Introduction
The drama of the self-inflicted death of Sylvia Plath has detracted a significant portion of public attention from her only novel—The Bell Jar—which was published in 1963 (McCrum, 2015). However, after the shock caused by the writer’s suicide had waned, the book was republished in 1966 and became a modern classic (McCrum, 2015). The Bell Jar is a story of the transformation of a young woman who despises the idea of being servile to men into a person who serves them in order to escape the psychiatric institution to which she has been committed because of her numerous suicide attempts. It is also a story of male domination, victimization, and control as seen by a woman who struggles to find self in the intricate and glamorous maze of New York City. The book’s protagonist—Esther—is caught in a trap of madness that manifests in a feeling of being placed under a bell jar that stifles and alienates her. The book is filled with culturally-ingrained imagery of women that was so common in the 1950s. As the story unravels and the woman’s life starts spiraling out of control, the suffocating presence of a glass jar becomes even more static and tangible, allowing readers to see in it the reflection of the male world with its destructive forms and aggressive language. The aim of this paper is to explore how the protagonist’s attitude toward men changes over the course of the story. It will also examine what role her self-protective response to the treatment of women plays in her disease and recovery.
Analysis
At the beginning of the novel, Esther knows nothing about men. She lacks enthusiasm and is utterly disinterested in things that move other girls of her age. Even though Esther is depressed, she passes herself off as girlish and comparatively happy in front of her acquaintances. Her lack of life experience makes her instantly believe her best friend Doreen that all men at Yale are dumb, leading her to the conviction that Billy—a Yale student—is also not particularly bright. Her disillusionment with life in the big city is exacerbated by an encounter with a short, older man who exudes boredom and, arguably, male dominance. Moreover, she witnesses how her friend’s romantic escapade with Lenny ends in disappointment and bitter frustration. It is clear that she thinks of men as overbearing, dominating figures because she associates the stern talk of Jay-Cee—a female character—with the authoritative manner of speech of Mr. Manzi. Moreover, she feels guilty about her deception of the chemistry teacher, thereby displaying an unconscious desire to play the submissive role of a woman who is not allowed to transgress against social norms put in place by patriarchy. Therefore, it can be argued that at the beginning of the novel, Esther only discovers the male world and her place in it. As the story progresses, her knowledge of men contributes to her alienation, thus exacerbating her disillusionment with the traditional female role, which eventually drives her insane.
In the middle of the book, the protagonist becomes completely disappointed in men as well as in the traditional role of a mother as prescribed to her by society. In the fifth chapter of the novel, Esther meets Buddy—Mrs. Willard’s son—whom she worshiped from afar. However, as the heroine gets to know him better, she realizes that a cloying feeling of admiration toward the man is replaced with indifference. Esther draws parallels between her hapless relationship with Buddy and a story about a fig tree that she had read in a book sent to her by the staff of the Ladies’ Day magazine. It makes her think about a time when Buddy called the poem “a piece of dust” and makes her regret taking everything he told her “as the honest-to-God truth” (Plath, 2012, p. 30). The boyfriend perfectly personifies the attitude of men toward women that was so prevalent among males of his generation. He does not support her aspiration to become a poet and believes that she will give up this dream as soon as she becomes pregnant. It can be argued that “a piece of dust” (Plath, 2012, p. 30) is an ample metaphor for her feelings toward men at this point in the novel. They are nothing more than tiny speckles of dust on the shiny surface of her descending jar of madness. At this point, Esther is completely disillusioned about men and slowly drifts toward her future mental breakdown by throwing her fashionable wardrobe away along with her sanity.
The ending of the novel is intensely grim and tinged with Esther’s madness brought about by her realization of the unfairness of the male-dominated world. Her unfortunate sexual experience plays a key role in her institutionalization, turning her “landscape” into a gigantic heap of miscellaneous items, such as cadavers, the fig tree, and the rock that fill her bottomless glass prison. She writes that “to the person in the bell jar, blank and stopped as a dead baby, the world itself is a bad dream” (Plath, 2012, p. 124). When Esther calls Irwin to ask him to pay the emergency room bill, the readers realize that her admiration for the man has given way to cold indifference. The woman recovers from her illness at the end of the novel, but most importantly, she also escapes the mental bonds of patriarchy.
Conclusion
Esther’s attitude toward men changes over the course of The Bell Jar from utter ignorance of the patriarchal values dominating Western culture at the beginning of the novel to utter indifference toward the opposite sex in the end. The sexual double standards that she witnesses in society and the ever-increasing pressure it exerts on women who are willing to give up motherhood for a career lead to her losing control. Self-propelling dissatisfaction with the masculine world precludes her from entering into meaningful discourse with society, which eventually contributes to attempted suicide.
References
McCrum, R. (2015). The 100 best novels: No 85-The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (1966). The Guardian. Web.
Plath, S. (2012). The Bell Jar. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.