The Bell Jar

"The bell jar" takes place in America, partly in New York and partly in Boston for about one year. The protagonist's name is Esther Greenwood who grew up in Boston and has just finished her junior year of college. Esther behaves strangely in reaction to the society. Society expects Esther to be constantly cheerful, but her dark, melancholy nature resists perkiness. She becomes anxious with the execution of the Rosenberg's and the cadavers etcetera. Society also expects Esther to remain a virgin until she marries a nice boy, but she sees the hypocrisy of this. Esther is inexperienced but also observant, poetic, and kind. I think the writer has described her self-absorption, confusion, and naпvetй very well. Her inability to fit into any distinct role leads to her breakdown and suicide attempt. Largely because of her mental illness, Esther behaves selfishly. She does not consider the effect her suicide attempt has on her mother nor her friends, because her own terrifying world occupies her thoughts completely.

"The bell jar" is told by Esther Greenwood herself. She is the narrator, therefore this novel is not told in an all knowing-perspective. It makes the reader to really believe this is a true story, and in a way, it actually is. It is partly an autobiographic novel telling us about the author's Silvia Plath's life. It describes her mental breakdown and suicide attempt. We follow her descent into and return from madness. Esther was suffering from an extreme depression. She had not been sleeping; she hadn't washed her hair or her clothes for a long time. She wrote a letter to a friend but then tore it into little pieces. When she had a date with a sailor she told him her name was Elly, an orphan from Chicago. At this time Esther can't do anything right. For instance, she tried very hard to kill herself by any of the traditional ways (drowning, hanging) but she just couldn't get it right. After her suicide attempt she planned to run away, hitchhiking somewhere, but a few things stopped her: she couldn't read any maps when she was lost and felt misplaced, she lost track of time and always said: "It's too late." To sum up; her depression made her feel disoriented, in time and place.

The novel shows how the unkind atmosphere of the 1950s and 1960s objectifies the female as a product and subjects her to a depersonalized and unimportant role in society.

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