Book Review – The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Review by Iona.

The novel Bell Jar by American poet Sylvia Plath is set in 1953’s America. The protagonist Esther Greenwood, a young woman from suburban Boston, gains a summer internship at a well-renowned magazine in New York. Unlike most girls of her age, Esther is neither sparked nor invigorated by the glitz and glamour of the city from such an opportunity. Instead, a sense of duality and confusion is evident in Esther who finds her experience daunting and disorienting in the raw and gritty representation of life in the city.

As the novel progresses, Esther, unafraid to rip off the façade, describes several anecdotes disclosing the eccentricities, quirks, and misadventures of her life. Before the internship ends, she attends a party with her friend Doreen where she is manhandled but somehow manages to leave. Day after, she returns home in Massachusetts, scarred by memories of the previous night. When her wait for a writing course by a world-famous author fails to materialise, Esther decides on writing a novel, despite lacking convincing life experiences. Choices presented to her in stereotypical female careers (stenography) or motherhood pressures for raising a large family fail to appeal.

As the novel advances, Esther falls into a prolonged, depressive state, all hopes crushed and dysfunctional. Sadly, when her mother forces her into visiting a psychiatrist who prescribes electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) as relief, her mental state worsens from its harrowing experience. Esther describes her depression as ‘trapped under a bell jar’, struggling for breath and feeling there is no escape to her emotions. Eventually, Esther describes ECT as beneficial, when administered properly in lifting the metaphorical bell jar she feels stifled under. Towards the end, Esther reveals how she envies male freedom, leaving women, like her worrying about marrying the wrong man or getting pregnant.

As an autobiographical work, the protagonist’s descent into mental illness parallels Plath’s experiences of clinical depression. It also highlights the oppressive patriarchal society in mid-20th century America. By addressing questions of socially acceptable identity and examining Esther’s quest to forge her own instead of succumbing as a prisoner to domestic duties and losing her inner self, Plath breaks social conformities and adopts a bold step in challenging some of the most controversial and rigid societal views, overlapping onto our times and making the novel timeless.

The title The Bell Jar initially seems to have no connection to the narrative. It later appears most appropriate when interpreted as a powerful metaphor to Esther’s feelings of mental suffocation, no escape, and lack of choice being continually treated as an object rather than a person. As the story unfolds, loose ends tying up gradually, one reflects on a stimulating psychological thriller in a distinctive style of lucid poeticism. As a reader, inclined towards socially tabooed topics often sparingly represented in literature, I feel this book can help others look differently on mental illness, often rooted in stigma. As a personal favourite, I would strongly recommend this book to young adults.

10/10