The Bell Jar Essay

wore down on her mental state. She fell sick from food poisoning, was electrocuted through shock therapy, and underwent dangerous suicidal thoughts. Each time when she persevered through the pain, she emerged a stronger, newly-born person. In The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath uses plot development and characterization to illustrate that often times, painful experiences are necessary for a person to progress in life. Although Esther felt awful while she was suffering from food poisoning from the Ladies’

Although the novel, The Bell Jar reflects Sylvia Plath’s psychological distress, the poem book Ariel, expresses more of the author’s dark, depressive thoughts and feelings. In The Bell Jar, the main character’s experiences reflect the mental breakdown Sylvia had at the time. In poem book Ariel, Sylvia’s poems have darker and depressing themes. Both books express Sylvia’s declining mental state in the ominous way they are written, the tragic ends, and sad themes. Sylvia Plath is a great

Marilyn Monroe is an example of a a real life Esther Greenwood. Though Plath essentially based the character off of her own life and experiences, the Bell Jar was a commentary on women’s roles in the 50’s era. Many could relate to the themes of the book, including women’s sexuality and roles in society, as well as the way that mental illness was handled back in that time period. Marilyn Monroe is a classic example of how these issues were ignored or considered normal in that time period. Much like

word. Despite its prevalence, people just do not talk about it due to its stigma. Depression manifests itself in sufferers with recurrent thoughts of death and dying. Sometimes these thoughts progress into thoughts and even plans for suicide. In The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath writes from the protagonist’s point of view, who is known as Esther Greenwood; therefore readers witness first hand Esther’s personal journey as her thoughts become increasingly centered on death and she becomes disenchanted with what

having babies as a benefit in helping them grow into a mother, teacher, and a role model. It helps shape them into a more independent and stronger woman and motivates them to get back up when they are feeling low. Esther Greenwood, from the book Bell Jar, written by Sylvia Plath, deals with many societal pressure problems for being a woman. The expectations for her were not met because she wants to go out of the societal norms and does what she wants. It is not easy for her to get out of her shell

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

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

psychological issues. In The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, protagonist Esther Greenwood is greatly affected by societal morays which placed enormous pressure on conforming to social standards. This pressure to conform resulted in the suppression of her individuality. People who did not conform were often portrayed as unfeeling, and the distinction between the mentally ill and “normal” people was often artificial. Esther's feelings of being confined under a bell jar not only describes her depression

The Bell Jar: Beyond the Title Each day with depression is a war in one’s own mind, with every decision being a new battle to fight. Even getting out of bed can be an activity that takes up most of one’s energy when coping with this disorder. Depression is no novel mental illness-- between the multi-million dollar Cymbalta commercials and the movement to destigmatize mental illness as a whole, there are few who do not have at least a basic understanding of what the disorder entails for those that

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. The Bell Jar definitely deserves to be called