The Bell Jar, the classic (and only) novel by Sylvia Plath, tells the story of a young college student who finds a future of domesticity so abhorrent that she descends into a mental illness of such severity that it threatens her life. Esther Greenwood is smart, pretty, and would seemingly make an ideal wife for future doctor, Buddy Willard. But Esther wants none of it. She would like to become a writer, living a life of adventures that do not include being a wife and mother. The Bell Jar was written in the early 1960’s, prior to the sexual revolution and the freedoms that came with it. Young women of Esther’s day became wives and mothers, secretaries, school teachers, and nurses. Their options were far more restricted than today. Any deviation from the mommy path proved most difficult and often led to isolation and spinsterhood.
A bell jar is defined as a ‘bell-shaped glass container used to keep air, moisture, and gases in or out’. You often see them in laboratories. In Esther’s case, her psychosis makes her feel as if she is inside a bell jar. She may be seen, pretty to look at, but is unable to be heard or to participate in society. Esther comes to realize that though the bell jar may be lifted, there is a chance that one day it may come back down upon her again. In the author’s real life, unfortunately, the bell jar did come back down, silencing her for good.
I asked my wife what the difference is between a real good book and literature. Where is the line? I’m still not sure. But in my mind the Bell Jar is literature at its finest, as fresh today as it must have been in the early 1960’s. I’m so glad I finally got around to reading it.
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