The Bell Jar

First edition cover
Author	Sylvia Plath (under the pseudonym "Victoria Lucas")
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Semi-autobiographical
Publisher	Heinemann
Publication date	1963
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
ISBN	NA

The Bell Jar is American writer Sylvia Plath's only novel, which was originally published under the pseudonym "Victoria Lucas" in 1963. The novel is semi-autobiographical with the names of places and people changed. The book is often regarded as a roman à clef, with the protagonist's descent into madness paralleling Plath's own experiences with what may have been either bipolar disorder or clinical depression. Plath committed suicide a month after its first publication. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Sylvia Plath (October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. ... For other uses, see Country (disambiguation). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... For music albums named Autobiography, see Greek eauton = self, bios = life and graphein = write) is a form of biography, the writing of a life story. ... A publisher is a person or entity which engages in the act of publishing. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... For other uses, see 1963 (disambiguation). ... Hardcover books A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with cloth, heavy paper, or sometimes leather). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... ISBN redirects here. ... Sylvia Plath (October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. ... A pseudonym (Greek: , pseudo + -onym: false name) is an artificial, fictitious name, also known as an alias, used by an individual as an alternative to a persons legal name. ... See also: 1962 in literature, other events of 1963, 1964 in literature, list of years in literature. ... For music albums named Autobiography, see Greek eauton = self, bios = life and graphein = write) is a form of biography, the writing of a life story. ... A roman à clef or roman à clé (French for novel with a key) is a novel describing real-life events behind a façade of fiction. ... A protagonist is the main figure of a piece of literature or drama and has the main part or role. ... For other uses, see Bipolar. ... On the Threshold of Eternity. ... For other uses, see Suicide (disambiguation). ...

The novel was published under Plath's name for the first time in 1971. Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. ...

Plot summary

Esther Greenwood, a young woman from Boston, Massachusetts, gains a summer internship at a prominent magazine in New York City under editor Jay Cee. At the time of the Rosenbergs' execution Esther is exhilarated by the rush of Manhattan, but her experiences also frighten and disorient her. She appreciates the hedonism of her friend Doreen, but also identifies with the piety of Betsy (dubbed "Pollyanna Cowgirl" by Doreen, because she's from Kansas), a 'goody-goody' sorority girl who always does the right thing. She has a benefactress in Philomena Guinea, a formerly successful fiction writer, who will also later during Esther's hospitalization pay for some of her treatments. Boston redirects here. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... The Rosenbergs Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg (September 28, 1915 – June 19, 1953) and Julius Rosenberg (May 12, 1918 – June 19, 1953) were American citizens and CPUSA members who were thrust into the world spotlight when they were tried, convicted, and executed for spying for the Soviet Union. ... For other uses, see Manhattan (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite any sources. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... While the term fraternity can be used to describe any number of social organizations, including the Lions Club and the Shriners, fraternities and sororities are most commonly known as social organizations of higher education students in the United States and Canada but there are fraternities in the whole world (for...

After struggling to cope with life in New York City during her internship, Esther returns to her Massachusettes home in low spirits. During her stay in New York City, she had hoped to return to another scholarly opportunity to attend a writing course taught by a world-famous author, but after being rejected, she decides instead to spend the summer potentially writing a novel, although she feels she hasn't enough life experience to write convincingly. All of her identity has been centered around doing well academically; she has no idea what to make of her life once she leaves school, and the choices presented to her (motherhood, as exemplified by the prolific child-bearer and vacuous Dodo Conway, or stereotypical female careers such as stenography ) do not appeal. Shorthand is a writing method that can be done at speed because an abbreviated or symbolic form of language is used. ...

Esther becomes increasingly depressed, and finds herself unable to sleep. Her mother encourages, or perhaps forces her to see a psychiatrist, who then hastily diagnoses her with a mental illness and administers electroshock therapy. Also, this first therapist is noted by his sex, and also his good looks, which Esther somehow resents. By this time, Esther is suffering from intense insomnia and is traumatised by the therapy, which was improperly administered. When she tells her mother she refuses to go back, her mother smugly announces "I knew you'd decide to be all right." For other uses, see Psychiatrist (disambiguation). ... Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), also known as electroshock, is a controversial psychiatric treatment in which seizures are induced with electricity for therapeutic effect. ... This article is about the sleeping disorder. ...

Esther's mental state worsens. She describes her depression as a feeling of being trapped under a bell jar, struggling for breath. She makes several half-fledged attempts at suicide, including swimming far out to sea, before making a serious attempt. She leaves out a note that says she is taking a long walk, then crawls into the cellar and swallows almost 50 sleeping pills that have been prescribed for her insomnia. After an interminable amount of time, she is discovered under her house after a rather dramatic episode in the newspapers has presumed her kidnapping and death. She survives, is sent to a different mental hospital, and meets Dr. Nolan, a therapist, who prescribes electroshock therapy and ensures that it will be properly administered. Esther describes the ECT as beneficial in that it has a sort of antidepressant effect, lifting the metaphorical bell jar in which she has felt trapped and stifled. Her stay at the private institution is funded by her benefactress, Philomena Guinea. A bell jar is a piece of laboratory glassware in the shape of a bell. ... Prozac, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, Venlafaxine An antidepressant, is a psychiatric medication or other substance (nutrient or herb) used for alleviating depression or dysthymia (milder depression). ...

Under Dr. Nolan, Esther improves and various life-changing events - such as losing her virginity and her final understanding of death through the suicide of her friend Joan - help her regain her sanity. The novel ends with her entering the room for her interview which would decide whether she was free from the hospital or not. The reader does not find out the outcome of the interview, and the novel ends with the words: "I stepped into the room."

Major themes

The Restricted Role of Women in 1950s America: There are a number of examples of frustration with the limited possibilities available to women, especially creative ones. When contemplating her future, Esther visualizes her ambitions as a fig tree, with many possibilities, but becomes increasingly upset knowing that she can only choose one. In addition, Esther is surrounded by women pursuing their careers, but at the same time being encouraged by the magazine authorities to attend various social events. While in college, she is only accepted by her peers when she has a boyfriend; they give her a hard time when she spends her time studying.

Feminism: The book has feminist connotations; for example, when Esther discovers that her boyfriend had sex with a waitress over the summer, she sees the hypocrisy of the moral code of her generation (in that promiscuity in a man is acceptable, but in a woman it is not). In order to subvert the idealism that Esther recognizes as flawed, she immediately endeavours to lose her virginity as soon as possible. While a resident of the hospital, Esther loses her virginity to a professor of mathematics at Harvard (Chapter 19), near the end of the book. After, Esther experiences uncontrollable hemorrhaging, and is admitted to a hospital. Esther's attempt at losing her virginity in order to undermine the existing social-moral mores about sex and gender is one of Plath's statements of defiance against the codes of social and moral conduct for women. Feminism is a social theory and political movement primarily informed and motivated by the experience of women. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Morality. ...

Growth Through Pain and Rebirth: This novel is often seen as a coming-of-age novel. However, Esther Greenwood does not go through a typical passage from child to adulthood. She struggles with depression and paranoia, suicide attempts, and a few months stay at a mental hospital in order to find herself and feel ready to enter the real world. Esther wants to remember each of her unique experiences and take them with her as her "landscape." By the end of the novel, she finally seems prepared to re-enter the world as an adult.

Lesbianism: Some readers also point out the lesbian theme in the latter half of the book, when Esther discovers that her friend Joan is gay, and remembers a story of two women students who were dismissed from her university when they were found in a bedroom together, although they were only caressing each other's hair. Asked by Esther what a woman might look for in another woman, Dr. Nolan replies "tenderness." Plath has become a kind of lesbian icon in some circles for her honest look at what was then believed to be as a serious mental illness whose victims were inclined to violent and criminal behavior. This article is about same-sex desire and sexuality among women. ... GAY can mean: Gay, a term referring to homosexual men or women The IATA code for Gaya Airport Category: ...

Parallels of Plath's life to the novel

The book contains many references to real people and events in Plath's life. Plath's real-life magazine scholarship was at Mademoiselle magazine beginning in 1953.^[1] Furthermore, Philomena Guinea is based on Plath's own patron, Olive Higgins Prouty, author of Stella Dallas and Now, Voyager, who funded Plath's scholarship to study at Smith College. Plath was rejected from a Harvard course taught by Frank O'Connor^[2]. Dr. Nolan is thought to be based on Plath's own therapist, Ruth Beuscher, whom she continued seeing into adulthood. A good portion of this part of the novel closely resembles the experiences chronicled by Mary Jane Ward in her autobiographical novel The Snake Pit (novel); Plath later stated that she'd seen reviews of The Snake Pit and believed the public wanted to see "mental health stuff," so she deliberately based details of Esther's hospitalization on the procedures and methods outlined in Ward's book. Plath was actually a patient at McLean Hospital, an upscale facility which resembled the "snake pit" much less than certain wards in Metropolitan State Hospital, which may have been where Mary Jane Ward was actually incarcerated. ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Mademoiselle was an influential womens magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. ... January 7 - President Harry S. Truman announces the United States has developed a hydrogen bomb. ... Olive Higgins Prouty (January 10, 1882–March 24, 1974) was an American novelist, best known for her pioneering consideration of psychotherapy in Now, Voyager and her feminist melodrama Stella Dallas. ... Stella Dallas is a 1937 film which tells the story of a woman who sacrifices her own happiness for the sake of her daughter. ... Now, Voyager is a 1942 film which tells the story of a middle-aged spinster who, repressed by the domination of her mother, winds up in a sanatorium, where her self-confidence is boosted by an understanding psychiatrist. ... Smith College is a private, independent womens liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. ... For the actor, husband of Ayn Rand, see Frank OConnor (actor). ... McLean Hospital (pronounced Mc-Lane) is a psychiatric hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, USA. It is noted for its clinical staff expertise and ground-breaking neuroscience research. ... The name Metropolitan State Hospital has been given to more than one public hospital for the mentally ill in the United States: Metropolitan State Hospital (California) Metropolitan State Hospital (Massachusetts) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Film adaptations

• 1979: director Larry Peerce, starring Marilyn Hassett as Esther Greenwood, the protagonist. Tagline: "Sometimes just being a woman is an act of courage." After the movie came out, Jane Anderson claimed she was portrayed as the character "Joan" in the movie and filed a lawsuit. She felt that her character was ill-represented which resulted in her subsequent emotional trauma.
• 2008: Plum Pictures has announced that a new Hollywood version of the novel will go into production in early 2008, with a tentative release date of late 2008. The movie will be written by playwright and screenwriter Tristine Skyler, while Julia Stiles will star as the novel's protagonist, Esther Greenwood. ^[3]

Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (common) era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... Tristine Skyler is an American female actress and writer. ... Julia OHara Stiles (born March 28, 1981) is an American stage and screen actress. ...

References

1. ^ Two Views of Plath's Life and Career--by Linda Wagner-Martin and Anne Stevenson
2. ^ Correspondence with Frank O Connor & Seán Ó Faoláin, "O’Connor [traveled] to the States to give his famous course on Irish Literature at Harvard (Sylvia Plath was an aspiring student whom he refused a place on his course to)."
3. ^ Stiles likes ring of 'Bell'. Variety (April 24, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-03.

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 123rd day of the year (124th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• The Bell Jar at the Internet Movie Database
• Discussion Questions at ReadingGroupGuides