There are many qualities that shaped Sylvia Plath into an American poet/novelist. Plath had used made up characters to reflect her own personal life. One of her most famous books that she wrote was The Bell Jar. The Bell Jar is about a nineteen year girl named Esther Greenwood that experienced breakdowns, just like Plath. Her father had died just like Otto Plath when she was just nine years old. Later on, Esther Greenwood had developed depression, and even talks about suicide. Sylvia Plath is exactly like Esther Greenwood as she suffered with depression, and talked/attempted suicide. They both took sleeping pills to try to end their life (The Bell Jar). Sylvia Plath used her own mental illness to create a character in a novel describing her