The Bell Jar Feminism

The Bell Jar was published in 1963. The book dealt heavily with mental health and how it was treated and perceived at the time. The Bell Jar touched on gender issues at the time and was described as a feminist novel. In the 1950’s numerous historical events took place and references to those events were made in the book. The story centered around a young woman named Esther Greenwood, who aspired to be a writer. The book started off in the summer of 1953 in New York, where Esther was an intern for a fashion magazine. Early on it could have been easily seen that Esther was not happy where she was at all. Which could be confusing since she had so many privileges and awards she “. . . Was supposed to be the envy of thousands of other college
That disappointment caused Esther to sink deeper into her depression and she was recommended to a psychiatrist. She had not slept or washed and said she was unable to read. The psychiatrist prescribed her shock therapy, which Esther did not want and she planned, unsuccessfully, to run away. The shock therapy was unsuccessful and worsened her depression which pushed her over the edge. Esther considered different ways to kill herself, but found she could not go through with any of the options she had thought of. A trip to her father’s grave gave Esther the courage to go through with an unsuccessful attmept to kill herself with sleeping pills. After doctors helped her become physically well she was sent to a much nicer mental hospital. There she received insulin shots, successful shock therapy, and had a doctor who actually tried to understand her problems. While she was there Esther lost her virginity to an almost stranger, and her friend at the hospital committed suicide. Despite all of that, Esther eventually recovered and the book ended with her departure from the hospital.
The Bell Jar took place at an intense time in American history, and in the story that was demonstrated in a few events and common themes of the era. The Rosenberg’s execution, feminist ideas, the treatment of mental illness, and the traditional idea of the ideal 1950’s woman all made an appearance in
The Bell Jar had an abundance of examples where Esther felt the backlash and repressive side effects of those expectations. One could have assumed from having read The Bell Jar that the “ideal” 1950’s woman was cheerful, submissive, pure, and she strove only to be a good wife and mother. Esther, however, was a more cynical character who did not go down without a fight and had her own dreams. She wanted to go into either writing or publishing, but felt society pressuring her to be a wife and mother. Esther thought she had to choose one or the other as she could not have both. Her boyfriend Buddy Willard backed that choice up by commenting that she would not write poems once she had children. Esther’s fellow students at her college made fun of her for being studious and only seemed to respect her once she was dating Buddy. The college girls felt the societal pressure to get married and went along with it and they shunned those who did not, which included