Compare the Ways Plath and Kesey Present Psychological Disorders and вð‚?minds Under Stressð²ð‚™ in the Bell Jar and one Flew over the Cuckooð²ð‚™s Nest?

�One flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ and �The Bell Jar’ can be linked considerably. Both the novels in question are products of the author’s own experiences and the specific culture in which they were written. They both draw upon similar events throughout, yet the philosophy and reason behind them is often significantly contrasting. However, it cannot be argued that their presentation of psychological disorder and the pressure that it forces on the mind are intrinsically linked due to the circumstances in which they take place.

One of the most patent presentations of minds under stress is reflected in the way that Plath and Kesey portray a gender dominated society. Both novels display a governing gender that suppresses the other, labelling them вЂ?mad’ in a society that they rule. In вЂ?One Flew OverвЂ¦Ð²Ð‚™ most of the patient’s lives have been heavily affected and destroyed by women. Nurse Ratched is the most obvious example of this, and rules the ward with “an iron fist”. She represents the emasculation and dehumanisation of society. Her oppressive and matriarchal nature is reinforced by her nickname, вЂ?Big Nurse’, a possible reference to the Orwellian character вЂ?Big Brother’, with whom she shares many traits. вЂ?The Bell Jar’ shares this theme, although it is a patriarchal rather than matriarchal society that Esther inhabits. However, unlike вЂ?One Flew OverвЂ¦Ð²Ð‚™ Plath’s novel does not contain a main antagonist such as Ratched, and it is a combination of characters that inflict a domineering environment upon Esther. One such character is Buddy Willard. Like Ratched, he represents on the surface a near perfect stereotype; the ideal 1950s American male. Esther even remarks that he was the “most wonderful boy I’d ever seen” However, once Esther delves deeper into his persona she discovers that, akin to Ratched, he has fundamental flaws that taint his wholesome image. His constant need for order and plan bores Esther, much like Ratched frustrates the patients in вЂ?One Flew OverвЂ¦Ð²Ð‚™ His patriarchal nature also surfaces when he states that poems are like “dust” and that her passion will waver once she becomes a “mother”. Interestingly, the patriarchal society that Esther lives in also includes women further up the line that have unknowingly been sucked into the social order. These include Mrs. Willard, who has embraced the role of вЂ?home maker’ and encourages Esther to follow suit. Esther’s own mother, Mrs. Greenwood, sends her an article highlighting the importance of keeping her virginity.

She convinces Esther to attempt to study shorthand, in the hope that she’d commit to the social hierarchy and become a secretary or typist. Esther states that she “couldn’t stand the idea of being either one”, emphasizing her distaste for the patriarchal world that she lives in. Even seemingly powerful women like Jay Cee succumb to societal pressure and expect Esther to start a family or settle down. This is also demonstrated when a female lawyer, a powerful position regardless of gender, states that women had to be “pure” for their husbands, but emanates clear double standards when discussing men. A man’s emotions and needs are “different” from a woman’s in the novel appropriate to the roles which society has placed them in. This idea of sleepwalking into a one-gender world is also apparent in вЂ?One Flew OverвЂ¦Ð²Ð‚™ albeit with Nurse Ratched delegating her duties to her aides, the black boys. Hand picked by her, they “perform her bidding before she even thinks it”, and have submitted to her will easily. Dr. Spivey, the spineless ward doctor, is another example in Kesey’s novel that follows this trend, as even he is “careful not to let himself come right out and laugh”.

Other women within вЂ?One Flew OverвЂ¦Ð²Ð‚™ also represent a repressive society, such as Billy Bibbit’s mother. Ratched provokes and terrifies Bibbit with warnings “Mrs Bibbits always been so proud of your discretion. This is going to disturb her terribly”. The fear that Billy shows after hearing this “N-n-no!” illustrates how the matriarchal society within the ward causes men to suffer and lose their masculinity. Bromden’s mother is also a significant example of this, with the Chief explaining how his once proud and “real big” father was reduced to a suffering alcoholic because his mother made him “too little to fight anymore”. The suggestion that women are presented as castrators is also noteworthy, as throughout the novel both McMurphy and Bromden make references. When Rawler castrates himself, the Chief observes that “all he had to do was wait”, implying that the institution and the women running it would have castrated him in the long run. This can be related to the Freudian theory of вЂ?Penis Envy’, in the sense that because Ratched and other female oppressors lack the manhood usually associated with men, they must exert their dominance in other ways. The fact that the hospital, run by women, treats only men is a further example of the matriarchal society that Kesey creates within the novel. Perhaps the most obvious reference to castration is when Nurse Ratched suggests an “operation” for McMurphy. Of course, she is referring to a lobotomy, but it could be interpreted as another “besides, it wouldn’t be any use to lop вЂ?em off. I got another pair in my nightstand”. Both procedures remove a man’s distinctiveness, liberty and ability for sexual expression. In this sense the operations are symbolically the same. The general consensus seems to agree with Harding, who complains, “We are victims of a matriarchy here.”

Furthermore, in �the Bell Jar’, the restricted role of women in 1950s America stifles Esther. Her desire to write is conflicted between the pressure she feels by society to settle down and start a family. While Esther’s intellectual talents earn her prizes and scholarships, many people assume that she most wants to become a wife and mother. Girls at her college mock her and her studious ways, and only begin to show her esteem once she starts dating a handsome boy, Buddy Willard. The