The Bell Jar Research Paper

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Identity, a difficult and unfavorable fact for those who struggle living up to the impractical standard of society. Existence defined as a mere aspect of living. For those who lack self-confidence, societal expectation and the presumption of gender role can lead to the eventual downfall of mental capability. In The Bell Jar, a semi-autobiographical novel by Sylvia Plath, Esther Greenwood, a young educated, middle-class woman, strives to fulfill the expectation of living as a woman in the 1950s. Esther complicates pursuing her dreams and pursuing the already set dream for women and attempts to discover the role she plays. Plath aims to contemplate the theme differentiating the social role each character is expected to perform, in which most

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  • Circumstances that Exacerbated Esther's Mental Illness

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    Sylvia Plath is the author of the Bell Jar and was an American poet, novelist, and short-story writer (JRSM. June, 2003). The Bell Jar book was published in London a month before Plath’s death in January, 1963. The book was first published under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas, and then later published in Plath’s own name. Esther Greenwood is the main character in the Bell Jar. Esther suffered from mental illness and struggled against depressive environment and continuously aggravated madness that led to her suicide and death (JRSM. June, 2003). I ague that Esther’s mental illness was aggravated by her internal pressure and depressive environment in which she lived.

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