The Bell Jar

by Sylvia Plath

I was supposed to be having the time of my life.

When Esther Greenwood wins an internship on a New York fashion magazine in 1953, she is elated, believing she will finally realise her dream to become a writer. But in between the cocktail parties and piles of manuscripts, Esther's life begins to slide out of control. She finds herself spiralling into serious depression as she grapples with difficult relationships and a society which refuses to take her aspirations seriously.

The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath's only novel, was originally published in 1963 under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas. The novel is partially based on Plath's own life and descent into mental illness, and has become a modern classic.

• ISBN10: 0571226167
• ISBN13: 9780571226160
• Publish Date: 2 June 2005 (first published December 1967)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 5 March 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Faber & Faber
• Edition: Main
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 240
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sarah Says]

Oh, shit balls! should I be worried about how much I saw of myself in Esther Greenwood? a character that Plath based on herself.

Farrrrrrrrrk, this was one of the darkest and most beautiful things I’ve ever read. At one point I chuckled out loud and thought to myself “I f***ing love her” (the main character), but for the most part it was all too real and even a little disturbing.

I picked this book up, just looking at it as I was rearranging my collection. It’s one of those classic must reads that’s been on my TBR list forever. I hadn’t meant to start reading. I was just reading the introduction about its publication journey (which was fascinating) and then the next thing I know I’m sitting on the lounge and had devoured the first two chapters. I was captivated. I’ve never read any of Plath’s poetry before. I own a collection, same thing, been on my TBR list forever. So her writing was a whole new world to me.

Sometimes while reading this book a feeling of dread would wash over me. Other times I would scoff to myself and think “she’s f***ing hilarious”. Damn it was compulsive reading. The story, the writing, the words, the girl, sucked me in. What a roller-coaster.

I found myself thinking: I am this woman. She is darkness and she rages and reveals in it. I saw so much of myself in Esther Greenwood. The only other time I’ve ever really seen myself in a character was Clancy, from Clancy of The Undertow by Christopher Currie – which is a very different book to this one.

A lot of people might find this book disturbing/depressing. But I found a powerful dark beauty to it and it made me feel less alone. It justified the fears and disdain I felt while pregnant with my first born and that I continue to feel in this world as a modern woman.

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

Esther Greenwood is a young woman from Boston who gains an internship at a prominent women’s magazine in New York City. We follow her personal life and her decline into depression, attempting suicide to being committed into an asylum. We see the bad treatment as well as the good, all the way up to her attempt to re-enter the world.

This is the seminal semi-autobiographical novel of Sylvia Plath and I’m so glad that I’ve finally read The Bell Jar. I want to say she is the female version of Charles Bukowski (even though I’ve only read Factotum); there are differences but I feel like the voice and style feel very similar. Originally published under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas to protect identities of characters she took liberties with, but more the fact it parallels Plath’s own experiences.

A bell jar is an inverted glass jar that is normally air tight used to display objects for observation, normally for scientific curiosity. For Esther the bell jar is a symbol of madness, when gripped with depression she feels like she is stuck in a jar with no real perspective to the outside world. It prevents her from making any real connections with people and sometimes she feels like she is on display (especially when she was hospitalised and received all those visitors).

What was interesting for me is that to me it never really felt like Esther Greenwood suffered from depression to begin with. I’m not saying she wasn’t really suffering but for me I think the idea was forced on her by everyone else, just because her thoughts were a little macabre and she was a little different. Almost like she was forced into her descent, because she was a little different to the norm.

Esther has an obsession with death; we get that from the very start with her fascination of newspaper headlines about executions, suicide and death. There is also the blood motif throughout the book; blood normally represents life but the constant bleeding would point towards death. When she starts to think about killing herself she talks about it at great lengths and even practices slashing her own wrists.

I think this is a novel about the regression into madness, the life experiences that normally have a positive on a person’s live, but for Esther these were partly responsible of her descent. Romance, success in education, finding work and Marriage proposals tend to upset or disorient her and in the end instead of finding reasons to live she finds how different she is to others and this cements her choice to die.

Then the book looks into the world of treating mental illness, the good and the bad. This is where the book moves into the territory similar to One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, in particular a look at 1950 psychiatric treatments. In this part there seems to be three treatment types used within the book; talking, injections of insulin and then the dreaded electroshock therapy. The treatment is meant to clear the mind entirely and after her first electroshock treatment Esther was unable to think about knives. The treatment was doing more damage than good, especially to her intellect.

I went into this book thinking there might have been some psychological elements but that this was mainly a novel about feminism. It is to some extent but what I got was so much more; I was really impressed with this novel and really enjoyed the journey it took me. I feel like kicking myself for not reading this sooner. A novel about a protagonist slipping into depression is normally right up my alley but I’m a little perplexed about the ending. Overall this is a masterpiece and well worth reading.

This review originally appeared on my blog; http://www.knowledgelost.org/random/regular-segments/book-of-the-month/book-of-the-month-the-bell-jar/

[readingwithwrin]

For me, this book ended up being one of those that I just read because of it being a modern classic, and because of how highly recommend that book always is.
While I did think this one was interesting with how her depression changed her and her friends/families lives. If I hadn’t been listening to this on audiobook I don’t think I would have been able to finish it. Just for different reasons and mainly because I really do struggle with classics in general.
What did you think of the Bell Jar if you’ve read?

[celinenyx]

Utterly bleak, but it feels so genuine and real to me.

The Bell Jar is the story of Esther Greenwood, a young woman who has everything going for her. She gets straight A's, and and has won a trip to New York where she interns at a women's magazine. But inside she's slowly suffocating, feeling as if she's trapped inside a bell jar.

I find it fascinating to read reader's responses to this book. Some people hate Esther, and just want to shake her and tell her to snap out of it. Some people can't stand the fact that there is no "Hallmark" message in this book. The Bell Jar won't make you appreciate life more. It doesn't tell you to enjoy every moment. There is no shining revelation for Esther in which she realizes that the potential to love life and be happy was there all along.

And then there are readers like me. Readers who know how Esther feels. Readers that think, me too. And to me it's somewhat of a comfort to read this book, even though it is a desolate and cold comfort. I can't say that I have gone through the same things Esther does, but the way she relates to the world felt familiar.

The Bell Jar is a confrontational and jarring read, the narrative jumping from one moment to the other, and focusing on moments that might not be the highlight of a conventional narrative. In a way this book is deeply personal, and whether or not it resonates with you depends entirely on your own experience. People suffering from depression might want to proceed with caution.

[Liz (Bent Bookworm)]

I had resisted reading this for a long time, a little turned off by the idea of being inside a suicidal person's head. But someone gave me a copy and well, I felt I needed to read it because hey, great American literature!

Well. All the feels. Really, all of them. I think at this point in my life I somehow identify with Esther even more than I would have at 20 years of age. The fear of the descending jar is palpable, her despair so real...and then the timid sweetness of relief. Not without scars, but strong.

[brokentune]

Not so much of a review, just a note to confirm that after years of trying, I give up.

I can see that The Bell Jar is an intelligent and, for its time, courageous venture into issues of relationship, the perception of women in western society, the taboo of mental health, the medieval treatment of mental health issues, the classification of non-conformist identity as mental illness, and other topics that clearly needed to be discussed at the time when Plath wrote the book - and still need to be discussed.

No, my issues are not with the book as a work of social record. What I am giving up on after years of trying different samples of her work is Plath's writing - it does nothing for me and I found it a bit of a tedious slog to finally finish the book based on one of the whiniest characters in history.

[Joséphine]

Initial thoughts: To this day mental health is difficult to grasp. It is impossible to measure it or to put it to any sort of scale. When is someone mentally healthy? At what point does mental illness kick in? When someone starts to harm themselves or others around them? By then it's too late, isn't it?

The Bell Jar is a very thought-provoking portrayal of a descent into madness. At times, Esther sounded so logical despite the consensus of the people around her that something was amiss. In fact, Esther asked a lot of questions that I ask myself rather regularly. As one of my professors liked to say, "Aren't we all a little bit crazy?"

As deep as The Bell Jar turned out to be, some of the characters were such caricatures, they ended up fairly underdeveloped.

[clementine]

Man, I really loved this book. Although it was obvious that it was written in - and takes place in - a time period that I'm pretty far removed from, it was relatable to me, which I dare say makes it pretty damn timeless.

The first part of the book, in New York, is something I think most young women can relate to at least somewhat - Esther could be any number of hardworking, naive, idealistic nineteen-year-old girls trying to find their place in the world. The only thing that's a little off about Esther is how detached she seems, but she's bright enough that it's not completely noticeable at first. Her eventual disillusionment and descent into deep depression is quite subtle, and I felt like I could really understand her mental state, although I have never struggled with clinical depression. Through the use of both beautiful, seamless metaphor and plain, simple language, Plath makes Esther's struggle easy to understand and even feel yourself.

There were a lot of themes touched on that I think are still really important today. Obviously there's the overarching theme of mental illness, which is explored in such a beautifully haunting way. But there is also the theme of being female, and the expectations that come with that, especially surrounding female sexuality. The descriptions of female beauty - Esther's hair, her stockings, her heels - were also really interesting, since nothing about her seemed to scream traditionally feminine. I don't know, I just found the care she took with her appearance sort of surprising. It seems as though Esther never felt she had a choice, like it wasn't just expected of her, it was unquestionably what she had to do as a woman. Esther's tumultuous, unhealthy, disconnected relationships with men were also fascinating to observe, because it seemed clear to me that she didn't actually want any part of it.

I think The Bell Jar is depressing enough that it would absolutely not appeal to everyone, but I thought it was brilliant. It definitely deserves another read, because there are so many layers of metaphor and I'm sure there's stuff I've missed that will make me enjoy it even more.

[jamiereadthis]

I read this in one day, in the space of about 10 hours: it was so magnificent and I was too weak to put it down. At the top of my why-oh-why-did-I-wait-so-long-to-read-just-because-I-thought-it-would-be-too-depressing list. I'm tempted to sit down and read it straight through again, I am.