The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Working in New York one hot summer, Esther Greenwood is on the brink of her future. Yet she is also on the edge of a darkness that makes her world increasingly unreal. In this vivid and unforgettable novel, Esther’s vision of the world shimmers and shifts; day-to-day New York living, her crazed men-friends, and hot dinner dances…

I should start this post with a trigger warning. The Bell Jar is an account of living with depression and being driven to attempted suicide. It is semi-autobiographical and in fact Plath sadly died by suicide just a month after the book was published.

The Bell Jar is about Esther’s experiences as a nineteen-year-old in New York, working for a fashion magazine. She is aware that she is supposed to be having the time of her life, and she goes through the motions of the experience she is meant to be having, but she feels disconnected and different to the people around her.

The story alternates between Esther’s present and past, in particular concerning her boyfriend, Buddy Willard. Esther’s disconnection from her surroundings is partly linked to the contrast between what was expected of a woman in the 1950s and what Esther actually wants. She is not interested in being what society expects of her but breaking those customs is an enormous task when the patriarchal expectations are so normalised.

As Esther reminisces on her past, we understand her increasing self-awareness in the years before the start of the book. In contrast, her present self adopts an increasingly narrow outlook on life as a result of her depression. As well as feeling less and less connected to her surroundings, she experiences feelings of inadequacy and then indifference.

The Bell Jar contains some shocking scenes detailing how depression (and other mental health conditions) were treated, including electroshock treatment and long-term hospitalisation. These descriptions were Plath’s reality.

Although it is not for the faint-hearted, The Bell Jar is a seminal piece of literature in many ways, not least because of its honest and painful account of Esther’s (and Plath’s) mental health troubles and the lack of understanding and help for them at the time.

Thank you to H for the picture!