The Bell Jar, the semi-autobiographical novel published by Sylvia Plath in 1963 under a pseudonym, is considered to be loosely based on her own experiences. The protagonist of The Bell Jar is Esther Greenwood, a young woman who has graduated from Smith College and won a prestigious summer internship at “Aunt” Emma’s fashion magazine. The story takes place during this summer internship in New York City. The novel follows Esther as she begins to suffer from depression and explores the world of mental illness that accompanied her deteriorating state of mind.
The Bell Jar is considered an autobiographical novel because Plath is depicting the events of her own life, but setting them in her third-person narrative voice allowed her to portray herself as “Esther Greenwood”, exploring mental health issues without making it too personal (Hedman, 2009). The protagonist’s experience may be based on Sylvia Plath’s real life, but with some fictional elements added for dialogue and interactions between characters (Mortimer, 1988). The main theme of The Bell Jar is mental illness; however both successful treatments and negative stereotypes are explored in Plath’s semi-autobiographical novel.
The story begins with Esther Greenwood receiving her summer internship at “Aunt” Emma’s fashion magazine in New York City. The treatment of mental illness is explored through the interactions within society, but also from a medical perspective. The reader experiences the protagonist’s decent into depression and eventual recovery via both methods of treatment: talking to others, as well as taking medication. The first encounters the main character has with an experience that could be considered a form of mental illness is when she starts working at a prestigious fashion magazine called “Aunt” Emma’s.
The environment she works in is very competitive and puts a large amount of pressure on its employees to do their best work. The fashion industry is known for being extremely critical of body types and beauty standards, so not fitting in could be another reason why Esther Greenwood experiences depression (Greenwald 6). The fashion world has historically valued thinness over health. The “ideal female form” is often portrayed as tall with a slim figure, symmetrical facial features, long hair that can easily be styled into different looks, and flawless skin (Bartky 397).
The fashion industry can make young women feel like they are constantly at war with their inner demons if they do not fit the ideal standard of beauty. The pressures on women to fit these guidelines can cause body image disorders like anorexia or bulimia (Tomanovich & Rosenblum 353-54). The women that do not fit the ideal female form may become desperate and begin to struggle with eating disorders. The Bell Jar does not just focus on beauty ideals, but also discusses mental health and treatment in The Bell Jar.
The novel focuses mostly on the protagonist’s experience with depression; however other experiences like rape, domestic violence, bullying, and sexual assault are briefly seen throughout The Bell Jar as well. The first time Esther Greenwood experiences an episode of depression is when she feels like she has gotten a “D” as opposed to an “A+” for her internship performance (Plath 9). She then begins to feel empty inside. The reader can see that Plath is using this early interaction with illness as a way to explore the negative effects that society and the fashion magazine can have on an individual’s mental health.
The entire novel takes place in Esther Greenwood’s deteriorating state of mind, therefore The Bell Jar is more about depression than it is about being a biography on Sylvia Plath herself. The protagonist is sharing her own personal experiences with readers while keeping them interested by adding fiction to create dialogue within certain characters (Mortimer). The reader gets a sense of what it feels like to be inside the protagonist’s head via free indirect discourse. The feeling of being trapped comes across when Plath expresses how Esther Greenwood cannot seem to get away from her thoughts even when she tries to escape them.
The only thing that brings relief for the protagonist is sleep, but once she wakes up she begins to feel trapped in The Bell Jar all over again. The reader can tell that Plath is experiencing these same feelings while writing The Bell Jar because of the constant use of imagery and similes when describing Esther Greenwood’s feelings, for example: “A sensation of infinite blackness began at a point between my shoulder blades and finished somewhere behind my knees… I sat down on a bench by the swimming pool and stared at the people drinking tea under the striped umbrella… ” (Plath 15-17).
The protagonist describes her mental illness as being stuck in a deep hole that seems to go beyond her body. The feeling out of control is what causes depression, which acts as an expression of one’s own inner thoughts and emotions. The protagonist constantly feels as if she is stuck in The Bell Jar, which makes it almost impossible for her to maintain a job or interact with other people because of how miserable she feels. The author may have created this analogy between The Bell Jar and the protagonist’s thought processes to show how society can be harmful to one’s mental health.
The reader begins to understand that The Bell Jar is about Esther Greenwood’s struggle to fight off depression once they see that Esther cannot seem to escape her feelings even when she tries (Plath 20). The fears of losing control, being alone, having no purpose, looking ugly, becoming mad, losing sanity, and forgetting everything are all concerns that plague the protagonist’s mind (Plath 19). The reader begins to see the protagonist’s mental health decline when she starts to feel empty inside because of her lack of talent.
The protagonist also mentions how she feels like no one cares about what happens to her, which shows that the sufferer has feelings of worthlessness (Plath 14-16). The protagonist even says that “the intelligent part of me was not lonely, but the childish part was” (Plath 15) which could be a sign that someone who is depressed can have trouble with their identity. The human mind is powerful enough for any individual to develop depression just by being around other people who are in this state.