The Bell Jar
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| The Bell Jar | |
 First edition cover. |
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| Author | Sylvia Plath |
|---|---|
| Publisher | NA |
| ISBN | NA |
The Bell Jar is American writer and poet Sylvia Plath's only novel, which was originally published under the pseudonym "Victoria Lucas" in 1963. The novel is semi-autobiographical with the names of places and people changed. The book is often regarded as a roman à clef, with the protagonist's descent into mental illness paralleling Plath's own experiences with what may have been either bipolar disorder or clinical depression. Plath committed suicide a month after its first publication.
The novel was published under Plath's name for the first time in 1966 and was not published in the United States until 1972, pursuant to the wishes of Plath's ex-husband Ted Hughes and her mother.[1]
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[edit] Plot summary
Esther Greenwood, a young woman from the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts, gains a summer internship at a prominent magazine in New York City under editor Jay Cee. At the time of the Rosenbergs' execution, Esther is neither stimulated nor excited by the big city and glamorous culture and lifestyle girls her age are expected to idolize and emulate, but her experiences also frighten and disorient her. She appreciates the hedonism of her friend Doreen, but also identifies with the piety of Betsy (dubbed "Pollyanna Cowgirl" by Doreen, because she's from Kansas), a 'goody-goody' sorority girl who always does the right thing. She has a benefactress in Philomena Guinea, a formerly successful fiction writer, who will, later, during Esther's hospitalization, pay for some of her treatments.
Esther describes in detail several seriocomic incidents that occur during her internship, and reminisces about her friend Buddy, whom she has dated more or less seriously and who considers himself her de facto fiancé. She returns to her Massachusetts home in low spirits. During her stay in New York City, she had hoped to return to another scholarly opportunity to attend a writing course taught by a world-famous author, but after being rejected, she decides to spend the summer potentially writing a novel, although she feels she hasn't got enough life experience to write convincingly. All of her identity has been centered around doing well academically; she has no idea what to make of her life once she leaves school, and the choices presented to her (motherhood, as exemplified by the prolific child-bearer and vacuous Dodo Conway, or stereotypical female careers such as stenography) do not appeal to her.
Esther becomes increasingly depressed, and finds herself unable to sleep. Her mother encourages her, or perhaps forces her to see a psychiatrist, who then hastily diagnoses her with a mental illness and administers electroconvulsive therapy. Also, this first therapist is noted by his sex, and also his good looks, which Esther resents. By this time, Esther is suffering from intense insomnia and is traumatised by the therapy, which was improperly administered. When she tells her mother she refuses to go back, her mother smugly announces, "I knew you'd decide to be all right."
Esther's mental state worsens. She describes her depression as a feeling of being trapped under a bell jar, struggling for breath. She makes several half-hearted attempts at suicide, including swimming far out to sea, before making a serious attempt. She leaves a note that says she is taking a long walk, then crawls into the cellar and swallows almost 50 sleeping pills that have been prescribed for her insomnia. She is discovered under her house after a rather dramatic episode in the newspapers has presumed her kidnapping and death, all taking place over an indeterminate amount of time. She survives, is sent to a different mental hospital, and meets Dr. Nolan, a female therapist, who prescribes electroconvulsive therapy and ensures that it will be properly administered. Esther describes the ECT as beneficial in that it has a sort of antidepressant effect, lifting the metaphorical bell jar in which she has felt trapped and stifled. Her stay at the private institution is funded by her benefactress, Philomena Guinea.
Under Dr. Nolan, Esther improves and various life-changing events — such as losing her virginity and her final understanding of death through the suicide of her friend Joan — help her regain her sanity. The novel ends with her entering the room for her interview which would decide whether she was free from the hospital or not. The reader does not find out the outcome of the interview, and the novel ends with the words: "I stepped into the room."
[edit] Parallels of Plath's life to the novel
The book contains many references to real people and events in Plath's life. Plath's real-life magazine scholarship was at Mademoiselle magazine beginning in 1953.[2] Furthermore, Philomena Guinea is based on Plath's own patron, Olive Higgins Prouty, author of Stella Dallas and Now, Voyager, who funded Plath's scholarship to study at Smith College. Plath was rejected from a Harvard course taught by Frank O'Connor.[3] Dr. Nolan is thought to be based on Plath's own therapist, Ruth Beuscher, whom she continued seeing into adulthood. A good portion of this part of the novel closely resembles the experiences chronicled by Mary Jane Ward in her autobiographical novel The Snake Pit; Plath later stated that she'd seen reviews of The Snake Pit and believed the public wanted to see "mental health stuff," so she deliberately based details of Esther's hospitalization on the procedures and methods outlined in Ward's book. Plath was actually a patient at McLean Hospital, an upscale facility which resembled the "snake pit" much less than certain wards in Metropolitan State Hospital, which may have been where Mary Jane Ward was actually incarcerated.
[edit] Film adaptations
- 1979: director Larry Peerce, starring Marilyn Hassett as Esther Greenwood, the protagonist. Tagline: "Sometimes just being a woman is an act of courage." After the movie came out, Jane Anderson claimed she was portrayed as the character "Joan" in the movie and filed a lawsuit. She felt that her character was ill-represented, which resulted in her subsequent emotional trauma.
- 2008: Plum Pictures has announced plans for a new Hollywood version of the novel. The movie will be written by playwright and screenwriter Tristine Skyler, while Julia Stiles will star as the novel's protagonist, Esther Greenwood.[4] As of early 2009, the film remains in development.
[edit] Trivia
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Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (March 2009) |
- The book is featured in the first scene of Sun Yanzi's video for the song 'Unforgettable' ('我懷念的').
- In an episode of Family Guy, Meg is seen reading The Bell Jar while in a motel room depressed over being on Spring Break with her mother.
- In season two of Gilmore Girls, when Rory mentions she is going to a party with fellow students from Chilton, Lorelai suggests that she might as well stay home and read The Bell Jar. In season four Rory asks Lorelai if she has read The Bell Jar during one of her stubborn conversations. In season 3, episode "Application Anxiety", Lorelai and Rory were discussing Sylvia Plath's suicide, at which point Lorelai says "Although she did make her kids a snack first, shows a certain maternal instinct."
- In John Green's Paper Towns, the character Margo decides not to commit suicide because of The Bell Jar.
- In the movie Heathers, after Veronica (Winona Ryder) "accidentally" kills her friend Heather, she notices a copy of The Bell Jar lying on the bed and decides to cover the murder by writing a fake suicide note.
- In the movie Ten Things I Hate About You, Kat (Julia Stiles) is seen reading a copy of The Bell Jar.
- Lisa Simpson is seen reading this at the end of the episode, "How the Test Was Won" in "The Simpsons."
- In the Oliver Stone film Natural Born Killers, Mallory Knox is seen reading The Bell Jar a scene prior to killing her parents.
In an episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Sabrina is seen reading The Bell Jar when faced with a bad mood.
[edit] References
- ^ The Bell Jar - Harper Perennial Classics Edition. ISBN 0-06-093018-7 p. xii by Frances McCullough
- ^ Two Views of Plath's Life and Career--by Linda Wagner-Martin and Anne Stevenson
- ^ Correspondence with Frank O Connor & Seán Ó Faoláin, "O’Connor [traveled] to the States to give his famous course on Irish Literature at Harvard (Sylvia Plath was an aspiring student whom he refused a place on his course to)."
- ^ "Stiles likes ring of 'Bell'". Variety. April 24, 2007. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117963712.html?categoryid=13&cs=1. Retrieved on 2007-05-03.
[edit] External links
