The Bell Jar

One integral metaphor within The Bell Jar is that of the fig tree, which Esther uses to describe her life. She envisions her life as a fig tree spreading out its branches into various futures she could have. One branch symbolizes what society expects of her: to have a husband, children, and a “happy home” (Plath 84). Other branches symbolize a combination of what society expects of her and what she expects of herself: to be a “famous poet,” a “brilliant professor,” or an “amazing editor” (Plath…

Sylvia Plath’s 1963 novel “The Bell Jar”, briefs the story of an amazing, gifted poet, Esther Greenwood, whose falling apart piece by piece due to the pressure of society. Throughout the novel Esther gave many signs on how she's slowly falling apart. When working for the Ladies’ Day magazine in New York, Esther develops a mental illness. An illness that makes her unable to sleep then leads to her not being able to read and write. She then tries to commit suicide multiple times due to the lack of…

In the following novels, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and Breakfast At Tiffany’s by Truman Capote, the stories are both told in the past about important parts in the narrator’s lives. The central characters in both novels are having a hard time in the search for their own identities. In The Bell Jar, the narrator, Esther Greenwood, is very unstable and has a hard time finding herself due to intrinsic problems. In Breakfast At Tiffany’s, the central character, Holly Golightly, is having trouble…

(“Insecurity”). The connotation associated with insecurities is that they are rooted from uncertainty of society’s views. This is interesting because society’s opinions can also be deemed unstable. Sylvia Plath comments on this relationship in her novel, The Bell Jar. By telling the relatable story of a protagonist, Esther, who faces society-induced depression, the author highlights the idea that words tend to make an impression on people. Esther cares what people think, being a breath of fresh…

Society, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “a social circle or a group of social circles having a clearly marked identity.” Obtaining a clearly marked identity is easier said than done. The Bell Jar, written by Sylvia Plath, is a novel about nineteen year-old Esther Greenwood struggling to find her place in society. In her struggle, Esther falls into a deep depression and attempts suicide, causing her to be admitted to a mental hospital. Societal expectations of everyone, women…

A mental illness can arouse in any human due to a plethora of factors. It can impair one’s behaviour, thinking, mood, perception, and social environment causing a person to emotionally deteriorate in their life. In The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, Esther Greenwood’s mental illness is sparked by her father’s absence, her attempt to fit into society’s expectations, and her rejection towards forming intimate relationships. Esther’s initial spark to her depression is caused by her father’s absence…

A Bell Jar The notion of ideal gender roles that have been brought up by the post-world war two era are self-evident in the novel, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. The title of the novel itself represents how the protagonist, Esther, feels about the pressure of holding up to proper feminine decorum put into place by society. This is obvious when Esther begins to explain about her life choices, as represented by the fig tree, where each fig is a path that Esther can choose to live, however choosing…

“The Bell Jar” by Victoria Lucas (Pseudonym of Sylvia Plath) was first time published on 14 January 1963 in the U.S of America after her death in a same year. This book was written as novel by Sylvia Lucas, but in comparison with her life before this book, we can clearly say that it is autobiographical book, where the author tries to wright her personal story but under different name, Plath choose Esther Greenwood as her protégé in the book. Both of them had experience with magazines and…

The Representation of the Bell Jar As long as suffering exists, so too does the search for its explanation. The human urge to romanticize pain explains this pursuit, but mental illness is unfortunately unyielding to simple justifications. In Sylvia Plath’s “The Bell Jar,” protagonist Esther Greenwood struggles with her mental illness in many ways, most of all in finding the strength to understand it. While wrestling with her separation from the world, she explores the ways in which to represent…

1960s when Sylvia Plath penned The Bell Jar. In the essence of her book Plath shows the already present gap between someone's mind and their body and how depression, or any mental illness, can widen the space even further. Symbolism pertaining to the gap is described when main character Esther Greenwood uses objects and metaphors as representations of her depression. The story follows Esther from the onset of her illness all the way to her recovery. In The Bell Jar the struggle of mind vs body…