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The Bell Jar Research Paper

1297 Words6 Pages

Liberation in The Bell Jar On the surface, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath is an autobiography loosely based on the life of Sylvia Plath herself and her struggle to find her own identity. Because Esther Greenwood's dreams are held back by gender roles in the 1950’s, she must learn to let go of these roles and grow as a person. Esther’s life and thoughts are extremely commonplace in her time period and continue even today, with many people telling women over and over that they can not find any glory in anything but femininity. It is with this notion that Esther and others like her wrestled with: "If a woman had a problem in the 1950's and 1960's, she knew that something must be wrong with her marriage or with herself.” This was coined "housewife's syndrome" by a Cleveland doctor who first noticed this trend. But for women like Esther- young, single, and educated- their problem is that society did not provide them any more career options than wife, mother, or secretary. Due to this fact, the Women's Liberation movement begins, but only after women like Esther become free. The road to …show more content…

The other women, like Mrs. Greenwood, pity these neurotic, unfeminine women, in whom Esther is included. Mrs. Greenwood does not understand Esther's condition. She knows Esther is not happy, but sees this unhappiness as her failure in caring for her child. Rather, her failure is not striving for and pushing her daughter towards complete independence. Yes, Mrs. Greenwood wants Esther to learn shorthand so she will be more marketable and able to support herself, but she will still be under the control and influence of men. Sadly, Mrs. Greenwood does not urge Esther to be her own boss or to become a boss; that is unheard of in Mrs. Greenwood's world. Unfortunately, feminine women dominate the world Esther is forced to survive

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Esther brought Lenora into their home and when she approached Sara she was shivering from the cold but in what ran through Sara’s mind was to do the right thing and give her a warm drink and a blanket. In this case she handed Lenora a mug that was missing a handle due to an earlier incident in which it broke. Sincerness was shown when Esther brought her dear friend one of their best quilts. Sara’s actions show that she feels an equality difference in terms which she doesn’t care to give the little girl Lenora anything with quality. On this subject prejudice come into play with just small actions that one doesn’t give much thought into this

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Deborah Tannen believes that the word “bossy” is a category that most women get put into, and not only women but also children from a very young age. Tannen believes that this category is an insult to women, and she uses diction and imagery to create and describe her idea of how women have been put into the “bossy” category since they were young and how that affects them. As a result she gains empathy and understanding from women who read her article. Tannen creates a connection with the readers by having them relate to being called bossy from a young age and on. She uses examples of strong and powerful women that have been put into categories as a way of creating social spaces for women.

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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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In Sylvia Plath’s novel, The Bell Jar, she depicts a conflict of inner world and reality of the main character, Esther Greenwood. This conflict is represented by different ways, which all reflect the symbol ‘bell jar of madness’ in Esther Greenwood’s life. In order to illustrating and change of Esther’s mental world, Plath describes Esther’s life experience in New York City during her internship and after she comes back to Boston. Besides, within different life experiences, Plath also uses the relationship and connection of characters to demonstrate the change of Esther mental world. Other people’s opinions and expectation influence and affect Esther’s choice in both good way and bad way, and it also a cause of the conflict of her inner world

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