Electroshock Therapy is a treatment option for patients with depression that induces surges of electricity that cause small seizures in the brain. Despite an 80% success rate, this method, when used incorrectly, has the potential to incapacitate patients, worsening their condition. One of the few unlucky people whose life was drastically changed bythe inadequate application of this treatment was Sylvia Plath. Shaping American feminism and contemporary poetry, Sylvia Plath is one of the most renowned and appreciated poets of her time (“Blackberrying” 28). Though Plath was largely recognized for her poetry, she also wrote a novel. The Bell Jar, published in January 1963, was not only reflective of Plath’s life, but also focused on the limitations
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At the end of the novel, Ester is released from the hospital with a hopeful mindset, but is still weary of the possibility of becoming sad again. Ester questioned, “How do I know that someday—at college, in Europe, somewhere, anywhere—the bell jar, with its stifling distortions, wouldn’t descend again,” (Plath 241). The ending leaves readers with an ambiguous view of Ester’s future. However, Plath did not allow herself to recover from her electroshock therapy gone awry and ended her life in February 1963, only a month after the publication of The Bell Jar. (“Blackberrying” 29). Plath looked at death in an unsettling, peaceful way, stating in The Bell Jar that “the thought that [she] might kill [herself] formed in [her] mind coolly as a tree or a flower” (Plath 97). Plath blatantly wrote of her devastating sadness in her poems and novel, illustrating the tragic reality that those with mental illnesses struggle for happiness. In addition to the obvious hardships of those with depression, Plath’s dismay towards her internship, her first suicide attempt, and her failed marriage led her to the creation of The Bell Jar and her self-destruction. Today, she is remembered as being one of many whose cries for help were left unanswered. Through Sylvia Plath 's example, people can see the world through the eyes of somebody with exceedingly negative views. Her novel teaches the reader that those who have pessimistic outlooks on life will have an equally disastrous
At the end of the novel, Ester is released from the hospital with a hopeful mindset, but is still weary of the possibility of becoming sad again. Ester questioned, “How do I know that someday—at college, in Europe, somewhere, anywhere—the bell jar, with its stifling distortions, wouldn’t descend again,” (Plath 241). The ending leaves readers with an ambiguous view of Ester’s future. However, Plath did not allow herself to recover from her electroshock therapy gone awry and ended her life in February 1963, only a month after the publication of The Bell Jar. (“Blackberrying” 29). Plath looked at death in an unsettling, peaceful way, stating in The Bell Jar that “the thought that [she] might kill [herself] formed in [her] mind coolly as a tree or a flower” (Plath 97). Plath blatantly wrote of her devastating sadness in her poems and novel, illustrating the tragic reality that those with mental illnesses struggle for happiness. In addition to the obvious hardships of those with depression, Plath’s dismay towards her internship, her first suicide attempt, and her failed marriage led her to the creation of The Bell Jar and her self-destruction. Today, she is remembered as being one of many whose cries for help were left unanswered. Through Sylvia Plath 's example, people can see the world through the eyes of somebody with exceedingly negative views. Her novel teaches the reader that those who have pessimistic outlooks on life will have an equally disastrous