the bell jar - sylvia plath
Although there are elements of fiction included, and even true events are somewhat altered and rearranged, The Bell Jar is essentially an autobiography of Sylvia Plath, who is recognized for her "impeccable and ruthless poetry, which excels at describing the most extreme reaches of Plath's consciousness and passions" (from back cover of Rough Magic by Paul Alexander). Perhaps though what Plath is more noted for, and what arguably made her famous on a large scale, is her tormented life of depression and disappointment, that Plath herself ended at the young age of thirty. The time frame that the book refers to, is a period in Plath's life when she underwent a series of experiences that led to her infamous suicide attempt and institution in several mental institutes. Sylvia Plath would not again reach a low point even close to this one until the actual time of her death. In The Bell Jar the main character Esther Greenwood is the parallel to Plath, and all other characters in the story in fact did have their real-life parallels as well, although some of the events are told out of order and there are fictitious events added for a more interesting plot. What is most important about The Bell Jar is Pla
Esther's state of mind was not significantly improving as the days went by, and probably she would have stayed in a mental hospital indefinitely, if it weren't for a major influence that arrived in her life. Already at her third mental institute, after some slight improvement in the eyes of the faculty (not her own), Esther found herself being treated by a doctor who she would come early on to sympathize with, a former graduate from her university who could relate to her experience, Dr. Nolan. She found herself opening up to someone for the first time since her suicide attempt and let the doctor eventually take her to electroshock treatments that this time were properly administered and did in fact help her a great deal. This is evident because, after just a few weeks of the treatments, Esther was ready to leave for home. The story ends with Esther entering the door to a room where she will face a committee that will decide if she is ready to be released. Although Esther does not actually fully recover, she displays a drastic improvement from the time of her attempt at her own life months before. There still remains a note of uncertainty though, that is manifested towards the end of the book itself. "How did I know that someday - at college, in Europe, I thought it might be Saint Valentine's day.'It's your birthday'. th's own mentally disturbed perspective of the situations that unfold before her, and this is what makes the book not only a grand piece of literature but also an important insight into depression from a psychological point of view. begging me, with a sorrowful face, to tell her what she had done wrong. She said she was sure the doctors thought she had done something wrong..."There is another passage from the same scene that shows Esther's state of mind at the time so accurately that it is worth quoting. somewhere, anywhere - the bell jar, with its stifling distortions, wouldn't descend again?" And that was when I had dumped the roses in the wastebasket." In The Bell Jar there are a series of circumstances and events that, combined with her own mentally troubled persona, lead Esther Greenwood into a downward spiral of depression that culminates in a suicide attempt, which brings about the consequence of her institutionalization in several facilities. Eventually it will also be a set of influential people and circumstances as well as her slowly growing healthy outlook on life that lead to her recovery.The beginning of the story finds Esther halfway through her month long experience working for the fashion magazine Mademoiselle, an event that she had awaited for the last year of her life. Esther was currently in a prestigious university on scholarship, and had won the opportunity to work for the magazine for a month out of the summer because of her exceptional writing abilities. She had expected the experience to be glorious and to surpass all her expectations, since this event she had been awaiting for months before, yet it wasn't. One of her great disappointments was actually seeing how the lifestyle she aspired to did not actually live up to her expectations. Esther is particularly disappointed in her fellow prizewinners that also made the job at Mademoiselle. She finds her new acquaintances as well as people in general in New York
Some common words found in the essay are:
Willard York, Esther Greenwood, Sylvia Plath, Dr Nolan, Bell Jar, Saint Valentine's, Alexander Plath, Jar Plath's, bell jar, sylvia plath, suicide attempt, electroshock treatments, writing course, age thirty, rest summer, esther greenwood, writing abilities, mental institutes,
Approximate Word count = 2214
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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