The Bell Jar

Author: Plath, Sylvia

Place of Publication: 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY

Company: HarperCollins Publishers

Reason, Type, and Setting: After reading Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn and having known that it was a Great American Novel, I wanted to read other novels that fitted into that title and Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar is considered to be one of those. This novel was written in the in the early 1960s but was later published in 1971 under Sylvia Plath's pseudonym Victoria Lucas. Although, this is not an autobiography most of the events and the personalities of the characters are based on Sylvia's life and the main character is based off of Sylvia herself. So this novel is a fictional novel. Though their is no exact date or written time period you can tell it takes place in the 1950s since the opening chapter talks about the Rosenbergs' executions.

Plot: I'd have to say there is no main plot, but it accounts of a young woman's happenings and events that take place that lead up to her insanity and could be seen as a coming-of-age novel since it somewhat reminds me of The Catcher in the Rye. Though Esther Greenwood is already an adult, it is a story about her going through her mental breakdown and eventually going out into the world, after her rehabilitation, as an adult. At the start of the novel, she attends an all women college and is on her way to New York to work as a part-time guest editor for a month. During this time, many events lead up to her mental breakdown. Esther is faced with few paths to choose from since, either marrying her childhood friend Buddy Willard and settling down or doing what she loves which is writing poetry and stories. She ends up rejecting Buddy after she goes over to his college to visit him along with his mother and decides to enroll in a writing summer program, but is not accepted. I find that the rejection from the program, since she is considered a stellar author among her peers, along with the fact that she may have to end up with Buddy and go through a life she does not want, was a reality that she could not accept and that is what led to her suicide attempt. In the following chapters, it recounts her stay in a hospital after her failed suicide attempt.

Character: Esther Greenwood seems to be an obscure character. She is very indecisive and very critical of herself and also in regards to her work, but at the same time does not give a care as to what people do, think, or say in general. As for her physicality, in the book, her peers describe her as a very pretty girl and one acquaintance mistakes her for a model on a some kind of poster or billboard. Esther is petite in frame, but later on gains weight after having to take insulin as a part of her medication. I would say that during her time period (1950s) her character would seem out of place. She wanted to have and live her own life and not be pressured into being a typical housewife with Buddy Willard. She goes to clubs/bars with her girl friends and enjoys writing poetry and short stories that have been published in many magazines. I'd say overall what Esther Greenwood would most want would be independence and she displays that desire throughout this book.

Evaluation: Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. The style that Sylvia Plath wrote this novel was very descriptive and used many instances of personification throughout the story. Just like Huckelberry Finn and The Catcher In the Rye it follows the plot of overcoming some struggle whether it is interpersonal or from society. I'd say this would be a great book to read for our bimonthly book reports.

Author, Context, and Trivia: As said earlier, this novel is based off of Sylvia Plath's experiences and character, however it is not an autobiography. Sylvia Plath initially published this book years later and under a pseudonym because she felt that it wasn't considered to be a "serious work" and she did not want people to recognize themselves in the book (for she based the other characters in this novel and events from real life people she knew). And this is her only novel written, but she has many many poems published. She went through the same exact struggle as Esther Greenwood, however she did not overcome it and ended her own life.