Weaknesses of Esther and Plath Exposed in Sylvia Plaths The Bell Jar E

Weaknesses of Esther and Plath Exposed in The Bell Jar The glass of which a bell jar is constructed is fatheaded and suffocating, intending to preserve its orna cordial contents but instead traps in it pee air. The thickness of the bell jar glass prevents the prisoner from clearly beholding through distortion. Sylvia Plath writes with extreme conviction, as The Bell Jar is essentially her autobiography. The try-on title symbolizes not only her suffocation and mental illness, but in like manner the internal struggle of Plaths alter ego and fresh protagonist Esther Greenwood. The novel illustrates the theme confinement by highlighting the weaknesses of both Esther and Plath. Esthers first statement, It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs (1) sets the tone for the novel and establishes her preoccupation with conclusion. She alludes to no compunction at the loss of life but rather concentrates on the curio of execution. This style allows th e reader to see the development of confinement that is, Esthers preoccupation with death entraps her within herself. It is perhaps her over-analysis of situations that causes the manifestations of her psyche she consistently volleys between multiple possibilities, trenchant for the most fruitful option. The novels theme is consistently shown as a mental battle of Esther versus herself, a direct result of her mental illness. It is obvious that Esther is at a crossroads and feels torn by life. She best describes her feelings with the following career I saw myself in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, secure because I couldnt make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I cherished each a... ... her a strong person. Works Cited and Consulted Brennan, Sheila M. Popular Images of American Women in the 1950s. Womens Rights Law Reporter 14 (1992) 41-67. Bronfen, Elizabeth. Sylvia Plath. Writers and Their Work. Plymouth, UK Northcote, 1998. Evans, Sara M. Role Models of Women in America. New York Free-Simon, 1989. Friedan, Betty. The maidenlike Mystique. Twentieth Anniversary Edition. 1963. New York Norton, 1983. Nizer, Louis. The Implosion Conspiracy. New York Doubelday, 1973. Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar. 1963. London Faber, 1966. Radosh, Ronald, and Joyce Milton, eds. The Rosenberg shoot A Search for the Truth. 1983. New Haven Yale UP, 1997. Stevenson, Anne. Bitter Fame A purport of Sylvia Plath. London Viking-Penguin, 1989. Wagner-Martin, Linda. Sylvia Plath A Biography. New York Simon, 1987.