The+Bell+Jar

=//The Bell Jar// by Sylvia Plath= Directions: Please add content to this page. Make sure you cite your name at the end of your comments for example (David Racine).

__//**Major Themes**//__

During several instances, Sylvia Plath relates sexuality to violence against women, finding the two concepts significantly linked. This occurs when Esther finds herself in the apartment as Lenny Shepherd and Doreen prepare to have sex through violent foreplay that even suggests rape.
 * Sexuality & Violence:**

Many of Esther's problems stem from a conflicted view of female sexuality. Esther is preoccupied with her virginity throughout the novel, separating the world two distinct categories: those who have and who have not had sex. She views sexually permissive women such as Doreen as objects of fascination and often scorn, but nevertheless believes that they hold some secret to life that Esther lacks. Plath relates female sexuality to a sense of empowerment in the novel and finds it to be a key facet of Esther's recovery to greater mental health. It is only when Esther takes control of her own sexuality by being "fitted" (presumably for a diaphragm) that she gains the sense of freedom that has eluded her throughout the novel. Plath contrasts the independent form of sexuality shown by Esther with more conventional and dependent modes; she celebrates Esther's decision to find a man herself over the choice to submit herself to the demands of Buddy Willard merely to gain sexual gratification.
 * Female Sexuality:**

A great deal of the novel concerns the expectations that others have for Esther with regards to behavior and her future, as well as the expectations that Esther has for other. This is most explicit in the societal expectations that Esther feels concerning decisions about a possible career and family. Esther feels that she is pressured to succeed in whatever career she chooses, despite the fact that she cannot yet even decide on which career path she will pursue. In addition, Esther also feels pressured concerning proper codes of behavior, particularly with regard to sexuality. She is constantly monitored by others, including her mother, who gives her a pamphlet on female sexuality, and even her neighbors, such as Mrs. Ockenden, who spies on her and reports back any indiscretions. Yet Esther does in some sense accept this pressure on her and even judges others' behavior by similar standards, as when she begins to loathe Buddy Willard for failing to live up to her expectations of him by having an affair with a waitress. This can also be seen in Esther's attitude toward the sophisticated and mature Doreen, who intimidates Esther by not conforming to the same expectations that Esther follows. The theme of societal pressure even continues into the mental hospital, where the greatest concern of Esther's mother and even some of the patients is that they will not be accepted in their particular social circles because of their mental illness.
 * Societal Pressure:**

http://www.gradesaver.com/the-bell-jar/study-guide/major-themes/

(Jesse Placourakis)


 * Themes** (Isolation, Immaturity, Suicide, Gender Inequality, Success, Identity, Depression, Conformity, Materialism)

__Conformity-__ Esther throughout __The Bell Jar__ shows her unwillingness to conform to the world around her. During a time when women are not prominent and successful, Esther doesn't wish to sit back and become someone's secretary just like every other girl. Esther worked for years and years to get the best grades and to capture every scholarship opportunity possible. She may not definitely know what she wants to do in her life, but she knows for certain that she doesn't want to be the status quo. (Banner)

__Isolation-__ Esther likes to do things on her own. There are many examples throughout the story in which her actions prove that she does not have much of a social life. Towards the beginning of the novel, it states that she feels like the eye of the tornado. This explains how the world around her is evolving and she is stuck in the middle. Everything is happening around her but she is a no one.

__Depression-__ Esther's father died when she was only nine years old and she has not been happy ever since that day. A state of depression is also when she states she has to take "a hot bath". She needs to become pure again.

__Suicide-__ Esther thinks about killing herself multiple times towards the end of the novel. She tried to hang herself with a a bath robe. This attempt failed because she explains how there is no where to hang herself. Another way Esther tries to commit suicide is by drowning herself. She wants to swim out in the middle of the ocean and die. Once again she tries to kill her self but the act was denied because she would swim down and just keep bobbing back up to the surface of the water. Ester talks to Cal about "what the best way to kill yourself was" he says he would use a shot gun. Ester also plans another attempted suicide that plants herself in a hospital. She got the keys to where her mother kept her sleeping pills and then waited until she was not home. Esther opened the box and overdose by taking 50 sleeping pills. She went to the downstairs cellar and put herself behind logs so she would not be found. (Chelsea)

Esther**: Jay Cee:** A mother-figure for Esther, the only character she seems to get along with and give respect to. The reason may be that J.C. is an editor who can independently express her thought through her publishing. Unlike Esther's mother who seems to push Esther toward jobs that serve men, J.C. pushes Esther to learn more languages and encourage her to work for herself. (Imy) Betsy:**A pretty, wholesome girl from Kansas. She became Esther's friend when they work at the magazine. Esther feels she is more like Betsy than she is like Doreen, but she cannot relate to Betsy's cheerfulness and optimism (Atsuro)
 * Character Analysis:
 * Mrs. Greenwood:** **is Esther's mother, who is not directly a main character in the novel, plays a huge role in the formation of Ester's self conflicts. Mrs. Greenwood was the only parent of Ester since she was 9 years old. Mrs. Greenwood obviously loves Ester substantially because she never gives up on her and pays all the hospital bills with what little money she has. However, Mrs. Greenwood unknowingly attributes to Ester's mental downfall by pressuring her into the "dreadful" conformities for women of that time: guarding her virginity and pureness, learning short hand to be a secretary, becoming a mother and preforming her "domestic duties." Although Mrs. Greenwood cares for Ester enormously, she fails to realize and understand that Ester can not live happily by conforming to that sense of reality (Jason Kwiatek).
 * Doreen:


 * Change of Setting (New York vs. Suburbs):**


 * Important Quotes (include page numbers):**

"//I'm so glad they're going to die//." (pg 99) => At the beginning of chapter 9, Esther begins to contemplate suicide. While having a conversation with Hilda, the two discuss the Rosenburgs, and Hilda remarks that "[She is] so glad they're going to die." This statement sticks with Esther and causes her to think about her own death, and perhaps even forcing her own untimely death. (banner white)

"I thought how strange it had never occurred to me before that I was only purely happy until I was nine years old." (pg. 75) We know that Esther's father died when she was nine, and she hasn't been happy since he was alive. This could play into her issues with men. She was never really exposed to how men acted as she grew up so now she has problems identifying with the men in her everyday life. She pushes men away and she always finds the flaws in them, it's what we call nowadays "Daddy Issues". (Kristina Seiger)

"When you are the extra person in the room" (16) refers to her isolation and loneliness as she watches Lenny and Doreen together. She does not understand why she does not feel happy with her high social life that every girls would have dream off. (Imy)

"The longer I lay there in the clear hot water the purer I felt,..." (20) : Repetition of the idea of being pure. The hot bath seems to take away all her disgust feelings of New York City. --- relate this to her and Buddy's sexual purity on page 70-71. (Imy)

"Elly, Elly, Elly, " and "Miss Greenwood, Miss Greenwood, Miss Greenwood" are two names referring to Ester's indecisive of who or what she wants to be "as if I had a split personality or something" (21). (Imy)

"i couldn't stand the idea of a woman having to have a single pure life and a man being able to have a double life, one pure and one not." (81) When Esther remembers an article about how a girl shood keep virginity for her husband. It reveals a double standard in the society that men can do everything and not be critized for it, while women have to carry all responsiblilities and blame. (Juliana)

"We had met together under our own imaginary fig tree. . .then something awful happened and we went our separate ways." (55) and "I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story." (77) First she protrays she and Buddy under the fig tree after reading stories about it, then she imgaines her self is the fig tree having too many choices. (Juliana)

"Then I put down the knife and looked at it. I tried to think what I had loved knives for, but my mind slipped from the noose of the thought and swung, like a bird, in the center of empty air." (216). Esther is beginning to question her own thought process as she puts down the knife and she can't even remember why she wants to kill herself anymore. She is not obsessing over death at this point because she suddenly stops thinking about the knife and what suicide means to her. (Haley)


 * Esther's progression toward mental illness:** At the beginning of the novel, Esther had made a drastic switch from the suburban life to the metropolitan life. For the first time, Esther had an shift in her life that made her unstable. Esther demonstrates that she does not have the ability to cope with instability or availability of options because of her indecisiveness. The move and stress of her internship only contribute to the instability. After she is almost date raped, her mental stability only further unravels. Because a victim of a date rape could not file a lawsuit, the victim often suffered because they had a feeling of helplessness. After this, the additional frustration of being rejected for a writing course only adds to her feelings of failure and helplessness. Esther does not know how to cope with failure, so she is unable to deal with the disappointment of rejection. All of these events contribute to Esther's degrading mental health, until the point where she cannot enjoy life any longer. (Rebecca Bub)


 * Relationships with Men:** She is socially awkward and immature with men. She doesn't know how to treat them.(Lukas Bilek)

Jay Cee: As a famous editor in a fashion magazine, Jay Cee is one of few characters whom Esther admires. During her stay in New York City, Esther often receives help from her; Jay Cee suggests courses she should take, plans for future and some helpful advice. Although she is married, being different from housewives who shift their focuses entirely on household, Jay Cee continues working. An idependent and mindful woman is Esther's perspective of Jay Cee. (Juliana)
 * Female Role Models for Esther:**

FUN FACT: Sylvia Plath killed herself by sticking her head in an oven and she turned the gas on, ending her life forever. She was only 30 when she died (Kristina and Haley)
 * Suicide:**

Knowing Buddy Willard's affair with waitress changes Esther's life. She feels betrayed and cheated by Buddy, because all she is told before is how pure and innocent he is by his mother. Besides that, Buddy's reaction to their first kiss seems so naive and unexperienced that Esther thinks herself is sophisticated. However, the truth that Buddy is pretending to be so disgusted her. She then grows a strong hatred upon men and marriage. (Juliana)
 * What is the turning point in Esther's life?**

Social pressure: Esther thinks she could never be happy in any marriage, regardless of whom she finds as a husband- this is one of the causes of Esther's depression in her worry that she would not make a good wife.
 * Symbolism:**

Birth and Rebirth: Esther sees a women giving birth is no cause for celebration; it is symbolic of male oppression (Anastasya)