difficulty. Similarly, in the novel, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, Esther experiences different societal expectations throughout her life in hometown and New York, which helps her realize that she does not fit into either of the society; moreover, she grows weary as she loses her identity and passion, in search for who she is.

Sylvia Plath, a great American author, focuses mostly on actual experiences. Plath’s poetry displays feelings and emotions. Plath had the ability to transform everyday happenings into poems or diary entries. Plath had a passion for poetry and her work was valued. She was inspired by novelists and her own skills. Her poetry was also very important to readers and critics. Sylvia Plath’s work shows change throughout her lifetime, relates to feelings and emotions, and focuses on day to day experiences.

Sylvia Plath uses many literary devices to convey her purpose in The Bell Jar such as symbolism. The Bell Jar itself is used as symbolic representation of the emotional state Esther is in. The glass jar distorts her image of the world as she feels trapped under the glass. It represents mental illness; a confining jar that descends over her mind and doesn’t allow her to live and think freely. Symbols of life and death pervade The Bell Jar. Esther experiences psychological distress which is a major motif in the novel. The death of Esther’s father and the relationship with her mother is a possible reason for her illness. Sylvia Plath expresses the difficulties Esther faces and parallels her struggle with depression and illustrates it using various symbols such as a fig tree, mirrors, beating heart and a bell jar throughout the novel.