The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath is an unsettling novel written about a young university student‚ Esther Greenwood‚ as she struggles through her journey into adulthood. Throughout the book‚ Plath uses opinionated tone‚ heavy symbolism and unique plot to force the reader to imagine themselves in Esther’s shoes as a young adult faced with the reality of life and mental illness. Fundamentally‚ the novel shows that Esther cannot or will not conform with is expected of her‚ but does not have a clear image
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being remarkably diverse. In contemporary literature‚ a number of works have incorporated mental illness as a primary theme. Two texts that do so are ‘The Bell Jar’ and ‘Girl‚ Interrupted’. The former is a semi-autobiographical novel authored by Sylvia Plath and recited from the perspective of the protagonist‚ Esther Greenwood. 18-year-old Esther battles with depression as she seeks to escape the shackles of societal stigma. The latter is the memoir of depressed and directionless teenager‚
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writer‚ and third to investigate whether it relates to abnormal mental functions (Kaye par. 3). Using these three ways of psychoanalysis‚ I analyzed the poems “Digging” by Seamus Heaney‚ “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke‚ and “Lady Lazarus” by Sylvia Plath and discovered how the mental state of the author affects the characters and tone of their writing. Seamus Heaney ’s "Digging” opens with the author at his desk‚ pen in hand‚ and beginning to write. The first person to investigate would be the
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would write away in the night after her family went to sleep. Her poetry was aggressively individualistic. She wrote about sexuality and longing in a way that was never written before by Indo-Asian women authors‚ drawing comparisons to the likes of Sylvia Plath. By discussing her private feelings of love‚ lust and discussing sexuality through her poems‚ she invited the public into the private miseries of her experiences. There is a spirit of rebellion in her poems and it is seen as much in her introduction
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My Papa’s Waltz: brutal or lighthearted? Whenever a poem is written without a clear understanding on how it should be interpreted both positive and negative emotions arise. One might try to pick up on the catchy rhymes that are meant for it to be comical‚ while other notice the harsh adjective and nouns associating with death. When a poem combines the innocence of a child at play associating with a drunken‚ hardworking father a lighthearted and brutal mental picture arises in one’s head. In the
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The Bell Jar take on a maternal role in the main character’s life and affect every aspect of the plot. Esther is the protagonist and heroine of The Bell Jar. She is a unique character because is she is an autobiographical portrait of the author‚ Sylvia Plath. The entire plot is the chronological descent into her insanity and the struggle to overcome it. Esther’s insanity is rooted in her personal struggle with many things within society. Every character in the novel connects to Esther’s struggle. She
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The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath’s‚ The Bell Jar‚ tells the story of a young woman in search of her identity during a time of conformity in the 1950’s. This young woman‚ Esther Greenwood‚ represents Plath herself and explains her own story as she descends into “madness”‚ otherwise known today as depression. Since the story was written during the 1950’s‚ there are some things that may seem somewhat outdated. However‚ one can still relate to Plath’s story in many ways even today. Like any other novel written
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forms creates a mirror to our society. This mirror reflects societal imperfections‚ the major‚ on which we will focus today‚ being obsession. This issue has been particularly documented in the turbulent relationship between poets Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath and the literary works that have been inspired by them. To begin‚ in Ted Hughes’s 1999 poem collection Birthday Letters focuses on the pitfalls of the relationship while offering insight into the conflict’s origin. In Hughes’s poem “The Shot”
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Motherhood: a phenomenon as old as time‚ each experience as unique and different from the others. Many female poets‚ such as Sylvia Plath‚ Gwen Harwood‚ and Judith Wright‚ have used poetry to reflect on their own reality and their many complex emotions towards motherhood. Although the poets express their relationship with the concept differently‚ using a variety of techniques‚ such as imagery‚ metaphors‚ expressive language and symbolism‚ similar joys and struggles of motherhood are revealed.
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The Difference in Similarity “Lady Lazarus‚” by Sylvia Plath and “ “The Waking” by Theodore Roethke are two poems that relate directly to the speaker. Although both poems share this similarity‚ the way in which both works or literature are constructed are vastly different. Plath uses visual imagery and poetical tercets to show the pain and suffering of the speaker in her poem‚ while Roethke uses the musical Villanelle and synesthesia to create his picture of the speaker’s inner thoughts and a sense
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