Research Paper On The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath

The life of an author can, and often is, a great inspiration for his or her works. Many of the classics sample from the author’s personal struggles and memories. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath is no different. The Bell Jar chronicles the journey of Esther,a gifted writer, as she is sent into a spiraling depression until she is at the point of suicide. The book also chronicles her journey through recovery. The story told is not so different from what the author, Sylvia Plath, experienced in her youth. The experiences and beliefs of Sylvia Plath made an undeniable influence her novel The Bell Jar, making it a warped mirror of her tormented life.
Sylvia Plath's suicide attempt and road to recovery heavily influences the suicidal actions conducted
Plath struggled with her mental issues from a young age. Plath’s mental state was plagued “…by insecurities with money and social status….”(Hobby). While Esther suffers from similar insecurities while she is in New York. While staying in the Amazon, she remarks about the girls with wealthy parents that are staying at the hotel. She even states how jealous their wealth makes her (Plath 5). Both women suffered greatly with their mental demons. Plath’s insecurities and stress eventually caused her to spiral into a deep depression, which led to her suicide attempt (Snodgrass). Esther spiraled into a similar depression. Esther, after returning home from New York, attempted to write a novel. She struggles and slowly sinks into her work (Plath 138). The stresses of her work consume her until she can't sleep and stops taking care of herself (Plath 142). This eventually forces her farther down into her depression, which leads her attempt to kill herself to end the stress. Plath stressed over her work and pushed herself until she was no longer stable (Hobby). She distinguished herself academically and socially with her writing (Hobby). Three years of constant stress led Plath to attempt suicide (Hobby). Esther’s decent into her suicidal spiral was due to the pressures she placed upon herself. Not only did Esther decide to write a novel, she took honors courses
Plath often felt the burden of being a woman. She often felt weighed down by feminine conventions and thought “…she lacked validity as a writer…,”(Snodgrass) because of her gender. In her works, she emphasized the necessity of a woman’s choice in her life (Snodgrass). Esther embodies a woman's choices in actions. Esther is a strong, independent woman who is weighed down by the idea of marriage and sex. Her virginity felt like something that was reserved for the man who would be her husband. Her virginity was such a big part of her life, but it was also confining her to a restrict, feminine convention (Plath 255). When Esther does lose her virginity, she loses it on her own terms with a man she sees fit (Plath 256). Esther frowned upon having children. She felt it was the bondage placed upon women by men (Plath 247). To her, men could do anything while the women stayed with the children and that is what had to be done (Plath 247). Plath’s father died when she was young, which morphed her view of the father figure. Plath’s feelings about her father were ambivalent and sour (Werlock). This combined to her husband’s rise to fame while she had their children (Snodgrass) warped her view of family. Esther’s views mirror this bitterness. Plath’s feminist views are also implemented in the shaming of vapid, meaningless sex. Plath, as a feminist, denounced stereotypes of women. Doreen,