Identity In Esther Greenwood's The Bell Jar

One’s identity is the most important lesson to be learned. It is vital part of life knowing who you are in order to live a fulfilled life. Without knowing your identity, and the way you perceive life, it is difficult for others to understand you, along with a struggle to live a happy life. In Sylvia Plath’s “The Bell Jar,” Esther Greenwood struggles to find her own identity, and in the process, she develops a mental illness which helps her discover the person she is on the inside. In her search

Sylvia Plath’s Bell Jar was composed as a semi- auto biographical novel yet it dealt with many of the contemporary issues of the time such as women emancipation in a psychological sphere. Plath’s actual psyche is reflected in her work which she struggled to continue as a female writer. As an American writer she faced plentyof criticism which over-powered her mental faculty as a clinically depressed author. Sadly, she ended her life shortly after finishing this novel and her prolific writing career

When Esther’s in a photo shoot for Ladies’ Day, Jay Cee wittily comments how “[Esther] wants to be everything” (97). It is exactly correct that Esther wants to be everything to the point where the thought of choosing one single thing leads to her unraveling. Jeanne Inness comments how “educational experiences and choices leading to occupations will differ, but none will be quite so persuasive as the female's need to choose between profession and domesticity.” There is a constant pressure on Esther’s

personality, and their dreams. These three components are analyzed within the novels, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and the Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. These themes contribute to the evolution and demolition of characters, leading to events that create thrill within the two. In the novel, The Bell Jar, the prime character, Esther Greenwood, struggles to handle life in her own skin. She feels trapped in a glass bell jar with no escape because of her incapability to comprehend herself. For example, in

The Bell Jar by: Sylvia Plath Depression is a serious topic throughout the world, especially in America. Depression can result in someone feeling completely alone. There is no direct cause for depression in adolescents, but it can be brought on by the maturing process, stress from failure in some sort, a traumatic or disturbing event such as death, or even a break up. Sure, everyone has an off day here and there, where they feel like they shouldn’t even bother getting out bed in the morning, but

not the case for all people; certainly, it is not the case for Esther Greenwood. Though a variety of factors cause Esther’s depression and suicidal spiral, one primary determinant is her family’s presence in her life—or lack thereof. In Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, Esther Greenwood’s inadequate, negative familial relationships cause the

Sylvia Plath Research Paper Title The Bell Jar "place[s] [the] turbulent months[of an adolescent’s life] in[to] mature perspective" (Hall, 30). In The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath uses parallelism, stream of consciousness, the motif of renewal and rebirth, symbolism of the boundary-driven entrapped mentally ill, and auto-biographical details to epitomize the mental downfall of protagonist, Esther Greenwood. Plath also explores the idea of how grave these timeless and poignant issues can affect a fragile

Autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath is narrated by Esther Greenwood who questions her self-identity and sexual behavior. The theme of the novel is explored more in depth when Esther realizes she feels constrained of being a woman that is expected to be a household wife. The theme is shown how the expectations of the 1950s American society forms into sanity and madness . Straight into the first chapter, Plath detaches Esther from society with her clinical diction seen when Esther describes New

In the novel The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath the prime character, Esther Greenwood, struggles to handle life in her own skin. She feels as though she is trapped in a glass bell jar with no escape because of her incapability to comprehend herself. For example, in chapter one Plath states, “‘My name 's Elly Higginbottom,’ I said. ‘I come from Chicago.’ After that I felt safer. I didn 't want anything I said or did that night to be associated with me and my real name and coming from Boston” (Plath 11)

novel The Bell Jar, the protagonist Esther Greenwood, experiences what it is like to go through depression. Sylvia Plath’s novel not only expresses the profound effect depression had on Esther, but proves that she was able to regain her strength back through care and recovery. Sylvia Plath was a novelist, and an American poet. She was born on October 27th, 1932 in Jamaica plain, Massachusetts.