The Bell Jar is the novel of 19-year-old Esther Greenwood. It describes how until the beginning of her recovery, she breaks into a mental illness. From the first person, Esther recounts the events of her life. She talks about her life, the tribulations she went through as a result of her mental sickness. Her psychiatric condition left her mother with great concern and equally ashamed of Esther. This is because they believe that when people know about Esther’s mental status, they will judge her role as a parent. Throughout the novel, Esther struggles with her condition, and the incidents in the story contribute significantly to her growing insanity.
It gets worse when she tries to take her own life. Esther is not the only person with mental illness in the novel. Her friend Joan is also depressed and found dead later; she committed suicide by hanging herself. The novel ends with Esther showing signs of recovery, and she is about to be discharged from the hospital in which she was being treated. This paper aims to explore and analyzes Esther evolution throughout the text and her growth.
Esther lives in a society in which women’s role is restricted and ladies must behave accordingly. However, for men, there is more room to act freely. Buddy, the man courting Esther, for instance, demands that Esther stays home and remain pure while having sexual adventures with other women, which weighs heavily on Esther. She has her desires like having sex, which the society does not allow her to achieve. This is why she must manage the stress and live life as if nothing is wrong. This is clear as she states that purity was the main concern when she was nineteen. Rather than dividing the world into ethnic groups or states, or even men and women, it was split into persons who had sex and those who did not. Gender was the only object that appeared to vary substantially from one human and another. Esther states that she was expecting much from the society by thinking that one day change would come over her.
Esther is under pressure to lose her virginity because it is the only way society will stop judging her. The community attaches importance to virginity so that ladies remain pure. However, as previously mentioned, there is a double standard when it comes to men and women on this subject. Esther is expected to stay a virgin until marriage; however, she opts for the alternative and wants to have sex. The men she meets are of little assistance towards achieving her objective.
After realizing that he has had sex with another person, she rejects Buddy. The double standard implied by his conduct is more upsetting to her. She was told to keep her virginity at all costs. In addition, she is also annoyed that he led her to think that Buddy was also a virgin yet that was a lie. Another man, Eric, will not have sex, either, because he thinks that the act is awful or unclean. When Esther loses her virginity, she finds that it is not what she expects, though it was satisfying.
At school, other girls mock her for studying and put pressure on her to lose her virginity. Their mockery demonstrates that society always forces her to be traditional, that she would not like to do. Only when she begins to date Buddy that people start to take her seriously and even start to show respect. Even her mother approves of her relationship with Buddy, hoping for marriage and settlement. However, Esther is afraid that once she becomes a wife and a mother, she will not have time for poetry, her passion. Buddy also raises this concern because he does not agree with the poetic ambitions that Esther shows.
The bell jar symbol is depicted in the book and is the representative feature of Esther’s isolation and illness. She says, “I would sit under the same glass bell jar, stewing in my saury, anywhere on the boat deck or at a street café in Paris or Bangkok” (Plath, 2018). As it is shown in the book, she attempts to convey her sense of isolation to the reader and the implication of solitude in the individual’s life. This also shows how she can control her mental condition and live a positive life as the illness is responsible for this loneliness she is experiencing. She implies that her condition cannot be controlled, and which is the leading cause of concern.
Doreen has influenced Esther in many ways because she is not afraid of what the society says about her; she does not care for the consequences. Esther admires how her friend lives her life because she wants to live like Doreen. She feels as if her life is defined and she is tired of the routine. That can be seen when the text says that she has only been steering nothing, and has not been steering anything. Additionally, bumped back to work from my hotel, party and party to my hotel and back to work like a trolleybus but could not get myself to react. She guesses that it would have been exciting to her the way most other girls were. It was like a storm passing dully across the centre of the hullaballoo, and she felt very still and very empty (Plath, 2018). This quote shows how Esther is confused and dislikes the life that she leads.
The protagonist does not feel happy after overcoming the economic constraints of her family and achieving what many people want. Her boring routine is to go to work, participate in parties, and then return home. In addition, she works in a leading magazine where she meets famous people yet lives an unfulfilled life. Inside, she feels empty; she hates the life that society wants her to lead and no longer hopes to do certain aspects of life just to meet the social expectations.
In conclusion, the story clearly shows that Esther’s life was influenced by the society which contributed significantly to her disease. Esther finds it challenging to cope with college, the hospital and the New York lifestyle. The first psychiatric hospital where she is taken does not treat her but aggravates her condition. After she is taken to another hospital, she opened her doors and showed signs of recovery. Dr. Nolan’s speech makes her begin to overcome her fears. This is the time she meets a gentleman named Irwin. The man takes her virginity and understands what she wanted even if the experience does not meet her expectations. In the end, Esther is recovering and she will return to her life. Finally, it is evident that Esther is an effective narrator; she vividly explains what goes on in her life, which significantly contributes to the plot.
Reference
Plath, S. (2018). The Bell Jar (Unabridged). E-artnow.