THE BELL JAR

THE BELL JAR

• I chose to read the book "The Bell Jar" by Slyvia Plath.
• I chose to read this book, because Miss Blair recommended it to me, and she is my idol.

BOOK REVIEW

• I really enjoyed the book!
• Despite The Bell Jar being relatively depressing, it was very entertaining.
• The main character's mind was an interesting one to be inside of, because of her depression.
• It was cool to read, because it was Sylvia Plath's secret autobiography.
• It is from an older time period, but the writing isn't hard to decipher, so you can really focus on the plot.

ESTHER GREENWOOD

• She is the main character and the narrator.
• She is a new college graduate trying to find her way.
• She is an aspiring poet/writer.
• She is battling depression.

ESTHER GREENWOOD CONT'D

• She cannot decide what she wants to do with her life.
• Esther's physical description is completely dependent on the reader's imagination.
• However, we do know that she is often morose and moody, so implications can be made.
• ie: sullen and dark features

ESTHER GREENWOOD CONT'D

• Her relationships with the other characters in the book are ever changing.
• She is very close with her mother, who is the most helpful throughout her illness
• Her ex boyfriend, Buddy, is a huge part of the plot, and really screws with her mind
• Doreen and Betsy, her closest friends, make her question who she is.

BUDDY WILLARD

• He is Esther's college boyfriend
• He is athletic, good looking, smart (Yale graduate)
• He loves Esther, but mocks her love for poetry.
• To Esther, he is another thing that she should want, but she doesn't.

SETTING

• The novel is set in the early 1950s.
• The main places shown in the novel are NYC and Boston.

SITUATION @ BEGINNING

• Esther has won a scholarship that took her to NYC.
• She is at a prestigious internship.
• She is being showered with gifts and luncheons.
• She is free to go out with her friends
• She cannot find happiness in what she thought she wanted.

EXTERNAL CONFLICT

• The main external conflict is that Esther's life isnt happening the way she pictured it.
• She cannot find anyone that she loves and wants to marry, and she is tired of Buddy.
• She feels her only talent is winning scholarships.
• She doesn't get into the writing program she wanted to attend.
• She doesn't know what to do with herself.

RESOLVED?

• The only conflict that is resolved is Buddy.
• She decides that she can never love him, and tells him she is engaged.
• The other external conflicts pile up, and seriously affect her.
• Her life goes downhill as her depression spirals out of control.

INTERNAL CONFLICT

• Esther is extremely depressed.
• Buddy's frequent appearances confuse her emotions
• She wants to write, but lacks the talent.
• She is finding that she has no particular talent for anything.

RESOLVED?

• These internal conflicts are never fully resolved.
• Her depression worsens, and she attemps suicide 3 times.
• Her third time is extremely serious, and almost kills her.
• She goes to a hospital to recover, but she will never be the same person.

The title, The Bell Jar, is extremely relevant to the book. Throughout the story, Esther feels as though the bell jar of her depression has encased her, and she will never escape.

"To the person in the bell jar, blank and stopped as a dead baby, the world itself is the bad dream."

This quote is from the very end of the novel, when Esther's depression has reached its pinnacle. She is trying to explain how her sickness feels to her mother, who believes that Esther's
illness is something you can just wake up from. She explains that it is an inescapable bell jar, and she is trapped.