Like her protagonist, Esther Greenwood, Plath struggled with depression and mental illness. The bell jar is a symbol for the suffering Esther experiences, the creation of her own twisted mind and a well-used metaphor for her mental health. Plath's The Bell Jar The situation of women in the modern world is clearly a major concern of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar (see Allen 160-78 and Whittier 127-46). The Bell Jar. It must include an original title, introduction, thesis statement, body paragraphs that support your thesis with quotations from the text, a conclusion, and a works cited page. New York: Harper Perennial, 2005. Less obvious is how the book might embody a feminist aesthetic, that is, how it might define, as a so-lution to the sociological and psychological problems of women, a language and Choose one of the following prompts about Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and provide an essay that is around 1000-1500 words. Works Cited Plath, Sylvia. The tittle “The Bell Jar” would be consider to be a metaphor because it shows that Esther is stuck and has nowhere to go. This essay will look at both the polarity and unity within the mental suffering of characters and voices from Tennessee William’s A Streetcar Named Desire (‘Streetcar’) and Sylvia Plath’s Collected Poems, focusing specifically on the extent to which they suffer due to their imagination and whether or not this is a more frequent commodity than the times that they suffer due to reality. The Bell Jar is about a teenage girl’s struggle through social oppression due to her gender and her journey through life, which was tainted with mental illness. The Bell Jar is the first and only novel written by poet and writer, Sylvia Plath. The bell jar essay. 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. This study stresses the social context of The Bell Jar. From being labeled “crazy” and denied help, to “ill” with an overflowing amount of support, mental health has always been a difficult topic to understand. The bell jar symbolizes mental illness and gives the novel its title. The Bell Jar is considered by some people to be sensational and morbid. Reflecting on The Bell Jar. Sylvia Plath’s autobiography, The Bell Jar, tells the story of Plath’s own mental breakdown and suicide attempt, as well as her recovery and eventual reentrance into the outside world. Thus, madness becomes an important factor in Plath's work. Her being in the bell jar was her way of expressing how she felt trap and a feeling of being isolated in her mental illness. Plath does not attribute Esther’s instability to men, society, or Esther herself, although she does criticize all three. This essay examines the depiction of women’s mental health and the effects which societal ideals have on it in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. In “The Bell Jar” by Sylvia Plath the main character, Esther Greenwood, sinks into depression during the summer after her third year of college. A few … Esther is stuck in a “bell jar.” This mental illness that took over her life is keeping her locked up in captivity.… Some readers also find it difficult to sympathize with Esther because of their feeling that suicide is wrong, for religious, philosophical, or other reasons. The bell jar was an important symbol which highlighted Esther’s mental illness. The use of mirrors in the text is also a vital to the text to communicate the message of mental illness. Sylvia began writing the Bell Jar in 1961 and it was first published in England, under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas, in January 1963. It showed that she felt trapped in her own stifling little bubble of sorts. “The Bell Jar” and Esther’s Depression Essay Sample. analysed in Plath’s work and, research including “Sexualization of Mental Illness” published in 2017 by Patricia Ann Grisafi and Kate A. Baldwin’s “The Radical Imaginary of the Bell Jar… In the light of this comment, compare and contrast the presentation of central female characters in the two novels you have studied. She felt like there was always a haze floating over her. Jay, Meg. The Bell Jar 662 Words | 3 Pages. Esther continually comes face to face with her reflection that she often does not recognize. The bell jar, the fig tree, the mirror, and electricity all relate to Esther’s mental illness and elaborate on her growth and development. Plath’s novel uses an abundance of literary devices to engage the reader, however her use of symbolism creates a deeper meaning behind Esther’s battle with a mental illness. Sylvia Plath explores these issues about individuality against society's expectations t A haunted semi-autobiographical tale of a young woman’s spiral into depression and mental illness during a summer interning at a prominent magazine in New York City, The Bell Jar was originally published in Britain under Plath’s pseudonym, Victoria Lucas, before being rereleased under the poet’s own name in 1967. Susan Sontag, in her book Illness as Metaphor, talks about cancer, but she makes the point that society decides the style of what consists of "tragic illness" and how its members will deal with the illness. Apocryphally labeled a novel confined to the voracious appetite of mental illness, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath truly explores the societal ills in the role of young women in the 1950s. An examination of the struggles with mental illness witnessed in both female protagonists in “The Yellow Wallpaper” and The Bell Jar demonstrates the overwhelmingly The Bell Jar … Make a copy and rename it. Remove brackets. She feels disconnected from the world and from herself. Bell Jar by claiming that it is about women going mad because of patriarchy’s pressure (873; 123). When Esther considers suicide, she looks into the mirror and manages to see herself as a completely separate person. The Bell Jar does not label its protagonist’s life as either martyred or heroic. The Bell Jar Analysis 918 Words | 4 Pages. The bell jar is a metaphor used to explain what Esther was going through. Join Now Log in Home Literature Essays The Bell Jar The Debilitating Illness The Bell Jar The Debilitating Illness Anonymous 12th Grade. Sophia Shaw English 10 Honors September 19, 2019 Developing Feminism The Bell Jar is a story about a young intelligent woman who is faced with mental illness and uncertainty, as well as a cautious outlook on men. New York: Routledge, 1991. Rather, she blames mental illness, which she characterizes as a mysterious and horrific disease. An interesting aspect of Esther/Sylvia's mental problems as a young girl is that her behavior took the form of withdrawal and then depressive suicide. She is chosen for a month-long summer internship as a guest editor at Ladies’ Day magazine, but her time being in New York City is unfulfilling as she grapples with identity and social norms. Both Plath and Fitzgerald effectively present female characters in “The Great Gatsby” and “The Bell jar,” In The Great Gatsby female characters are presented via social class and relationships with other characters. This aspect of her life became a very prominent theme in her novel, but it is far from the only one. In the novel The Bell Jar by Silvia Plath, the use of symbolism is a strong aspect that holds major importance seen through the protagonist, Esther’s struggle with mental illness. The novel The Bell Jar written by Sylvia Plath is set in the 1950s America when the idea of adolescence was reasonably recent and society seemed a little uncomfortable with the idea of unrestricted individuality. Reading this book was challenge to me as it feels too depressing and difficult to relate to. However, I do not agree with them. Mirrors were used to … One student recently observed that not only is the girl in The Bell Jar depressed, but that the woman who wrote it was probably depressed. These two literary works openly criticise the societal standards of femininity in the 19th and 20th centuries. She felt as if she was festering inside a glass bell jar in the sweltering, stale air of her own insecurities. 3.1 .The Protagonist’s Madness and the Woman initiate mental Illness Sylvia Plath describes her long term depression that blocks her mind her scope of writing. Mental Illness In The Bell Jar. The Bell Jar takes the reader inside the experience of severe mental illness like very few books before or since. Though The Bell Jar traffics in many themes, including classism, sexism, and mental illness, it has become synonymous with depressed and/or moody women. The Bell Jar shows the transition of Plath as a young, hopeful girl into a cynical, suicidal woman. Her troubled psyche also becomes apparent in her writing. Buddy embodies the ideals and attitudes of modern medicine at the time. A comparison of the essay and the novel, in conjunction with Susan Bordo’s critical essay, shows a connection between traditional gender roles and mental illness. My hypothesis is that it is the power play that prevents the protagonists in “The Yellow Wallpaper” and The Bell Jar from recovering from their mental illness. Comparing Mental Illness in Shakespeare's Hamlet and Plath's The Bell Jar A student compares and contrasts Shakespeare's Hamlet with Sylvia Plath's novel The Bell Jar, with a focus on the symptoms of mental illness the main characters of each work experience: delusion, thoughts of suicide, and feelings of personal frustration. The Bell Jar is a novel about Esther Greenwood who is a college student who aspires to be an author. Sylvia Plath, the author of The Bell Jar, once said, “Is there no way out of the mind?” (Sylvia). Most of her work depicts her life. Brackets indicate where you need to enter your specific information. Print. 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