The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath - 1318 Words

As one of the most renowned and well-known literary critics in the world of composition, Harold Bloom has self-importantly granted himself the privilege of specifying the reasons as to why we read. From human connection to self-actualization to the acquirement of knowledge, he adheres passionately and unquestionably that â€Å"the strongest, most authentic motive for deep reading†¦is the search for a difficult pleasure.† Bloom, as an experienced critic, fully recognizes the task of judging a book for its merit. Harold Bloom understands that we read not only to learn of literary composition but also because â€Å"we require knowledge, not just of self and others, but of the way things are.† This proves true to essentially all humans for any great†¦show more content†¦Both Dr. Gordon and Esther’s mother fail to understand her despair. They encourage Esther to forget her pain instead of trying to understand it. Because both her mother and doctor have f ailed her, Esther must learn to solve her problems on her own. She no longer believes in a cure for her illness and so she relies on the only escape she has left: suicide. Her thoughts on suicide are described in a straightforward, matter of fact manner. She focuses more on the practicalities of her death, how and where it should be done, as opposed to the reasons why she would do it. Her calm outlook on the inevitability of her death suggests that she must do it simply because she sees no other way to escape her pain. As she is most rational when planning her suicide, her point of view is easily understood and her actions seem reasonable. While Esther is certainly mentally ill, she experiences moments of clarity in which she can address her own sadness. She describes her illness as a bell jar, a recurring metaphor for confinement, in that wherever she went, she would be â€Å"sitting under the same glass bell jar, stewing in my own sour air† (Plath 207). Esther feels trapped within her own head, plagued by the same thoughts of insecurity and despondency over and over again. Following her suicide attempts, Esther is placed under the care of Dr. Nolan, aShow MoreRelatedThe Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath1211 Words   |  5 PagesOn January 14th of 1963, Sylvia Plath had finally completed The Bell Jar after approximately two years of writing. This novel could have been considered a partial autobiography, because the main character Esther Greenwood eerily represents Sylvia Plath. There are a number of references to Plath’s real life throughout the book, too many for it to be considered a mere coincidence. Within the story, Esther Greenwood considers and attempts suicide quite frequently. Could this novel have been foreshadowingRead MoreThe Bell Jar By Sylvia Plath Essay1438 Words   |  6 Pagesthe novel been translated into nearly a dozen different languages, but it is also the only novel under the American writer and poet Sylvia Plath. She wrote this n ovel to resemble her life whenever she was dealing with mental illness. It was published in 1967 and was not published in the United States until 1971. After the first publication in the United Kingdom, Plath committed suicide in a very tragic way.   Even though this novel can be viewed as â€Å"dark†, many english classes read this world wideRead MoreThe Bell Jar By Sylvia Plath1099 Words   |  5 PagesThe Bell Jar by: Sylvia Plath Depression is a serious topic throughout the world, especially in America. Depression can result in someone feeling completely alone. There is no direct cause for depression in adolescents, but it can be brought on by the maturing process, stress from failure in some sort, a traumatic or disturbing event such as death, or even a break up. Sure, everyone has an off day here and there, where they feel like they shouldn’t even bother getting out bed in the morning, butRead MoreThe Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath1211 Words   |  5 PagesSylvia Plath Research Paper Title The Bell Jar place[s] [the] turbulent months[of an adolescent’s life] in[to] mature perspective (Hall, 30). In The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath uses parallelism, stream of consciousness, the motif of renewal and rebirth, symbolism of the boundary-driven entrapped mentally ill, and auto-biographical details to epitomize the mental downfall of protagonist, Esther Greenwood. Plath also explores the idea of how grave these timeless and poignant issues can affect a fragileRead More The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath1820 Words   |  7 PagesIdentity is fragile and is a characteristic that every person must discover without hiding behind inexperience’s and excluding themselves from the outside world of reality or else their own personal bell jar will suffocate them alive. The Bell Jar, a semi-autobiographical novel written by Sylvia Plath portrays how a young woman with too many identities and unrealistic expectations overwhelms herself to the point that she contemplates and attempts su icide multiple times. Esther Greenwood, a young collegeRead MoreThe Bell Jar By Sylvia Plath942 Words   |  4 Pagesdevelopment of her relationship with many characters in the novel, The Bell Jar. Esther is mentally and emotionally different than a majority of the people in her community. As a result of this state, she often has difficulty taking criticism to heart. Her depression continues to build throughout the novel as she remains in the asylum. It does not help that she has no aid from her loved ones. In the novel, The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath utilizes the relationships that Esther shares with Buddy Willard MrsRead MoreThe Bell Jar By Sylvia Plath1274 Words   |  6 Pagesnovel The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath the prime character, Esther Greenwood, struggles to handle life in her own skin. She feels as though she is trapped in a glass bell jar with no escape because of her incapability to comprehend herself. For example, in chapter one Plath states, â€Å"‘My name s Elly H igginbottom,’ I said. ‘I come from Chicago.’ After that I felt safer. I didn t want anything I said or did that night to be associated with me and my real name and coming from Boston† (Plath 11). In thisRead MoreThe Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath1554 Words   |  6 Pagestrials and triumphs in their personal life, their relationships with others and their surroundings. In the Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath explores the role of women in society in 1950s New York City through her relationships and interactions. Esther Greenwood is the major character and is therefore central to the novel. The book is considered to be a â€Å"roman a` clef† portraying the painful summer of Sylvia Plath’s psychotic breakdown in 1953, and contains â€Å"thinly disguised portraits of her family and friends†Read MoreThe Bell Jar By Sylvia Plath1940 Words   |  8 PagesAccording to the Merriam Webster dictionary, the definition of the word â€Å"bell jar† is, †Å"a bell-shaped usually glass vessel designed to contain objects or preserve gases and or a vacuum†. Sylvia Plath’s title, The Bell Jar, symbolically represents her feeling towards the seclusion and inferiority women endured trapped by societes glass vessel during the 1950’s. The Bell Jar, follows the life of Esther Greenwood, the protagonist and narrator of the story, during her desperate attempt to become a womanRead MoreThe Bell Jar By Sylvia Plath851 Words   |  4 Pages The bell Jar by Sylvia Plath is a bildungsroman fictional novel, and documents a first person account of Esther Greenwood’s struggle with depression from her late teens to early twenty’s. During Esther’s final path of destruction, her encounter with Marco leads her to one of many revelations about societies expectations for women and this reality along with many other factors sends Esther to her near demise. Before Esther’s encounter with Marco she was experiencing life in New York