I chose to read The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath because I love her poetry.  Her ideas always draw me in and make me think of the world around me.  The history of the book interested me.  Plath's husband, Ted Hughes, was dominant in their relationship and constantly put down Plath and her writing; he even burned some of her poems and the other novel she wrote, as he condemned them bad writing.  I wondered why this book made it through to publishing and escaped the wrath of Hughes.

I think this book was published because of the stereotypes it perpetuated.  Plath, just like Esther, struggled to find her place in the world as a woman.  Both women wanted to be poets and even though their writing talents brought them joy and recognition, society expected they would settle down and marry nonetheless.  It seemed impossible to adjoin the two lifestyles, leaving Plath and Esther feeling stuck in life.

Seeing only becoming a writer or getting married as her choices for the future, Esther sought a romantic relationship of her own after learning of Buddy Willard's past.  She found Irwin, "a tall young man with a rather ugly and bespectacled, but intelligent face" (225).  Esther decided he was the one, but nothing went as planned.  After spending the night with Irwin, she started bleeding uncontrollably, "the blood trickling down my legs and oozing, stickily, into each black patent leather shoe" (230).  After rushing to the hospital, she learned her case was one in a million, and could have resulted in her death.  The experience left her feeling frightened and empty, unlike how Buddy's experience gave him joy.

This experience ties back to the symbol of mirrors throughout the text.  Mirrors show an outer appearance, something Esther works hard to create.  She has expectations for her life and even when she is deep beneath the bell jar, she only allows others to see a perfectly fine girl.  However, on the inside she is breaking.  She cannot decide about her future and feels as if what she wants is intangible; her relationships are nothing like she imagined; a fun time in New York was wasted due to her ennui.  The mirrors show Esther's struggle with the way she thinks her life should be and the way it ends up.  They represent the societal views and their input on how people should lead their lives, or at least what parts of their lives they should show to others.

This distortion of her views also ties in with the bell jar, a symbol Esther mentions when she feels trapped within her feelings.  A bell jar is an instrument used most commonly in science that rests over an object and keeps out the air.  She always talks of how "the bell jar hung, suspended, a few feet above my head" (214).  She feels separated from the rest of the world stuck in a jar, where everyone else can determine her place in life but herself.  Although this shows her distortion as well and the expectation of others, the bell jar represents the madness that over takes Esther.

The book also shows how madness can happen to anyone at any point.  From the beginning, Esther seemed perfectly normal to me, and I could not see her entering a hospital.  Be that as it may, as the book progressed and I read more about her feelings, interpretations, and thoughts, I saw how slowly but surely the bell jar captured her and caused her the feelings she had.  In fact, the way the book is written with the slow over take of Esther, it makes it seem feasible and possible for the most rational person to undergo this change.

This idea returns me to think of the author.  I know the book was inspired by her stay at a psychiatric hospital, and that Esther's experience parallels hers.  The looming bell jar above Esther's head shows how madness is always there, quietly sitting and ready to strike at any moment.  Even after the help Plath received, she succumbed to her depression and madness; she killed herself whilst only in her thirties.  I have often thought of how sad it was for her life to end that way, and her only surviving novel gives insight into her case as well.

I would highly recommend this book after completing it.  I love how the reader is taken on the journey along with Esther, how her madness is rationalized and believable.  The book shows the pressures people face as they grow up, something all can relate to.  I like the different perspective of this time in a person's life shown by the book, demonstrating how this process is different for everyone.  Everyone leads their own life, makes their own choices, and no right or wrong way exists.

As the third section of The Bell Jar begins, Esther is in a room that feels safe “because there were no windows” (127).   This is the office of Doctor Gordon, and from her description it is clear she is stuck beyond getting herself out of the bell jar.  He decides the best way to aid is by giving shock treatment. 

Nonetheless, despite this treatment, Esther continues to think of her suicide.  She carries around with her a “blue jiffy box containing nineteen Gillette blades” should the perfect moment arise (146).   She goes on for days thinking of the best ways to carry out this deed, and eventually gets up her courage.  “I took the glass of water and the bottle of pills and went down into the cellar” (168).  For days she was asleep, lost to the world, but by chance she was found, and as I suspected from the beginning, ended up in a hospital.

During her stay, the nurses make it a point to hide Esther’s reflection from her.  Mirrors, as the one she saved for her friend at a dinner party in New York, come back into play.  She eventually gets a hold of one and is shocked.  “You couldn’t tell whether the person…was a man or a woman, because their hair was shaved off…One side of the person’s face was purple” (174).  The only way Esther realizes this is her is that the picture smiles when she does.  Her inability to recognize herself shows her struggle to understand all that happened. 

Confused just as Esther, I still wondered whether she would take a turn for the better.  Her rescue after the incident with the sleeping pills seemed hopeful, but her failure to recognize herself and the care at the state hospital seemed to suggest otherwise.  When a rich writer friend of hers came along, I felt the same hope I ended the previous section with.

Due to the kindness and money of the writer, Esther was moved to a private hospital with better care for her illness.  Although she had to obey many rules and was under constant watch due to her suicide attempt, this care made me feel she could and would overcome her struggles.  Being a way for Sylvia Plath to deal with her stay at McLean, I was nervous the book would end in a similar way her life did.  This turning point also made me think of how Plath felt when leaving the hospital.  After the expert care she received due to taking many sleeping pills herself, I was glad to know at the time of the book she felt hopeful for her own case as well.

Esther seems to be acting more cynical as the story progresses.  She focuses on Buddy Willard, her old boyfriend, who everyone, including Buddy, thought she would marry.  She thinks of him as a hypocrite, as he speaks of purity although "all the time he'd been having an affair with that tarty waitress" (71).  Esther is angered by this perceived lie and feels lesser than Buddy for not having had the same experiences.  Her relationship with Buddy and the other men in her life leave her feeling inadequate. 

Pressure is also put on Esther about her future, a time she cannot imagine.  She used to be so sure of her dreams of writing, but as the weight of the world weighs on her and the bell jar begins to stifle out the air around her, nothing is certain.  She thinks of a fig tree, the fruit all of her options in life.  “One fig was a husband…and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe…and another fig was Constantin…and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion” (77).  The possibilities seem endless, and also out of reach.  Although the poet was a fig Esther earlier would have grabbed, the pressures of the time being a woman made others assume settling down and marrying was the fig she would choose.

These feelings and uncertainties grow and grow until, “The thought that I might kill myself formed in my mind coolly as a tree or a flower” (97).  Esther’s life away from New York saddened her even more than her experiences in the state.  No clear future was visible, and every option seemed unattainable.  Even when she tried to write, nothing came of her efforts.

The halfway point of the book ended with Esther’s doctor giving her the name of Doctor Gordon, a psychiatrist (126).  She was entirely beneath the bell jar at this point, and it eventually became too much for her and others to bear.  What will happen now?

The cover of the book shows a woman’s legs in dark blues and blacks.  Her feet are glued together and no motion is evident.  The cut of her dress forms the same shape as a bell jar, descending below her knee and trapping her there.  From the look of this picture I thought the book was going to be negative and sad.  Esther’s place now appears this way, and I wonder if she will improve.  Sylvia Plath’s name is written at the top in pink lettering, a contrast from the dark picture of the woman.  She eventually succumbed to her thoughts of death, and even though Esther is a fictitious representation of her, I feel there is hope for her in the rest of the book.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath tells a fictitious story inspired by the author’s stay at McLean Psychiatric Hospital.  Although with the knowledge of the book’s inspiration and the title I discerned the main character would also spend some time away in a hospital, Esther Greenwood seems normal enough at the beginning; in fact, she seems like she has her life all together.  Without her burst of commentary throughout the book, I would never have seen her stay at the hospital coming.

The story begins as Esther has an internship in New York, touring the city and learning from magazine editors about writing.  She won this opportunity through her writing, a hobby that is also her passion.  Although she thinks, "I was supposed to be having the time of my life," suggesting the internship is not enjoyable to her, to the reader her experiences seems full of entertainment and fun (2).  She goes to lavish parties, has access to all the caviar she can eat, and works along side others her age who share common interests.  

Among the seeming good times, I began to notice, just as Esther did from early on, that something is off for her.  She looks out at the city and describes it "flat as a poster, glittering and blinking, but it might just as well not have been there at all" (19).  While her friends also on the internship have the time of their lives going to all of the events and meeting new people, Esther is withdrawn.  Nothing seems to impress her and she stays on the outskirts of the activities.

A symbol of Esther's withdrawal is the presents the girls get as they tour the city and meet famous writers.  At one party monogrammed mirrors lined the table, and Esther grabbed her friend's compact who could not attend.  Later she gave the mirror to the friend, and they "both burst out laughing" (49).  Even all of the positives from the internship meant nothing to her.  The presents, which others enjoyed, passed by her like the rest of the day’s moments.

These feelings are juxtaposed as Esther looks back into her past.  She had emotional and heartfelt reactions beforehand.  For example, an old boyfriend of hers, Buddy Willard, once invited her to the Yale Junior Prom.  Esther was in college at the time, and on a floor with many older girls who made fun of her for staying in and studying night after night.  When Buddy sent her the letter inviting her, she "let out a couple of yips and ran into the house shouting, 'I'm going I'm going I'm going'" (60).  Full of energy, Esther told everyone of the event. 

In New York she keeps to herself and seem to stare blankly out at the world, taking advantage of the opportunity she won.  Based on the way she acted years ago, I found her behavior unnatural, an early sign of her breaking point.  I wonder how her downward spiral will play out through the rest of the book.