Depression In The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath

Esther lived a complicated life where she had no support from those close to her, such less support slowly causes her mental illness to escalate. She received little attention and support from her mother, who just wanted her to learn shorthand and live a life like any other girl her age. Esther wanted to be more than just an ordinary woman. By the end, Esther obtains support from other people she met throughout the novel and this helped her get out of the depression. Sylvia Plath’s novel, The Bell Jar, describes characters who influence Esther’s depression which suggests that depression is avoidable if the person suffering from depression has the support and attention necessary from the ones close to them. Jay Cee is a strong influence on Esther who wants

Jay Cee emphasizes at one point that Esther “better learn some languages,” (Plath 33) so that she adds to her knowledge and stands out more from all other women. Although Jay Cee just wants to help, Esther overreacts to the comment and instead, she feels worthless since she does not know another language. Esther has the support from Jay Cee, but her interpretation of the comment just dragged her down deeper into depression. She could have just taken the comment as something that could improve upon all her other talents. This could also open doors to more and even greater opportunities in her life. There is no one in the world that can do everything, but learning a new language would certainly make someone stand out in a crowd, but she took it as a defect that she has to fix. Although Esther has Jay Cee, she had very little support in the beginning of the novel, compared to Rose from Amy Bloom’s “Silver Water”. In “Silver Water” Rose’s sister, Violet, threw herself “...onto the kitchen floor, becoming the spot