Although The Bell Jar Figurative Language

Olivia Peck

Mr. Wolfson

DLI Language, Analysis, and Power

9 February, 2023

Diction for Depression

Although The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath was presumed to be written around 1960, the issues with mental health the main character Esther experiences and describes are still exceedingly relevant today. In the book, Plath uses figurative language, including metaphors and symbolism, in order to powerfully describe mental illness.

The title of the book itself is a metaphor, and is used in a line in the book: “wherever I sat—on the deck of a ship or at a street café in Paris or Bangkok—I would be sitting under the same glass bell jar, stewing in my own sour air” (Plath 185). According to Martin Smith, a British lecturer and social worker, “The bell jar

The irrational, exaggerated response in the line “All through June the writing course had stretched before me like a bright, safe bridge over the dull gulf of the summer. Now I saw it totter and dissolve, and a body in a white blouse and green skirt plummet into the gap,” displays the fragility of her mental stability (Plath 114). She felt safe and comfortable “on her bridge” or with the idea of her prospective writing course, and then, when taking the course was no longer a realistic option, she felt the “bridge” disintegrate, leaving her to fall through the cracks. When Esther was placed in a mental hospital, her mother visited her. Esther describes this experience in the quote:

My mother came smiling round the foot of the bed. She was wearing a dress with purple cartwheels on it and she looked awful … My mother perched on the edge of the bed and laid a hand on my leg. She looked loving and reproachful, and I wanted her to go away... ‘How are you?’ my brother said. I looked my mother in the eye. ‘The same,’ I said. (Plath

Esther changes herself constantly to fit into what other people want her to be. For her mom, she is the perfect child. For her physics professor, she is the ideal student, despite her loathing for the class. For Buddy, her boyfriend, she is agreeable and calm. When he criticises poetry, comparing it to a piece of dust, she calmly replies “I guess so” (Plath 56). When she has her first kiss with Buddy, he makes a comment about how she must go out with a lot of men, and she agrees that she does, although this is not the case (Plath 61). To an untrained reader, this may look like simple people-pleasing behaviors, however Plath creatively uses these scenarios to represent Esther’s evolving identity crisis (Perloff 4-5). Because Esther lacks a sense of self, due to her dissociative tendencies, she becomes whoever she thinks others want her to be. Then, she resents the people in her life, because of her own actions.

Plath’s use of captivating metaphors, and her aptitude for making simple interactions esoteric, demonstrates her ability to meticulously describe mental illness. With such preeminent figurative language, Plath allows the reader to empathize with Esther, and assimilate themselves with aspects of mental illness that aren’t necessarily common