Esther Greenwood Character Analysis

After so much of trying to commit suicide and not being able to succeed it later turns to a rebirth. In the second half of the novel is shows the rebirth of Esther. “Symbolic rebirth is superimposed on a narrative which in its details suggests that Esther purchases her "new" self by the discontinuance of any relations that might threaten by means of intimacy or tenderness the boundaries of a self conceived as an autonomous entity, as a separate and "separative" self,” (The Separative Self in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell

Because both her mother and doctor have failed her, Esther must learn to solve her problems on her own. She no longer believes in a cure for her illness and so she relies on the only escape she has left: suicide. Her thoughts on suicide are described in a straightforward, matter of fact manner. She focuses more on the practicalities of her death, how and where it should be done, as opposed to the reasons why she would do it. Her calm outlook on the inevitability of her death suggests that she must do it simply because she sees no other way to escape her pain. As she is most rational when planning her suicide, her point of view is easily understood and her actions seem reasonable.

Through out the novel: Esther is mistreated a lot by men, she also loses a lot of respect or love of herself from comparing herself to other women in terms of what men want. “The idea of beauty also ties into the fourth stereotype: men regard women primarily as sexual objects and thus of a lower status. This stereotype is perhaps the most detrimental to the construction of a woman’s identity.” (Holt, 4) Because Esther is pushed by society, the mass media and even her family to find a husband, she is in a way programmed to compare herself to any other woman and this is large detriment to her self confidence. As a woman she is mistreated by men who feel they hold dominance over her, by other women who see her as strange or lesser for not following the rules of society and mistreated by herself because she feels she does not fit the mold of the ideal woman.

Slowly declining from the mental strain of school and work and relationships, Esther begins to question her reason for being here, introducing a more obvious form of her mental state, “How could I write about life when I’d never had a love affair or a baby or even seen anybody die?” (Plath 121). Esther realizes that she hasn’t really lived life. During her downfall into depression, she begins to realize that she doesn’t have control over herself and that the future that she envisioned for herself isn’t the future she will in fact

Writing was Esther’s passion, yet she stopped completely when she thought that she did not have the proper life experience to be able to write well. This becomes evident when she says, “I needed experience. How could I write about a life when I’d never had a love affair or a baby or even seen anybody die?” (Plath 109). Esther feels guilty and unqualified to write about anything that she has not previously experienced.

The ability to handle hardships in the world can come easy to some and to others it may be so completely out of their own grasp that they give up without even trying. During the time frame of Kaye Gibbon’s novel Ellen Foster, the world was divided; the rich verses the poor. Others could view the nation as the whites verses the blacks. Ellen Foster is right along the middle of this division. Ellen is a white eleven year old child who faces hardship one after another. A main theme in Ellen Foster is how she deals with her pain by distracting herself with self-determination as well as comedic relief.

At times, Esther reminds me of myself. Throughout this chapter I saw myself in her actions and ways of thinking. Esther talks about Doreen disappearing most days to spend time with Lenny. While Esther said she would cut off ties with Doreen, it still bothers her. On this specific day, Doreen did invite Esther to go out to Coney Island with her and Lenny.

Maudie Atkinson is an often overlooked character in the classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird. She is often described as open minded, and outspoken. She shaped the Finch children in many ways throughout their childhood. In many ways she was a moral guide to the children. She was open minded, would tell it like it is, and try not to let the world drag her down.

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 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

Both of these large failures in Esther’s career begin to compile the descent of Esther into her state of depression. Not only was her writing a big variable in her depression, her family life also played a big role.

Esther was constantly pushed around by men, which was a stereotype in the 1950’s that men controlled the women and were always in charge. Esther had a relationship with a man named Buddy Willard who was expecting that she was just going to marry him. Men believed that they had everything a woman may desire, but actually they did not. Women were forced to marry men because of their fortune or family relations.