The Bell Jar Essay

In The Bell Jar, Esther Greenwood, a nineteen-year-old girl, gets to live in the big city under the big lights of New York. Going to parties without an ounce of apprehension. Without warning, one imperfect moment changes that outlook, and suddenly Esther distances herself from everything she had come to know. The constant pressure to be perfect had an anchor effect, dragging Esther deeper into the waters of her insecurities. No one else but her mother had noticed, but as time goes on Esther continues to sink deeper, making a choice that affects her future permanently. Through her struggles Esther finds herself breaking free of the anchor, which allows her to float towards her full potential. She begins to flourish and breakthrough the barriers of her own mind as well as the barriers put up by society. Throughout the text we see Esther spiral into a state that seems as if she will never get out of. Examination of Esther’s psychological health, as well as the torment brought on by the expectations of society, Esther
Sylvia Plath is a lot like Esther in the way each of them had grown up. In The Bell Jar it explained how Esther’s father had died when she was a very young age. More importantly, Sylvia Plath’s father had died when she was a young girl as well, only eight years old. Plath had also been a straight A student, just as Esther was, she was awarded a scholarship for an all girls school In Massachusetts. While gaining college experience Plath “immediately felt the pressures of college life, from the academic rigors to the social scenes.” (Steinberg, 1999). The similarities that Esther and Plath share exceed the differences. More importantly, it seems as if Esther is not the main character at all, but that Esther embodies and represents Plath