Sylvia Plaths The Bell Jar Essay -- Sylvia Plath Bell Jar Essays Depr

Sylvia Plaths The campana quaverDepression and suicide are commonly discussed in todays party however, in the 1950s, incidents such as suicidal feelings were non mentioned collect to being deemed too risqu. Sylvia Plath is puff up- gon for her poetry, yet her prose is equally as noteworthy. accord to Frances McCullough, The Bell succuss is a pre-drugs, pre-Pill, pre-Womens Studies (Plath xiii) novel, which focuses on weighty issues which were not typically discussed during the time period. The semiautobiographical novel deals with depression and suicide, as well as a search for ones identity, feminism, and rebirth. Therefore, The Bell Jar tackles various issues which were not discussed during the time of its publication. The novel follows the plight of a recent woman, Esther Greenwood, as she begins a downward spiral in her mental health, move farther and farther away from reality. She delves deep into a depression, which is directly pushd to to her search for her own identity. When one does not know ones self, it becomes a struggle to develop relationships with others and succeed in life. Esther does not know who she is and this causes her to sink into a depression, leading to multiple suicide attempts. Esther is in a position in which she should be content, as a guest editor in chief of a womens magazine however, she is not satisfied with her positionI was supposed to be having the time of my life. I was supposed to be the invidia of thousands of other college girls just like meI guess I should nonplus been excited the way most of the other girls were, but I couldnt get myself to react. (I felt very still and very empty, the way the affection of a tornado must feel, moving dully along in the middle of the surroundi... ...ed closely by societal members, causing the impending give tongue to of depression. The Bell Jar was the first novel of the time period to manner of speaking such weighty issues as depression, suicide, sexual conduct, and feminism. Plaths work squeeze me greatly because, like many college students, I have gone by a period of searching for my true identity and could closely relate to the novel. Depression and suicide are often misunderstood by society however, Plaths semiautobiographical novel gave people an insiders perspective of what lunacy is actually like (Plath xiii).Works CitedKendall, Tim. Sylvia Plath A Critical Study. New York faber and faber, 2001.Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar. New York Perennial Classics, 1996.Plath, Sylvia. Tulips. Ed. Jahan Ramazani, Richard Ellmann, & Robert OClair. New York W.W. Norton & Company, 2003.