The Bell Jar Analysis

This relates back to innocence, because Esther is just now finding this out, compared to others who find this out early in their life. She states that she was open to the circulating air, which to Esther means that the ideas and words have built up inside of her and they can now move freely about her mind and life. A second piece of evidence is the quote “He is no longer speaking only for himself” from the article, He’s no phony: How fighting in World War II changed J.D. Salinger and The Catcher in the Rye’s Holden Caulfield. This source backs up Esther’s feeling of freedom, in the context of her being able to speak beyond herself. Esther is beginning to realize that she has been unknowing and that it is just the beginning of her finding out the world around her.

Early in the novel, Esther expresses her dissatisfaction with the nature of mentoring, observing that "all the old ladies I ever knew wanted to teach me something, but I suddenly didn't think they had anything to teach me" (5). Added to the list of problematic mentors and mothers could be Mrs. Willard, with all of her negative associations as potential mother-in-law. She, like those mentioned specifically by Esther, represent conformity to others' expectations. Esther's problem with mentoring and modeling is not limited to older women. It extends as well as Doreen and Betsy, who represent conflicting images of Esther. Doreen is referred to by the narrator as "one of my troubles" rather than one of her friends (4). Esther perceives Betsy as an attempted rescuer, saying she behaved "as if she were trying to save me in some way" (5). This resentment toward those women who try to help her can be read as a reflection of Esther's fear of conformity.

The novel, The Bell Jar, is a half autobiography and half fictional story written by Sylvia Plath. It follows the main character, Esther Greenwood, in first person point of view through the comforts of high society in college all the way to the asylum for the insane. While the setting is in the 1950's, the book has stood the test of time by not only being a story that discusses difficult issues but also challenges the social pressures of that time.

Sylvia Plath was a troubled writer to say the least, not only did she endure the loss of her father a young age but she later on “attempted suicide at her home and was hospitalized, where she underwent psychiatric treatment” for her depression (Dunn). Writing primarily as a poet, she only ever wrote a single novel, The Bell Jar. This fictional autobiography “[chronicles] the circumstances of her mental collapse and subsequent suicide attempt” but from the viewpoint of the fictional protagonist, Esther Greenwood, who suffers the same loss and challenges as Plath (Allen 890). Due to the novel’s strong resemblance to Plath’s own history it was published under the pseudonym “Victoria Lucas”. In The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath expresses the

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.

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

When Esther first arrives in New York, she doesn't have the same reaction that most of the other girls around her have. She enforces this reaction when she says “I guess I should have been excited the way most of the other girls were, but I couldn't get myself to react.” From a psychological perspective we could tell that something is deeply wrong with her. She is isolating herself from others. According to Saul McLeod, the author of the article called “Psycho dynamic Approach” states that “our behaviors and feelings as adults are powerfully affected by the unconscious thoughts” . This means that unconscious are a product of behaviors and feelings. She is unable to think in a rational way because of her inability to control the balance between her conscious and unconscious thoughts.

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

The Bell Jar is a novel written in, 1963 written by Sylvia Plath. It is a story about a girl who under goes many traumatic life events that had the destiny to make or break her. The things she used to enjoy in life are no longer bringing joy to her life. She can’t find anything that gives her the will to go on. The Bell Jar is a story that will take reader on a journey with a girl who lets the gender roles of 1950s get the best of her. She lets people tell her what she can and cannot do and loses what it means to become your own person. The Bell Jar teaches the audience about the expectations, opportunities or restrictions on American Women in the 1950’s. As gender roles have become more diverse between a man and a woman, it is still more

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

The author starts here, because this is where the internship for the magazine starts. This is also when she starts to feel numb and feels that something is wrong with her. This is the beginning of Esther 's journey with this feeling of nothing. The author wants us to go through the experience of thinking something is wrong. That she doesn’t feel anything with her. Plath wants us to feel that realization with Esther. She wants us to actually realize that feeling of nothing. Of feeling numb and not having any emotion of anything at all. Besides being sad. She introduces one of the only people she connects with during her time in

Due to this Esther is surprised when she sees Dr. Nolan as a psychiatrist as she did not think that a woman could be at a high position like the one Dr. Nolan was at. Although Esther is living the life every girl wishes to live she feels unhappy. Esther holds poetry and literature close to her heart but due to gender double standards, Esther’s mother discourages her to follow her dreams and learn shorthand instead in order to become a good housewife. Men were allowed to pursue their dreams and were encouraged to study and become successful. Esther feels that although she is a well educated woman, her future will not be bright. Upon returning from her internship, Esther finds out that she has not been accepted to the summer writing school, this confuses her about her future and she begins to lose control over her life. Double roles in the area of education and careers caused a lot of grief for Esther thus resulting in the beginning of an identity crisis which eventually becomes so severe that it leads to depression.

Sylvia Plath, the author of The Bell Jar, writes in a very simple and ordinary but exceptionally unique way. She put her whole young genuine heart and soul into this semi-autobiography. Her first person point of view allows the reader to really engage with the characters thoughts, specifically Esther Greenwood and her perspective on everything. In The Bell Jar, Esther Greenwood encounters the coming of many things, including age and mental illness. While the coming of age is normal for the majority of society, the coming of mental illness is abnormal. With that being said, many may classify Esther Greenwood as abnormal and deviant but in all reality,