Is The bell Jar a successful coming of age novel?


It's hard to read The Bell Jar knowing the similarities between Esther and Sylvia Plath and not make assumptions about Esther's coming of age. Ester specifically mentions how after her therapy she is no longer trapped under the bell jar but she says she is still under the bell jar and that it is lingering over her head. With admitting the bell jar still lingering over her head Esther is saying that at any point in time it can drop and her depression can once again pollute the air around her and suffocate her. With the idea that at any moment a somewhat healthy Esther can fall right back into depression I can’t help but look at Sylvia Plath and fill in the question marks of Ester’s story with what happened to Plath.

The Bell Jar was written as an autobiography of sorts and in that context the reader can infer that during Sylvia's time being institutionalized she was under a bell jar, but at some point the bell jar lifted, fresh air came in and for a period of time she could breathe again. But the bell jar was still lingering above her head, so despite the fact that she could breath at any point in time the bell jar could drop and trap Plath would once again be suffocated by her own stale air trapped inside the bell jar. Sadly that’s what happened shortly after the publication of this novel the bell jar dropped. There is no way for Esther to know when or if the bell jar will drop but there was no way for Plath to know either. That's the problem there is no way to say that Esther –the fictional character Plath created based on herself, won't end up just like Plath.

Of course Plath didn't know that would happen so there is no reason to believe she would make that Esther story but that's my point it is implied that Esther has no intention of being institutionalized again or attempting suicide, but she knows the bell jar is lingering over her head. So despite what she wants to happen or what she plans, what's to say that her story won't just end like Plath's? How can we determine that the Bell Jar won't drop over her once again? With those questions it's hard to say whether The Bell Jar is truly a successful coming of age because if there is always a possibility for the bell jar to drop there is always a possibility for Esters growth to be paused, rewinded, or stopped entirely. 

  Despite that we cannot ignore Esther's growth that clearly points to some kind of personal development throughout the novel. On page 238 Esther says that in a way all the girls at college sit under bell jars. By admitting this Esther is showing that she no longer feels like her imprisonment by the bell jar is an experience unique to her, she is showing that she no longer feels alone. Which is a large contrast to the beginning of the story when Esther constantly struggled with questioning what was wrong with her for feeling the way she felt. She expressed that she felt like there was something wrong with her because no one else showed feelings of being unsettled by the way 50’s society affected women the way Esther felt. Additionally on page 237 Esther talks about how she doesn’t plan to forget or hide her experience, she describes it as an important part of her life that is worth acknowledgement. This shows that Esther isn’t planning on going back to the same life she had where she was constantly trying to fit in and present herself in a proper manner so that people will accept her. Now she is willing to act herself for who she is and move forward without feeling the need to adhere to social rules. All of these point to clear character development and a coming of age.

With a clear sign that Esther has changed and come of age in different ways I feel it's inappropriate to dismiss this as a coming of age story because of Sylvia Plath's strong similarities with Esther. But where does that leave us? I suppose the real questions to ask are what does coming of age look like to Esther? Is Esther truly confined to stay underneath the Bell Jar or does she have the power to run out from under it before it has the chance to drop again? Does everyone have their own bell jar lingering over our heads? Are we just not aware of our Bell Jars because they have never dropped on us before? I think all these questions could help tackle the question of coming of age as it applies to Esther because she has developed and changed but the presence of the bell jar puts her actual coming of age into question because of how the bell jar stunted her coming of age throughout the novel.

Comments

  1. AnkitaMarch 6, 2023 at 1:11 PM

    Great post! I especially like how you mention that the bell jar stunted her coming of age-- she is older than the typical coming-of-age teenage protagonist, and her breakdown through that context seems long overdue. I agree that this novel feels like a coming of age, especially because of Esther's recovery and development throughout the novel. I think that it counts as a coming of age despite the lingering threat of the bell jar because she has escaped it, even if temporarily.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ben DeMarcoMarch 7, 2023 at 6:37 PM

    I agree that there definitely is some change in Esther over the course of her recovery. It seems like she has a new found confidence by the end of it and has managed to deal with the pressures and expectations that weighed her down so much at first. I also think the parallels with Sylvia Plath's life are interesting because while at the time of writing the bell jar Plath probably had no idea how her life would end, but it's unclear what that implies for Esther's story.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Clara WoodMarch 8, 2023 at 8:08 PM

    This is something I've been thinking about as well. Since Esther is a version of Sylvia Plath, it's almost impossible to not see Sylvia Plath's suicide as the end of Esther's story too. Though with the point of many college girls also living with bell jars that she makes at the end of the novel, maybe Esther continued down a path of recovery, unlike Joan. Perhaps Syliva Plath herself and her fate is kind of reflected within Joan in the Bell Jar, while Esther is just an alternate version of what could have been--off with her kid and relatively happy life. All very morbid and farfetched, but it's something I've been pondering. Cool post!

    ReplyDelete
  4. BridgetMarch 13, 2023 at 7:14 PM

    Great post! I wrote my blog with a similar question of whether or not Esther came of age. During class we talked about how the interview signified her reintroduction to society after her "coming of age", but I couldn't help be think that maybe this introduction was only the beginning. While Esther developed a lot as a character there was still something off about her at the end of the novel. As you mentioned, I wondered whether or not the jar would fall and she would relapse. I liked how the end of the novel is uncertain and reflects a vague sense of coming of age.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Jes Grew Rebellion

Well, we’re done with Mumbo Jumbo , it was ….interesting. I wasn't even entirely sure where to start with this blog post , there are so many things to dissect when it comes to Mumbo Jumbo but in the end I decided to take a closer look at the symbolism behind Jes Grew. At its heart Jes Grew seems to represent a rebellion against the oppressive forces of mainstream white culture. In this novel these oppressive forces are depicted as the Atonists and the Wallflower Order, groups that seek to suppress all forms of cultural expression deemed dangerous ( a decision made by themselves of course). Jes Grew is in direct opposition to these groups as it disrupts social norms through its infectious energy and liberating influence. The term Jes Grew itself is a play on words, it is reflective of the nature of an anti-plague. The name suggests that the phenomenon is natural, spontaneous, and uncontrollable, like a plant that grows. Similar to the proliferation of ideas and cultural practices w
Read more

Ragtime

320 pages later, here we are—finished! Ragtime was an interesting read, to say the least. What struck me the most was how Doctorow melds history with fiction to create an elaborate narrative that comments on society in the early 20th century. Let's start with the family. We have Mother, Father, The Little Boy, Mother's Younger Brother (MYB), and Grandfather. At the beginning of the novel, we are introduced to this family, with Father acting as the patriarch and Mother, as well as The Little Boy, falling into their typical roles. This family is meant to represent a wealthy white family in the early 20th century. Even their names, or lack thereof, point to the idea that they are meant to be representative of the basic family unit. As the story progresses, this typical upper-class family falls apart before our eyes. Doctorow dismantles this family in a way that exposes the dysfunction hidden within each character. To maintain conciseness, I'll focus on Father. At the start of
Read more

Exploring Interpersonal Relationships Within Kindred

Kindred was a riveting read filled with interesting topics to explore. Among them, I find the manner in which this novel examines power dynamics not only within the context of slave and slave owners but also within interpersonal relationships very intriguing. Butler creates a very intimate setting for her characters to interact. The Weylin Plantation is small, with no overseer (for the majority of the novel), and filled with slaves who often interact with their white counterparts on a personal level beyond their basic slave/master relationship. Because of this setting, readers are offered deep insight into how unequal power dynamics distort relationships among people during this time period. As readers, we see examples of these twisted versions of intimate relationships constantly throughout the novel: For example, Dana and Rufus: The relationship between Dana and Rufus began somewhat on equal footing when Rufus was young and Dana still served as somewhat of an authority figure. But as
Read more