Sylvia Plaths The Bell Jar Essay -- Sylvia Plath Bell Jar Essays Depr

Sylvia Plaths The Bell JarDepression and suicide are commonly discussed in todays rules of order however, in the 1950s, incidents such(prenominal) as suicidal feelings were not mentioned due to being deemed too risqu. Sylvia Plath is well-known for her poetry, yet her prose is equally as noteworthy. According to Frances McCullough, The Bell Jar is a pre-drugs, pre-Pill, pre-Womens Studies (Plath xiii) novel, which focuses on weighty issues which were not typically discussed during the cadence period. The semiautobiographical novel deals with depression and suicide, as well as a search for ones identity, feminism, and rebirth. Therefore, The Bell Jar tackles various issues which were not discussed during the time of its publication. The novel follows the plight of a young woman, Esther Greenwood, as she begins a downward spiral in her psychic health, slipping farther and farther away from reality. She delves deep into a depression, which is directly related to her search for her own identity. When one does not know ones self, it becomes a struggle to develop relationships with others and succeed in life. Esther does not know who she is and this causes her to sink into a depression, leading to multiple suicide attempts. Esther is in a daub in which she should be content, as a guest editor of a womens magazine however, she is not satisfied with her positionI was supposed to be having the time of my life. I was supposed to be the envy of thousands of other college girls just like meI guess I should have been excited the way near of the other girls were, but I couldnt get myself to react. (I felt very still and very empty, the way the eye of a tornado must feel, woful dully along in the middle of the surroundi... ...ed closely by societal members, causing the impending state of depression. The Bell Jar was the first novel of the time period to address such weighty issues as depression, suicide, sexual conduct, and feminism. Plaths work impacted me greatly because, like many college students, I have foregone through a period of searching for my true identity and could closely relate to the novel. Depression and suicide are often misunderstood by society however, Plaths semiautobiographical novel gave people an insiders perspective of what madness is actually like (Plath xiii).Works CitedKendall, Tim. Sylvia Plath A Critical Study. forward-looking York faber and faber, 2001.Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar. New York Perennial Classics, 1996.Plath, Sylvia. Tulips. Ed. Jahan Ramazani, Richard Ellmann, & Robert OClair. New York W.W. Norton & Company, 2003.