The Bell Jar | Book Review | 1963 | Sylvia Plath

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sylvia Plath was born in Boston, Massachusetts on October 27, 1932. She pursued her education at Smith College, where she excelled academically and developed her literary talents. After graduating with honors in 1955, she received a Fulbright Scholarship to study at Cambridge University in England. It was during this time that she met and married poet Ted Hughes.

Plath’s literary contributions are profound. Her most famous work, The Bell Jar, gives a glimpse into her inner struggles, vulnerabilities, and her constant battle against societal expectations. Her poetry, including collections like Ariel and The Colossus, is celebrated for its intense emotional depth and innovative use of language. Plath’s writing is also known for its raw honesty, lyrical intensity, and vivid exploration of themes such as identity, depression, and personal turmoil. Despite her tragic death at the age of 30, her works have garnered widespread acclaim. It continues to influence and resonate with readers and writers alike.

SYNOPSIS (MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS)

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath is an internal monologue of Esther Greenwood, a 19-year-old talented and academically gifted student. In the summer of 1953, she lands a prestigious month-long internship at Ladies’ Day magazine in New York City. Despite this exciting opportunity, Esther suffers from feelings of alienation and disconnection. While her demanding, no-nonsense boss, Jay Cee, recognizes her potential, Esther’s inner turmoil overshadows her professional success. Her closest friend during this period, Doreen, is a free-spirited, rebellious blonde who prioritizes partying over work. Soon, Esther finds herself drawn into Doreen’s chaotic social life.

Esther’s dissatisfaction also extends to her personal life, where she feels trapped between two worlds. Coming from a small town, she struggles to adapt to the fast-paced, glamorous life of New York City. While her thoughts are progressive and even rebellious, she finds it hard to fully break free from the traditional, patriarchal expectations ingrained in her. Esther is deeply conflicted about what she truly wants for her future. She is torn between her desires for independence and creativity and society’s rigid expectations of a woman’s role in society. These societal pressures weigh heavily on her, making her feel increasingly unsure of her role in the world as a young woman.

Her boyfriend, Buddy Willard, is a medical student who embodies traditional values. He minimizes Esther’s literary ambitions, dismissing her dream of becoming a poet as frivolous. Though Buddy has proposed marriage, Esther resents his hypocrisy – he expects her to remain a virgin while he has already been intimate with another woman. Buddy’s condescension and Esther’s own lack of emotional connection to him lead her to reject his proposal.

As the internship progresses, Esther struggles with her mental health, becoming increasingly disillusioned and disconnected from reality. After a disastrous date with Marco, who violently assaults her, Esther’s sense of control unravels further. When she returns home to Boston, she learns that a prestigious writing program has rejected her. Faced with a bleak future, she falls into a deep depression. Subsequently, she even loses the ability to read, write, or sleep. Multiple suicide attempts follow, including a near-fatal overdose of sleeping pills.

Esther’s journey toward recovery begins in a private psychiatric hospital. The hospital is funded by novelist Philomena Guinea, her former benefactor. There, she meets Dr. Nolan, a female psychiatrist who offers Esther much-needed empathetic support. She guides Esther through a safer course of electroshock therapy, helping her confront her fears. Under Dr. Nolan’s care, Esther begins to regain control of her own life and sexuality.

Despite this progress, tragedy strikes when Joan Gilling, a fellow patient, ex-girlfriend of Buddy and Esther’s college acquaintance, commits suicide. Joan’s death forces Esther to reflect on her recovery. The novel concludes with Esther preparing for an exit interview with her doctors. The doctors are to take the final decision on whether she is ready to leave the hospital and go back to college.

WHAT WE LIKED ABOUT THE BELL JAR

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath is an embodiment of honesty and, as such, the book lacks any melodrama or justifications. The narrative is straightforward; it is devoid of embellishments, which adds to its authenticity. Plath draws readers directly into Esther’s mind, revealing her utopian expectations. She may seem selfish and judgmental at times, but this is a raw reflection of her inner turmoil. In fact, the author makes no attempts whatsoever to make Esther more likeable. This unvarnished portrayal of her misanthropy and complex emotional make-up is both refreshing and compelling.

Plath has beautifully described Esther’s pull between two extremes: Doreen, who rebels against social norms with her sharp wit, drinking, and casual sex, and Betsy, the cheerful, ideal woman who embodies traditional values. While Esther admires Doreen’s cynicism, her attempts to mimic her friend’s behavior leave her feeling dirty. This underlines the deep-rooted belief that premarital sex tarnishes a woman’s character. She also feels distant from Betsy, for she is unable to attain her natural happiness because of her deepening depression. This leaves Esther feeling stuck, unable to fully embrace either ideal.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER ABOUT THE BELL JAR

The tone of The Bell Jar is deeply depressing and gloomy. The book is, in fact, one of the most haunting portrayals of depression in the history of literature. It captures the suffocating weight of mental illness with raw intensity, leaving readers feeling the same negativity and sadness that the protagonist endures.

QUOTES

The trouble was, I had been inadequate all along, I simply hadn’t thought about it.

I felt very still and very empty, the way the eye of a tornado must feel, moving dully along in the middle of the surrounding hullabaloo.

I was supposed to be having the time of my life.

To the person in the bell jar, blank and stopped as a dead baby, the world itself is the bad dream.

The silence drew off, baring the pebbles and shells and all the tatty wreckage of my life.

Then, at the rim of my vision, it gathered itself, and in one sweeping tide, rushed me to sleep.

CONCLUSION