Depression In Reylvia Plath

The purpose of the book of Esther defined is thus, it is to provide a historical motive for the commencement and perpetual celebration or observation of the Feast of Purim. It was also used to exhort the Jewish populace to put their trust on providence or God for their welfare. According to Lasor, Hubbard and Bush; “Purim is a boisterous celebration full of merriment and high spirits, in which the ordinary conventions of decorum and deportment are suspended and a spirit of satire and fun is given full sway.” The major theme of Esther is of the traps laid returning to the one who plotted and started it. This the author does by constantly reminding the audiences of the ongoing conflict between Israel and their enemies [Haman an Amalekite? an old enemy of the Jews from the time of Exodus] (Esther 2:5, 3:1-6, 9:5-10). The unknown author juxtaposes Haman with Mordecai. The whole of Esther is narrated or portrayed through these two characters with their own struggles. Haman the antagonist of the text sought to exterminate the Jews in the Persian Empire. Mordecai and Esther sought to preserve their people from their impending doom. When Esther presents herself unrequested into the presence of the King risking her life in the process, she is portrayed as trusting in something greater to preserve her. The celebratory theme that underlines

The second person that illustrated the theme of the book was Esther’s mother Raya. Raya showed this by always keeping a positive attitude, which raises the spirits around her. For instance, in the novel her husband went off to war, his entire battalion was wiped out and everyone had given up hope of him returning except for her. She kept saying, “Be sure to get some farmer’s cheese, the kind he adores.” Her positive attitude paid off in the end after everyone thought she was grief ridden she proved them wrong when he returned. In addition, her positive attitude did pay off again when he husband was thought to be lost in a when he did not return for work. Everyone was starting to be worried and lose hope but she continued to hope and believe and tell the others to and he returned again. That is how Raya illustrated the theme of the book by maintaining her positive attitude and encouraging others around her with it.

In my research paper I want to discuss the concept of freedom for a woman in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”, and how the wrong news can make the happiest person in the world and then cause her death.

While at home, Esther becomes into a deep depression when thinking about her experience in New York. She doesn’t want to read, write, or sleep and she stops bathing herself. Her mother sends her to see Dr. Gordon who is her first psychiatrist whom she doesn’t like and doesn’t trust. He is the man with a good looking family, and to Esther he is conceited. He doesn’t help Esther, but only hurts her more. He prescribes her with shock treatment. After this horrifying experience, she decides to kill herself. She tries to slit her wrists, but can only bring herself to slicing her calf. She tries to hang herself but can’t find a place to tie the rope, she tries to drown herself at the beach, but cannot keep herself under water, and then she crawls into a space in the basement and takes a lot of sleeping pills. “Wherever I sat—on the deck of a ship or at a street café in Paris or Bangkok—I would be sitting under the same glass bell jar, stewing in my own sour air.” (Plath pg. 117) This quote shows how she felt trapped in the bell jar, and her suicidal urges began. She awakes in the hospital to find that her attempt at suicide wasn’t successful. She is sent to another psychological ward where she still wants to end her life. Esther becomes very paranoid and uncooperative. She gets moves to a private hospital paid for by Philomena Guinea a famous novelist. Esther improves and gets a new

Esther was an orphan who was raised by her cousin Mordecai (Leath, 2010). There came a time that she would go from orphan to queen. Esther lived in Persia, where King Ahasuerus ruled. A day arrived that Queen Vashti refused to obey King Ahasuerus and was soon replaced by Esther (Leath, 2010). During this time, the King held ultimate power and everyone was subject to the king’s authority. Consequently, Queen Vashti displayed disobedience by not obeying the King and was punished by being removed as queen (Leath, 2010). However, the removal of Queen Vashti paved the way for Esther and she was purposefully placed in position as queen. This seized

In her search for identity, Esther often compares herself to others. One sign of depression is the feeling the need to compare yourself to others. Throughout the story, Esther questions other’s morals and characteristics and tries to apply them to herself. One

Esther refuses to allow society to control her life. Esther has a completely different approach to life than the rest of her peers do. The average woman during this time is supposed to be happy and full of joy. Esther, on the other hand, attempts to repress her natural gloom, cynicism, and dark humor. This eventually becomes too hard for her and causes her emotions to go crazy. She begins to have ideas

Three days later, she is found and placed in a mental hospital. First assigned to a rich psychiatrist named Dr. Gordon, Esther feels harassed by the doctors surrounding her. She feels that they do not really care about her; in a sense, they don’t. After seeing Esther three times, he states that she is not improving due to the fact that she has not been able to sleep, read, eat, or write in three weeks. She is moved to his mental asylum, where she suffers through electroshock therapy for the first time. The procedure is done incorrectly and she is shocked, literally.

Esther, a young woman striving unsuccessfully to find her place in the world, constantly perceives herself in such a way that emphasizes the strong disassociation and alienation she feels from her natural self. This is first evident at the start of the novel when she sees her reflection inside a New York elevator: "I noticed a big, smudgy-eyed Chinese woman staring idiotically into my face. It was only me, of course. I was appalled to see how wrinkled and used up I looked" (17). Here, Esther does not recognise herself; instead she describes her appearance as that of a foreign

Esther evidently feels as if she is constantly being judged and tested, although in fact she is not. Her magnified sense of distrust is illustrated repeatedly throughout the course of the book, at once involving the reader and developing her own characteristic response to unique situations. Finally, one who views occurrences which can only be categorized as coincidental as being planned often experiences a suspicious response. When she finds out that an acquaintance from high school is at the same hospital, her first reaction is wariness: "It occurred to me that Joan, hearing where I was, had engaged the room at the asylum on pretence, simply as a joke." (Plath 207). Although the reader is incredulous of the protagonist's manner of thought, it is also possible to feel a connection to the situation. Such a

Esther is experiencing repression because she is fighting the two different thoughts in her mind. Her state of repression is leading her to become depress.

Esther’s mother and society’s expectation as a woman, which is to be a good wife and a mother, suffocate and demoralize Esther’s dream as a professional writer. Esther’s mother wants her to “...learn shorthand after college, so I’d have a practical skill as well as a college degree” (Plath 40). Her mother believes that Esther cannot further advance her education as a writer and simply wants her to be a secretary since professional career for women was uncommon and discouraged because it disturbs the role as a married woman. These pressures often obliged her to fall into the societal expectations, to give up her higher education, and to marry somebody. However, she knew that the marriage and the babies were not for her, “because cook and clean and wash were just about

To Esther, the world seems quite unfriendly, and the novel documents her desperate search for identity and reassurance. Nevertheless, Esther is intrigued by the world around her, and at the start of the book she is seen with a wondrous outlook on life that is reflected in the metaphors throughout the novel (Coyle). In the first half of the book, Esther is fascinated by the medical practices of her boyfriend, Buddy, as well as by current events in the newspapers and the thought of her own future family. As the story progresses, however, Esther becomes indifferent about life, and she develops bitterness toward everything that appears to prevent her from achieving things she wants (Huf). As Esther’s mental state worsens, the metaphors and similes presented to the reader begin to have negative connotations

She stops writing, bathing, changing her clothes, and sleeping. This worries her mother, who sends Esther to a psychiatrist who prescribes her to shock therapy. But instead of having the shock treatment healing Esther, the doctors do the procedure improperly and terrify her, which leads her into a living hell.

From the beginning of the story the reader comes to know Esther as a perceptive woman who is strongly aware of the chasm between her fifteen years of straight A's and her inadequacies, particularly when she compares herself with the those around her. This quality is reflected in her language, which is one of the most prominent features of the novel itself. The protagonist's ambivalence towards her role models, her dissatisfaction with herself, and her desire to be recognized as a mature, talented individual can be inferred from her language throughout the course of the