Sylvia Plath The Bell Jar

Sylvia Plath’s writing is often associated with dark, violent, and almost disturbing imagery and themes, and her first and only novel, The Bell Jar, is no exception to this. The Bell Jar follows the story of Esther Greenwood, a young woman living in New York City, and her struggles with mental illness throughout her life. Esther is more than a fictional character; her story so closely mimics Plath’s own life – so much so that The Bell Jar is considered to be semi-autobiographical by most. Everything from Esther’s childhood to her college experiences to her own mental illness are nearly identical to Plath’s own ordeals. The parallels between Esther and Plath’s lives begin, fittingly, at birth; both were born and raised in suburban Massachusetts. Both women lost their fathers at a young age, leaving long-lasting psychological scars on them. “I was only purely happy until I was nine years old.”, Esther claims, “after that- in spite of the girl scouts and piano lessons... all of which my mother scrimped to give me.... I had never been really happy again.” (Plath 39). Both character and author are tied by their psychological desires- the death of their fathers signaled the end of their happiness.

The college Esther is accepted to is never named, but the similarities between it and Plath’s alma mater, Smith College, are uncanny. Both Plath and Esther were awarded noteworthy scholarships and internships to a well-known magazine as a guest editor. Like Esther, Plath had also applied to a creative writing course over the summer only to be turned down. Not long after this, both women became overwhelmed by their mental illness, they crawled under their house where they would attempt suicide by overdosing on sleeping