The Bell Jar: Esther Greenwood
The Bell Jar - Esther Greenwood
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath has long been known as a haunting American classic. The protagonist of this timeless novel is Esther Greenwood. She travels through The Bell Jar with such intensity and purpose that her thoughts and actions are accessible and very easy to understand. Esther Greenwood is a talented woman who becomes increasingly confused and disturbed as the story progresses.
Esther is described as a talented woman because of her exceptional intelligence and the success it brings her. She had to take a physics course and study with a book written by the teacher. Esther studied the entire book and learned all that she could. Even though many of the other girls in the class failed, Greenwood managed to acquire straight As for fifteen years. She attributes her success to the many hours she spent studying instead of hanging out with her friends. Esther was also successful in her college days. She and eleven other girls won a writing contest they found in a fashion magazine by submitting essays, stories, poems, and fashion blurbs. They were rewarded with all-expenses-paid jobs in New York for a month, along with a plethora of other prizes. During her time in the city, Greenwood made an effort to have all of her assignments in by the deadline, even if her boss didn’t seem concerned about punctuality. Seemingly blinded by her own brilliance, Esther began to lose her mind.
Esther has many plans for her future; unfortunately for her, she is unsure which she should pursue. She describes herself figuratively looking at a metaphorical fig tree in which all of the figs represent her options for the future. In her clever analogy, Greenwood is starving because she does not know where to start as she sits there staring at the slowly ripening figs. Before she has made any choices, all of the figs wither and drop to the cold ground. Esther was unsure of how her fiancée Buddy could lead a double life with so little compunction. While he
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath has long been known as a haunting American classic. The protagonist of this timeless novel is Esther Greenwood. She travels through The Bell Jar with such intensity and purpose that her thoughts and actions are accessible and very easy to understand. Esther Greenwood is a talented woman who becomes increasingly confused and disturbed as the story progresses.
Esther is described as a talented woman because of her exceptional intelligence and the success it brings her. She had to take a physics course and study with a book written by the teacher. Esther studied the entire book and learned all that she could. Even though many of the other girls in the class failed, Greenwood managed to acquire straight As for fifteen years. She attributes her success to the many hours she spent studying instead of hanging out with her friends. Esther was also successful in her college days. She and eleven other girls won a writing contest they found in a fashion magazine by submitting essays, stories, poems, and fashion blurbs. They were rewarded with all-expenses-paid jobs in New York for a month, along with a plethora of other prizes. During her time in the city, Greenwood made an effort to have all of her assignments in by the deadline, even if her boss didn’t seem concerned about punctuality. Seemingly blinded by her own brilliance, Esther began to lose her mind.
Esther has many plans for her future; unfortunately for her, she is unsure which she should pursue. She describes herself figuratively looking at a metaphorical fig tree in which all of the figs represent her options for the future. In her clever analogy, Greenwood is starving because she does not know where to start as she sits there staring at the slowly ripening figs. Before she has made any choices, all of the figs wither and drop to the cold ground. Esther was unsure of how her fiancée Buddy could lead a double life with so little compunction. While he