Throughout the span of the book, Esther Greenwood slowly descends into madness. The first sign is her uncertainty with her future. Though she dreams of going to graduate school or traveling to Europe, Esther realizes that she doesn’t know what she wants to do; a discovery as shocking as meeting “some nondescript person” who “introduces himself as your real father” (Plath 32). Later when she’s at the UN, she realizes that she will lose all of her abilities once she leaves college, as she believes that the only skills she has is winning scholarships. She compares her current place in life as that of a fig tree, wanting all life paths given to her yet not taking any of them. Later, Esther goes to a country club where she has a rough encounter with Marco, a Peruvian man who attempts to rape her. Regardless of this instance, she continues to wear his blood afterwards viewing it “like a relic of a …show more content…
When Esther is finally through with Dr. Gordon’s shock treatments, she expresses her frustration with her mother, who brushes it aside and tells Esther that she wasn’t like “Those awful dead people at that hospital (145-146). Her mother doesn’t understand the scene Esther saw, with the stories of people and their first shock treatments. She does not realize the vitality of Esther’s conditions. When Esther considers converting to Catholicism, believing that her conversion will take away her suicide attempts, her mother laughs it off. Esther also notes that her mother did not care to mourn for her dead husband. Her mother believed that her husband would’ve lived a miserable life and would’ve wanted to die instead. Although Esther was firm in her stance against her mother, she could have acted so hostile against her mother because of what she was going through. Her mother could have wanted to help her, but her way was possibly different than that of
Esther was a woman of principle who displayed great hope in a highly patriarchal period. Despite being a woman in a time where women were marginalized, she was able rise to a position of power and save her people from annihilation. She did this through the use of her beauty, her wits and her courage, attributes that at that time were greatly valued in a woman. As a female her story has much to offer to women of any faith, but particularly to a Jewish Women. Though her historical circumstances were very different
Esther's fundamental problem with female relationships is best exemplified in her conflict with mothering and mentoring figures. These women defy her desire to be independent and free. Rich describes the tendency toward matrophobia, the fear of becoming one's mother. She explains that "the mother stands for the victim in ourselves, the unfree woman" (236). This fear of becoming like the mother/...
Her mother serves as the first of her teachers in conveying this message. For example, Mrs. Greenwood wants her daughter to learn shorthand because it will get her a living until she can marry, because it can even get her a husband. She consistently emphasizes the importance of Esther staying “pure”, so she can get the best of possible husbands. So early on Esther realizes that, for most women, marriage and family comprise the main substance of their lives.
In the end of the novel, Esther at last, comes to terms with reality. She has got to stop living her life according to what others expect of her. She needs to start living her life for “her”. After Joan commits suicide, Esther believes that unless she turns her life around, she will also commit suicide. Esther saw so much of herself in Joan, that when Joan ended her life she was frightened that she would follow in her footsteps, due to the fact that she had throughout the entire novel. Once Joan was gone, Esther was truly free. The part of Joan that was reflected in Esther vanished. The “bell jar” that had been suffocating her was finally lifted.
Esther maintains several conflicting, false identities based on societal expectations that cause her real self to crumble under the pressure. Fractured, she cannot form again until she realizes that the only identitiy she must maintain should be her own. Patriarchal norms clash with Esther’s true identity, but she no longer cares about maintaining a passive, fake appearance. As her story demonstrates, although being unique or outside the norm can be difficult, basing one’s beliefs and lifestyle on things society considers “normal” causes greater harm. Outside approval will never exist completely, so one must approve of and love his or her own identity instead.
‘An individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich or limit their
It is obvious that Esther is at a crossroads and feels torn by life. She best describes her feelings with the following passage: "I saw myself in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each a...
Her family life is depicted with contradictions of order and chaos, love and animosity, conventionality and avant-garde. Although the underlying story of her father’s dark secret was troubling, it lends itself to a better understanding of the family dynamics and what was normal for her family. The author doesn’t seem to suggest that her father’s behavior was acceptable or even tolerable. However, the ending of this excerpt leaves the reader with an undeniable sense that the author felt a connection to her father even if it wasn’t one that was desirable. This is best understood with her reaction to his suicide when she states, “But his absence resonated retroactively, echoing back through all the time I knew him. Maybe it was the converse of the way amputees feel pain in a missing limb.” (pg. 399)
... scolded me, but kept begging me, with a sorrowful face to tell her what she had done was wrong” (226).The reason Esther is in this situation is because of her mom. Esther depression has reached its climax. The result of an unhappy relationship according to Freud has impacted Esther.
One of the main reasons why Esther tried to commit suicide was the way she perceived her mother's actions, and the fact that she hates her mother:
The beginning of the novel introduces the reader to Esther O'Malley Robertson as the last of a family of extreme women. She is sitting in her home, remembering a story that her grandmother told her a long time ago. Esther is the first character that the reader is introduced to, but we do not really understand who she is until the end of the story. Esther's main struggle is dealing with her home on Loughbreeze Beach being torn down, and trying to figure out the mysteries of her family's past.
At the end of the novel, Esther finally see’s a light at the end of the tunnel. She finally realizes that there is hope for her to become healthy again. Once Esther realizes that she will not always feel as bad as she does, she also comes to the conclusion that all the negativity and questioning in her life have made her into the person she has become. Esther finally realizes what her true identity is and she is okay with who she has become.
The book of Esther tells the faithfulness of one woman and her uncle. It is only one of two books that contain the heroism and bravery of a woman heroine. The story of Esther accomplishes two profound things, the first: “To demonstrate God’s providential care of his people, even those outside the land of Israel, and 2) to commend the observance of the feast of Purim by relating how it originated” (Breneman 289).Unlike the rest of the Bible the story of Esther does not directly state or talk about God, but instead shows God’s plans for all of our lives and how in all frightening moments of life, He remains faithful to those who trust and have faith in Him. “In spite of the omission of any name for deity, there is no other book in all the bible where God is more evident, working behind the scenes, than in this book” (Willmington 200). In order to understand who Esther was as a woman and her significance in the history of the Jews, we must first examine the circumstances and other individuals that impacted the events leading up to and after Esther became queen.
Through the diction in which she utilized in order to shed light upon the complications of trying to transform and grow in a restrictive society, she used pervasive imagery, allusions, metaphors, symbolism, and other literary devices to further her theme and idea of the novel. Plath created Esther in her image to show how one was forced by society to define themselves by the culturally entrenched stereotypes and expectations of women. In doing so, it detailed the hazardous effects of culturally committing to the conventional model of women. But, it also outlined the transformation of Esther Greenwood from a society-abiding woman to someone who dared to question the conventional model of women. Through the precise detailing of her struggles and complications, Plath was able to utilize several effective literary to enhance the theme of women who undergo the struggle of growth and transition within a restrictive
Many people come from a haunted past, leaving indefinite scars in their memory. This causes permanent numbness in their hearts and leaves them with nothing but isolation from the their loved ones. These damaged memories can later flood the individual causing him/her to create an enemy within themselves. The internal scars within a person stay hidden; however, certain circumstances may draw out he/she hidden past and shows him/her to the world. In “Lady Lazarus” and “Tulips,” Sylvia Plath creates a theme of darkness through imagery of death and sorrow that reveals the sadness she feels due to her haunted past.