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Book Review of The Bell Jar (Modern Classics)

The Bell Jar (Modern Classics)
jaguerns avatar reviewed on + 32 more book reviews


Feeling a little lazy so I'm just copying the info here:
"This extraordinary work--echoing Plath's own experiences as a rising writer/editor in the early 1950s--chronicles the nervous breakdown of Esther Greenwood: brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, successful, but slowly going under, and maybe for the last time."

I've heard the name Sylvia Plath for ages, usually in hushed whispers from kids wearing too much black eyeliner and facial piercings. And that's just the boys. So when I was writing for a character of similar tastes, I decided it was time to delve a little deeper and see what was the appeal.

Esther Greenwood is a reflection of Sylvia Plath. She should have been blissfully happy, with intelligence, education, wealth, and her college sweetheart proposing to her, but instead she feels numb, stifled. The societal expectations is for women to only pursue husband and babies, stopping any other ambition once a match is made. Her boyfriend tells her as much, saying that once she has a baby., she won't want to write poetry. Not want to write? Seems like a miserable life. And Esther shrivels.

As someone who has struggled with depression, I could relate to the feeling of the bell jar, allowing no air to circulate, no thoughts or feelings to progress. I've felt that way. It's a difficult experience to explain and Ms. Plath captured it rather well.