Confinement In The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath

“To the person in the bell jar, blank and stopped as a dead baby, the world itself is the bad dream". “The Bell Jar”, by Sylvia Plath illustrates the feeling of being trapped mentally and physically. Esther’s sense of confinement is the manifestation of her mental illness.
The heroin addict in The Bell Jar, is a talented young woman who has several issues to deal with before continuing with her life. The majority of Esther’s issues seem centered around her mother; the resentment she has towards her mother shows clearly. Since Plath never goes into depth of Esther’s relationship with her mother, the audience has to guess at their history from reading about the current relationship.
Her relationship with the other characters throughout the novel expose more about her as well. Her relationship with Doreen allows Esther to be a follower; she doesn’t speak for herself and doesn’t draw attention to herself while she is around Doreen. On the other hand, the relationship with her boyfriend seems a bit off as she appears to be obsessed with him when he doesn’t notice her. However, when Buddy does notice her she struggles to keep the attention to a minimum. Esther’s unordinary behavior is …show more content…
While the other half of the novel carries a sense of confinement by the bell jar. The feeling of being pressured into having a family and succeeding in a career is one of the social expectations Esther feels is pushed onto her. As well as behaving properly, relating to her sexual lifestyle. The theme of societal pressure lingers into the asylum as these individuals feel that they won’t be able to fit into society because of their illnesses. Sylvia Plath includes multiple illustrations where Esther visualizes herself confined. For example, when she tries to commit suicide she is found holed up in her basement; to me it screams that she feels trapped and needs