The Bell Jar is a novel by Sylvia Plath about Esther Greenwood, a young woman who moves to New York city for a summer internship. The book chronicles her progressing state of depression, her attempts to continue writing fiction, her mistrust of a psychiatrist, Dr. Gordon and her attempted suicides. After swallowing sleeping pills, Esther is found days later, still alive and then committed to a mental asylum where she receives electroconvulsive therapy. The "bell jar" becomes a metaphor for suffocating depression.
The novel is written using a series of flashbacks that show up parts of Esther's past. The flashbacks primarily deal with Esther's relationship with Buddy Willard. The reader also learns more about her early college years.
The Bell Jar addresses the question of socially acceptable identity. It examines Esther's "quest to forge her own identity, to be herself rather than what others expect her to be." Esther is expected to become a housewife, and a self-sufficient woman, without the options to achieve independence. Esther feels she is a prisoner to domestic duties and she fears the loss of her inner self. The Bell Jar sets out to highlight the problems with oppressive patriarchal society in mid-20th-century America. The men in Esther's life are all oppressive, whether it is in a physical manner or an emotional one.
Already have an account? Log In Now