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Essays on The Bell Jar

Brief description of the bell jar.

The Bell Jar is a semi-autobiographical novel by Sylvia Plath, depicting the mental breakdown of a young woman named Esther Greenwood. It explores themes of mental illness, gender roles, and societal expectations. The novel is considered a classic of feminist literature and has been widely acclaimed for its candid portrayal of mental health struggles.

Importance of Writing Essays on This Topic

Essays on The Bell Jar provide an opportunity for critical analysis of the novel's themes and characters. They also encourage discussions on mental health, feminism, and the societal pressures faced by women. Writing about The Bell Jar allows for personal reflection and exploration of important social and psychological issues.

Tips on Choosing a Good Topic

• Consider themes such as mental illness, gender, and identity for an engaging essay topic.
• Look for specific scenes or characters that provoke strong emotions or present complex issues.
• Explore the historical and cultural context of the novel to find a unique and meaningful topic.

Essay Topics

• The portrayal of mental illness in The Bell Jar.
• The impact of societal expectations on Esther Greenwood's mental health.
• Feminist themes in The Bell Jar.
• My personal connection to the character of Esther Greenwood.
• The relevance of The Bell Jar to contemporary discussions on mental health.
• How reading The Bell Jar changed my perspective on gender roles.

Concluding Thought

Exploring The Bell Jar through essay writing offers an opportunity for in-depth analysis and personal reflection. By delving into the novel's themes and characters, readers can gain a deeper understanding of mental health, feminism, and societal pressures. Get started on your essay and engage critically with this influential work.

Social Issues Identification in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar

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Analysis of Esther's Identity in The Bell Jar

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A Theme Mental Illness in The Bell Jar and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

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The Past and The Present in Kingston's and Plath's Works

A look at the character of lady lazarus in the bell jar.

January 14, 1963

Sylvia Plath

Novel, Autobiography, Autobiographical Novel, Psychological Fiction, Roman à clef, Fictional Autobiography

Esther Greenwood, Doreen, Joan, Doctor Nolan, Doctor Gordon, Mrs. Greenwood, Buddy Willard, Mrs. Willard, Mr. Willard, Constantin, Irwin, Jay Cee, Lenny Shepherd, Philomena Guinea, Marco, Betsy, Hilda

January 1963, by Sylvia Plath

Roman à clef (novel with a key)

The work, a thinly veiled autobiography, chronicles a young woman’s mental breakdown and eventual recovery, while also exploring societal expectations of women in the 1950s.

The Bell Jar offers an in-depth meditation on womanhood and presents a complex, frequently disturbing portrait of what it meant to be female in 1950s America. The themes include women and femininity, family, sex, society and class, madness, identity, transformation, literature and writing.

Esther Greenwood, Doreen, Joan, Doctor Nolan, Doctor Gordon, Mrs. Greenwood, Buddy Willard, Mrs. Willard, Mr. Willard, Constantin, Irwin, Jay Cee, Lenny Shepherd, Philomena Guinea, Marco

The book contains many references to real people and events in Plath's life. Plath's magazine scholarship was at Mademoiselle magazine beginning in 1953. Philomena Guinea is based on author Olive Higgins Prouty, Plath's own patron, who funded Plath's scholarship to study at Smith College. Plath was rejected from a Harvard course taught by Frank O'Connor. Dr. Nolan is thought to be based on Ruth Beuscher, Plath's therapist, whom she continued seeing after her release from the hospital.

Sylvia Plath committed suicide one month after the publication of The Bell Jar, her only novel.

“If you expect nothing from somebody you are never disappointed.” “I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am.” “The silence depressed me. It wasn't the silence of silence. It was my own silence.” “To the person in the bell jar, blank and stopped as a dead baby, the world itself is a bad dream.”

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Masculine World in “The Bell Jar” by Sylvia Plath Essay

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Introduction

The drama of the self-inflicted death of Sylvia Plath has detracted a significant portion of public attention from her only novel— The Bell Jar —which was published in 1963 (McCrum, 2015). However, after the shock caused by the writer’s suicide had waned, the book was republished in 1966 and became a modern classic (McCrum, 2015). The Bell Jar is a story of the transformation of a young woman who despises the idea of being servile to men into a person who serves them in order to escape the psychiatric institution to which she has been committed because of her numerous suicide attempts. It is also a story of male domination, victimization, and control as seen by a woman who struggles to find self in the intricate and glamorous maze of New York City. The book’s protagonist—Esther—is caught in a trap of madness that manifests in a feeling of being placed under a bell jar that stifles and alienates her. The book is filled with culturally-ingrained imagery of women that was so common in the 1950s. As the story unravels and the woman’s life starts spiraling out of control, the suffocating presence of a glass jar becomes even more static and tangible, allowing readers to see in it the reflection of the male world with its destructive forms and aggressive language. The aim of this paper is to explore how the protagonist’s attitude toward men changes over the course of the story. It will also examine what role her self-protective response to the treatment of women plays in her disease and recovery.

At the beginning of the novel, Esther knows nothing about men. She lacks enthusiasm and is utterly disinterested in things that move other girls of her age. Even though Esther is depressed, she passes herself off as girlish and comparatively happy in front of her acquaintances. Her lack of life experience makes her instantly believe her best friend Doreen that all men at Yale are dumb, leading her to the conviction that Billy—a Yale student—is also not particularly bright. Her disillusionment with life in the big city is exacerbated by an encounter with a short, older man who exudes boredom and, arguably, male dominance. Moreover, she witnesses how her friend’s romantic escapade with Lenny ends in disappointment and bitter frustration. It is clear that she thinks of men as overbearing, dominating figures because she associates the stern talk of Jay-Cee—a female character—with the authoritative manner of speech of Mr. Manzi. Moreover, she feels guilty about her deception of the chemistry teacher, thereby displaying an unconscious desire to play the submissive role of a woman who is not allowed to transgress against social norms put in place by patriarchy. Therefore, it can be argued that at the beginning of the novel, Esther only discovers the male world and her place in it. As the story progresses, her knowledge of men contributes to her alienation, thus exacerbating her disillusionment with the traditional female role, which eventually drives her insane.

In the middle of the book, the protagonist becomes completely disappointed in men as well as in the traditional role of a mother as prescribed to her by society. In the fifth chapter of the novel, Esther meets Buddy—Mrs. Willard’s son—whom she worshiped from afar. However, as the heroine gets to know him better, she realizes that a cloying feeling of admiration toward the man is replaced with indifference. Esther draws parallels between her hapless relationship with Buddy and a story about a fig tree that she had read in a book sent to her by the staff of the Ladies’ Day magazine. It makes her think about a time when Buddy called the poem “a piece of dust” and makes her regret taking everything he told her “as the honest-to-God truth” (Plath, 2012, p. 30). The boyfriend perfectly personifies the attitude of men toward women that was so prevalent among males of his generation. He does not support her aspiration to become a poet and believes that she will give up this dream as soon as she becomes pregnant. It can be argued that “a piece of dust” (Plath, 2012, p. 30) is an ample metaphor for her feelings toward men at this point in the novel. They are nothing more than tiny speckles of dust on the shiny surface of her descending jar of madness. At this point, Esther is completely disillusioned about men and slowly drifts toward her future mental breakdown by throwing her fashionable wardrobe away along with her sanity.

The ending of the novel is intensely grim and tinged with Esther’s madness brought about by her realization of the unfairness of the male-dominated world. Her unfortunate sexual experience plays a key role in her institutionalization, turning her “landscape” into a gigantic heap of miscellaneous items, such as cadavers, the fig tree, and the rock that fill her bottomless glass prison. She writes that “to the person in the bell jar, blank and stopped as a dead baby, the world itself is a bad dream” (Plath, 2012, p. 124). When Esther calls Irwin to ask him to pay the emergency room bill, the readers realize that her admiration for the man has given way to cold indifference. The woman recovers from her illness at the end of the novel, but most importantly, she also escapes the mental bonds of patriarchy.

Esther’s attitude toward men changes over the course of The Bell Jar from utter ignorance of the patriarchal values dominating Western culture at the beginning of the novel to utter indifference toward the opposite sex in the end. The sexual double standards that she witnesses in society and the ever-increasing pressure it exerts on women who are willing to give up motherhood for a career lead to her losing control. Self-propelling dissatisfaction with the masculine world precludes her from entering into meaningful discourse with society, which eventually contributes to attempted suicide.

McCrum, R. (2015). The 100 best novels: No 85-The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (1966). The Guardian. Web.

Plath, S. (2012). The Bell Jar . New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.

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IvyPanda. (2020, August 28). Masculine World in "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath. https://ivypanda.com/essays/masculine-world-in-the-bell-jar-by-sylvia-plath/

"Masculine World in "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath." IvyPanda , 28 Aug. 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/masculine-world-in-the-bell-jar-by-sylvia-plath/.

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IvyPanda . 2020. "Masculine World in "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath." August 28, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/masculine-world-in-the-bell-jar-by-sylvia-plath/.

1. IvyPanda . "Masculine World in "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath." August 28, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/masculine-world-in-the-bell-jar-by-sylvia-plath/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Masculine World in "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath." August 28, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/masculine-world-in-the-bell-jar-by-sylvia-plath/.

The Bell Jar

51 pages • 1 hour read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-12

Chapters 13-15

Chapters 16-18

Chapters 19-20

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Esther’s father features in The Bell Jar only in his absence—he died when she was a child. What role does his death, and Mrs. Greenwood’s reaction to it, play in Esther’s search for her own identity?

At what point does Esther go from spiraling to recovery? What factors play a role in her recovery?

Compare the characters of Doctor Gordon and Doctor Nolan. How do they approach Esther’s illness differently, and how do their different strategies affect her recovery?

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The Bell Jar: A Psychological Case Study

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Article details, stephanie tsank, university of california, san diego.

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The Bell Jar

Sylvia plath.

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Mind vs. Body

At its essence, The Bell Jar is an exploration of the divide between mind and body. This exploration unfolds most visibly in the development of Esther ’s mental illness, which she experiences as an estrangement of her mind from her body. As her illness amplifies, Esther loses control over her body, becoming unable to sleep, read, eat, or write in her own handwriting. She frequently catches her body making sounds or engaging in actions that…

Purity vs. Impurity

Esther remains preoccupied by questions of purity and impurity throughout the novel, framing them in different terms at different points in her development. She thinks about purity of body as well as purity of mind. Indeed, Esther often speaks of purity as a kind of spiritual transcendence that can be accessed through transcendence of the body. At novel’s start, she admires the clearness of vodka and imagines that drinking it into her body will purify…

Women and Social Expectations

The Bell Jar offers an in-depth meditation on womanhood and presents a complex, frequently disturbing portrait of what it meant to be female in 1950s America. Esther reflects often on the differences between men and women as well as on the different social roles they are expected to perform. Most of her reflections circulate around sex and career. Esther’s interactions with other female characters in the novel further complicate these reflections by presenting different stances…

Personal Ambition

Throughout The Bell Jar , Esther struggles to determine her personal ambitions and much of her growth by novel’s end owes to her clarified view of what she wants from herself and from her life. Esther has spent her life prior to novel’s start winning grants, scholarships, and prizes, and excelling in academia. At the outset of the novel, amidst the first signs of Esther’s developing mental illness, she begins to feel that all of…

From Buddy ’s medical school laboratory to Esther ’s ritzy private mental asylum, The Bell Jar surveys various medical practices in 1950s America and considers their effectiveness. Buddy embodies the ideals and attitudes of modern medicine at the time. He is active, physically fit, hardworking, committed to science, dismissive of the arts (he scoffs at Esther’s poetry), and rigorously unemotional (he has no qualms about manipulating new mourners into donating their loved ones’ corpses to…

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The Bell Jar

By sylvia plath, the bell jar themes, societal pressure.

A great deal of the novel concerns the expectations that others have for Esther with regards to behavior and her future, as well as the expectations that Esther has for other. This is most explicit in the societal expectations that Esther feels concerning decisions about a possible career and family. Esther feels that she is pressured to succeed in whatever career she chooses, despite the fact that she cannot yet even decide on which career path she will pursue. In addition, Esther also feels pressured concerning proper codes of behavior, particularly with regard to sexuality. She is constantly monitored by others, including her mother, who gives her a pamphlet on female sexuality, and even her neighbors, such as Mrs. Ockenden , who spies on her and reports back any indiscretions. Yet Esther does in some sense accept this pressure on her and even judges others' behavior by similar standards, as when she begins to loathe Buddy Willard for failing to live up to her expectations of him by having an affair with a waitress. This can also be seen in Esther's attitude toward the sophisticated and mature Doreen , who intimidates Esther by not conforming to the same expectations that Esther follows. The theme of societal pressure even continues into the mental hospital, where the greatest concern of Esther's mother and even some of the patients is that they will not be accepted in their particular social circles because of their mental illness.

Female Sexuality

Many of Esther's problems stem from a conflicted view of female sexuality. Esther is preoccupied with her virginity throughout the novel, separating the world two distinct categories: those who have and who have not had sex. She views sexually permissive women such as Doreen as objects of fascination and often scorn, but nevertheless believes that they hold some secret to life that Esther lacks. Plath relates female sexuality to a sense of empowerment in the novel and finds it to be a key facet of Esther's recovery to greater mental health. It is only when Esther takes control of her own sexuality by being "fitted" (presumably for a diaphragm) that she gains the sense of freedom that has eluded her throughout the novel. Plath contrasts the independent form of sexuality shown by Esther with more conventional and dependent modes; she celebrates Esther's decision to find a man herself over the choice to submit herself to the demands of Buddy Willard merely to gain sexual gratification.

Confinement

A sense of confinement permeates Plath's novel, even as represented by the bell jar that forms the title of the book. The bell jar symbolizes Esther's suffocation, for the jar intends to preserve its ornamental contents but instead traps them in stale air. Plath includes several instances in which Esther imagines herself as confined, including when she compares herself to a character in a short story and imagines herself trapped up in a tree unable to decide which fig (each representing a different career path) to choose. Even the place where Esther is found after her suicide attempt represents this sense of confinement; Esther is found essentially holed up in her basement. However, this is the only instance in the novel that finds Esther literally trapped; the other instances in which this theme appears are allegorical, demonstrating that Esther's sense of confinement is largely mental. The sense that she is trapped is the most obvious manifestation of her mental illness.

The mother-daughter relationship is the central one of the novel and the one in which Plath frames every relationship that deviates from this model. Although the actual interaction between Esther and her mother receives little attention in comparison to other relationships, Plath frames every other relationship between two women in terms of the maternal bond. Esther wishes that Jay Cee were her mother instead of the one she actually has, and even compares DR. Nolan to her mother, finding her a cross between her mother and Myrna Loy. This is a relatively idealized sense of motherhood in comparison to the other occurrences of this theme that Plath includes. The theme of becoming a mother is treated as foreign and grotesque, as shown by Esther's visit to the hospital where she watches a baby's birth and sees miscarriages in bottles, and by the character of Dodo Conway , a mother of six who fascinates and horrifies Esther for having so many children.

Sexuality and Violence

During several instances, Sylvia Plath relates sexuality to violence against women, finding the two concepts significantly linked. This occurs when Esther finds herself in the apartment as Lenny Shepherd and Doreen prepare to have sex through violent foreplay that even suggests rape. This becomes more explicit and unambiguous during the actual rape attempt against Esther by Marco , who uses sexual violence as a means of asserting his power over Esther and, in general, all women. This theme finds a final expression when Esther loses her virginity to Irwin and suffers intense bleeding. This occurrence is the most morally ambiguous, for the event is seemingly one that would empower Esther but instead finds her in some sense a victim.

The Bell Jar Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Bell Jar is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

to what extent has her attitudes and eventual breakdown been shaped by her society's expectations regarding men and women, sexuality, and relationships? Do you think those expectations have changed since that time?

Sorry, this is only a short answer space.

What early tensions are revealed about Esther through the contrast between Betty and Doreen?

The narrator of the novel, Esther Greenwood is a scholarship student at a prestigious women's college entering her senior year as the novel begins, and working at an internship for Ladies Day magazine in New York City. However, she faces an...

who is the author of this text

I would list it as GradeSaver.

Study Guide for The Bell Jar

The Bell Jar study guide contains a biography of Sylvia Plath, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Bell Jar
• The Bell Jar Summary
• The Bell Jar Video
• Character List

Essays for The Bell Jar

The Bell Jar literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Bell Jar.

• Identity in The Bell Jar
• "Lady Lazarus" by Sylvia Plath
• The Bell Jar and the Sexual Politics in the American 1950s
• I am, I am, I am: A Psychoanalytic Reading of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar
• The Past and the Present in Kingston's "Woman Warrior" and Sylvia Plath's Poetry

Lesson Plan for The Bell Jar

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to The Bell Jar
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• The Bell Jar Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for The Bell Jar

• Introduction