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The Bell Jar Plath

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The voice of humanity echoes throughout the presence of time, reminding all of the concrete societal standards of the past, which have eroded away into dust. Each grain of dust resembles a moral inequality, uniform requirement of acceptance, or a means of ultimate conformity of the past time. The hands of humanity are able to manipulate this dust of the past mistakes into a future community that promotes equality in every aspect of light, which is a life that women of the 1950s were foreign to. “The Bell Jar”, written by a renowned author, Sylvia Plath reveals the harsh truth of society that many people tend to neglect and many have failed to correct. The narrator in this novella, Esther Greenwood, acts as an archetype, taking her last breath …show more content…

Plath’s demonstrates a cognitive pattern of isolating women in this very world as she does isolating Esther in her novel, which is where the seed of depression begins to sprout into a flower. Plath’s syntax consisted of many metaphors comparing the presence of flowers to her life. Throughout history, analogous writers have had the tendency of comparing the delicacy of women to the beauty of flower. Even though flowers seem to occupy the human eye and bring about grace in this somber world, flowers do not hold any significant value to society. Society seems to unconsciously categorize all flowers together as one commonality of life, which is similar to how society assigns all women one prevailing role, giving each the same identity and no purpose. When constricted by the chains of tradition, women began replicating each other, and as a result, each female member of society begins to resemble a mannequin just like Esther visually interpreted in the hospital waiting room that was full of soulless bodies who did not have a whim to live. It is in these ways that the society forces Esther to fit into the mold of a perfect woman, yet while attempting complete the feminine tasks under the societal pressures, she lost her will to live altogether, and “when they asked [her] what she wanted to be [she] said that [she] didn’t know” (Plath,

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This suggests that the woman’s body is very weak, like a dying flower, and also conveys the writer’s love for her – he believes she is beautiful, like a delicate flower. The theme of isolation is explored in an effective way when the writer speaks of a distance of pain “neither she nor (he) can cross”. The word “nor” isolates the words “she”

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In the short story “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier, the theme of there is beauty in life for those who are willing to see it applies to Miss Lottie. Through many children’s eyes, including Lizabeth, the main character, they viewed Miss Lottie as a witch. In reality, she is merely a broken woman who tried to grasp onto the last ray of hope in the shanty town. The marigolds bring joy and love into her life. On page 223 of “Marigolds”, it states, “...only a broken woman who had dared to create beauty in the midst of ugliness and sterility.

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1. Introduction Published in 1963 under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas, The Bell Jar has aroused the interest of scholars all over the world. One of the most often discussed characteristics of The Bell Jar is its use of similes, metaphors, and symbols. Throughout The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath employs rhetorical devices to paint a vivid picture of its protagonist Esther. This essay will discuss how Sylvia Plath uses figurative language to represent Esther’s feelings of insanity, anxiety, and freedom.

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This becomes evident in a lack of information about the type of society, and the reader therefore lacks a complete understanding of how the women are oppressed. As a whole, this poem sets forth the idea that female gender is fluid, and asks its readers to questions what it means to be a woman in a male dominant

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Love is defined as, “A profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person” (Dictionary.com). In the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare, there are various couples in the play that deal with problems in their relationship. Lysander comments from the play that, “The course of true love never did run smooth” (1.1.134). The couples are constantly dealing with obstacles in their love life. Difficulties that can face a romantic relationship are illustrated through the various couples in the play.

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However, there are deficient expressions of femininity. Through the use of the symbol of the red tulips In The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood shows how flowers are given special attention as objects; these flowers can grow at a time. However, not a lot of women can. The overall passage in this passage is the handmaids are parallel to a red tulip. The author includes this chapter in her book to show everybody has their own purpose in society.

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In “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier the coming of age short story where a now grown up Lizabeth reminisce her childhood especially going into Ms.Lottie’s garden. Ms. Lottie, who did not like children but treated her precious marigolds gets them destroyed by Lizabeth. After destroying them, Lizabeth realizes her errors believing she became a women in that moment. This short story has several literary device that are used in it to help deepen the meaning. The use of imagery, symbolism and metaphors in “Marigolds” helps the reader that it is important to not lose

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The world she lived in was so ugly and plain and she choose to “create beauty in the midst of [all that] ugliness" (62). This helps to create the theme because even though Miss Lottie had so little she still worked hard to care for the beautiful marigolds. In “Marigolds” the author uses diction, symbolism and point of view, to develop the theme that people can create beauty even in the poorest of situations. Through diction, Collier is able to show the reader the contrast between the beauty of the marigolds compared to the run-down town the story is set in.

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1.2 Plath’s use of symbols & motifs to depict the theme of social conventions The idea of social convention, ‘the way in which something is usually done in mass similarity’, is one of the most prominent ways in which Plath depicts female entrapment within her novel. The entire novel revolves around a woman 's battle with herself and the life she wishes for herself. The social convention aspect is all in all a synonym for what society expects of us. What society expects of an individual.

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According to Oxford Dictionary, bell jar is defined as, “An environment in which someone is protected or cut off from the outside world”. The Bell Jar written by Sylvia Plath is quite the extraordinary book with tantalizing twist and turns. The author, Sylvia Plath, had other books filled with poetry, however The Bell Jar was her only novel. Sylvia’s works were often based off her early life, included the central themes for The Bell Jar. In this glance at the work of Sylvia Plath, the lead up and outcomes will be the highlight.

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This is understanable given the state of her marriage at the time that this poem was written. Plath seems torn between

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This novel is also autobiographical. Throughout history, women have been locked in a struggle to free themselves from the borderline that separates and differentiate themselves from men. In many circles, it is agreed that the battleground for this struggle and fight exists in literature. In a

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The way that Sylvia Plath presented the image of women in her poems drawattention of many to the problem of patriarchy and overshadowing the importance of the female role in the society. She was a great poetess and a literary revolutionist in a female world. By combining irony, extendedmetaphors and a great use of language she was able to show the inequality and the dominance of man over woman in the society. She showed that even as, according to the society,a comparatively weak personcould fight for the right cause with her firmest weapon,her extraordinary style of writing. She revolutionised the world of poetry and presented women as a very strong part of the society capable of accomplishinggreat things.

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