The Perpetual Threat of The Bell Jar
After Esther has received all of her shock treatments, and has been essentially “cured” of her depression, she describes the metaphorical bell jar that had been trapping her finally being lifted. She describes a feeling of breathing fresh air and being able to see the world without the distorted lens of the bell jar. At the end of the book, the bell jar is still lifted, and Esther is finally able to begin imagining her future again, starting where she left off after the mental breakdown she describes as a “six month lapse” (Plath 236). Esther seems to be planning to go back to business as usual; she will go back to school, continue her streak of academic achievement, and reach the accomplishments she’s been working for her whole life. There is one line, though, that sticks out through all of this seemingly hopeful description of the future that has now been opened back up to her. Esther isn’t actually sure about her future, and how realistic all of these plans are for her. As she describes it, “How did I know that someday––at college, in Europe, somewhere, anywhere––the bell jar, with its stifling distortions, wouldn’t descend again?” (Plath 241). This sentence leaves the reader sharing some of Esther’s doubts about the viability of her future. It establishes the fact that the bell jar isn’t gone, and it won’t ever be, but it is only “[hanging], suspended, a few feet above [her] head” (Plath 214). The way that Sylvia Plath chooses to describe the bell jar leaves room for speculation on whether or not someone can ever truly be free of the distortions of the bell jar.
This theme of the perpetually looming bell jar is consistent with Plath’s poetry, most notably her poem Lady Lazarus. In Lady Lazarus, Plath details her descent back into depression and suicidal ideation: “I am only thirty. / And like a cat I have nine times to die. / What a trash / To annihilate each decade” (Plath). Plath describes her depression as repeating every ten years, and writes Lady Lazarus as if she is conscious of its return. She asserts that “Dying / Is an art, like everything else. / I do it exceptionally well,” and that, “Out of the ash / I rise with my red hair / And I eat men like air.” (Plath). In Lady Lazarus, Plath describes the same phenomenon that Esther was afraid of. The bell jar, for Plath, never really went away, and as it looms over her, she can recognize it and predict the effect it will have on her. Tragically, she assumes that this cycle will continue, and she will survive this next attempt, just like she survived her last one. Even if you can predict the bell jar falling, you can’t predict the effect it will have on you, and the things you will do while it is over you.
Plath leaves the ending of The Bell Jar up to the reader’s interpretation; while Esther is doing better after her treatment, she still describes the bell jar looming over her and the memories of the things she’s gone through staying with her forever. In her fiction as well as her poetry, Plath describes the bell jar and its distortions as something that can never truly be cured, and will continue to loom over the people affected by it.
Hi Ruby! I really like this idea you bring up about The Bell Jar and how it'll always be above Esther even when she "recovers". I was actually talking about this idea with my table and how this simple one-liner signifies how things like addiction and depression are not easily classified as recovered or solved, but rather ongoing. Esther's experiences and emotions will always stay tainted. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with this interpretation of the bell jar and how it affects Esther/Sylvia Plath in the long term. I would love to be optimistic and think that maybe Esther apart from Sylvia may have gotten better as an idealistic version of Plath's self, but honestly, with her fear throughout the book, there really doesn't seem like there is a good ending waiting for Esther. I think it's especially cool that this semi-autobiographical story is so connected to Plath's poetry because it definitely feels like we are reading about Plath's life in this book instead of a fictional character.
ReplyDeleteHi Ruby, I find it tragic how Sylvia Plath herself knew that the bell jar was constantly looming over her and that it would likely come back at some point in her life. I liked how you drew evidence from her poem Lady Lazarus to make connections between Esther and Sylvia's lives.
ReplyDeleteHi Ruby! Plath does a really good job of putting the reader in Esther's shoes as she fears the day of the bell jar's return. I agree that the novel ends uncomfortably up to our interpretation, the bell jar has simply been lifted above her head, but it's never truly gone. I liked that you included the line "like a cat I have nine times to die" because I feel like it shows the comfort Plath (and Esther) has with the idea of suicide attempts being almost an inevitable thing, with the understanding that they will someday happen again, if not several times. Great work!
ReplyDeleteThe metaphor of the bell jar looming forever overhead, like a persistent threat throughout her life, is indeed a poignant image for what it means to live with her illness even when it's in remission. And as you make clear, this threat is depicted as something she can exert no control over--wherever she is, whatever "success" she meets, it is always looming over her, and it will either remain suspended or descend, and she has no say in the matter.
ReplyDeleteAmong other things, this metaphor is an important corrective to the view voiced by Mrs. Greenwood in the text--the belief that Esther can "choose to be better again." But at the same time, we DO recognize an important social/cultural context to Esther's depression: she is both suffering from a legit mental-health disorder that is treatable by medical science AND having real and legitimate qualms about genuinely "depressing" aspects of her society, in terms of gender roles, marriage, and childbirth. So there are some equally ominous lines in the novel that don't specifically relate to the raising and lowering of the bell jar: early in the text, the narrator casually alludes to "the baby" who likes to play with her sunglasses case from her New York swag bag; much later, as she is securing birth control and "freedom" for herself under Nolan's guidance, she comments "if I had to take care of a baby all day I'd go mad." So on some level, the narrator of the novel DOES see the risk in the actual life she is living, trying to take care of a baby all day (while writing this novel!) and NOT go mad.
Hey ruby!! You make a really good point about Plath and her relationship with the Bell Jar as a book and Esther as a character! You did a really good job making these strong connections between this character that Plath made and herself. Its like Esther is a window into Sylvia Plath's soul. Great blog!!
ReplyDeleteHiya Ruby!! Your connection between Plath's book & poetry is super intriguing! I honestly did not dissect her poems so greatly, so its really interesting to see them sort of mesh together. The idea that the bell jar never exactly goes away is a bit saddening, but it does help explain the emotion the book ends on. There wasn't a clear conclusion of happiness or anything. Rather, it was quite melancholic, and I think the bell jar's presence contributed to that.
ReplyDeleteI like your analysis of the bell jar as a sign of depression and its presence in both The Bell Jar and Lady Lazarus. Your comparison between Esther’s uncertainty and Plath’s depiction of suffering in her poetry is especially interesting. Nice post!
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