Women offer a needed different perspective from men's writing. Women authors offer a voice for women that couldn't be heard for many years. Specific authors like Sylvia Plath and Toni Morrison are more modern authors. Plath was a leader in the 1950's and paved the way for the women's liberal movement of the 1960's. She spoke bluntly and openly about her depression, contempt for her father and husband, and attempted suicides. Toni Morrison is a strong African American voice. Not only does she speak positively for women in general, but also she can speak specifically to black women. There are certainly themes to women's writing throughout the changing years. Gilman and fellow authors of her time discussed the so-called "nervous condition" that was labeled on women frequently in the late 1800's and early 1900's. In the 1950's Sylvia Path was an honest voice for her generation that was rare.

When women were first able to start printing their own literature, they wrote about what they knew. The mostly knew about domestic things such as having babies and life on the farm.

A strange amount of female authors suffered from, what they called at the time, the nervous condition. Edit

It is essential for women to continue being heard on every level and to live to make them happy even if it means going against the social norm.

Depression continued to be a theme in the 1950's with writer Sylvia Plath. However, I find her to be more descriptive and more willing to share personal experience. The Bell Jar is Sylvia Plath's autobiography.

Her feeling lead her to really commit suicide, however, and she became a martyr of sorts for all females who feel trapped. In the 1950's, the nuclear, isolated family became the norm. A situation that meant women were handling every aspect of family life themselves, with no help from their families. (Wagner-Martin 6) The Bell Jar and a lot of her poems are an outright defiance of social norms.

She paved the way in the 1950's for the women's liberal movement because girls read her work that is so honest and holds nothing back and they could relate to it. She talks about things that were unheard of. She was insecure, and depressed and she wanted to die sometimes, and it is ok to feel this way. I feel so similar to Sylvia. All young girls feel insecure and we all want to die sometimes. Yet, unlike Plath, it is a passing phase for most. Plath was very analytical. She learned a lot by watching people interact. She would have been a great psychologist, had she survived and been treated for her depression. She says, "I like looking at people in crucial situations. I certainly learned a lot of things this way. And even when they surprised me or made me sick I never let on, but pretended that's the way I knew things were all the time." (Plath 14) That is exactly what I do when I encounter new things too. She is so thoughtful. This book is like a journal of how!

Her death had an effect on a lot of people. For example, a poet and friend Anne Sexton wrote a poem about Sylvia after her death. In her poem she calls Plath a thief. As in, she stole

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1300
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)