Reviews with content warning for Vomit - The Bell Jar

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The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

186 reviews

sukidookie's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, originally written under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas, is a rapid and unhinged descent into madness. From the very start of the novel, something was off about Esther’s internal monologue. It was like there was a deep undercurrent of sadness and bitterness, mainly directed at her college friends, but also at herself and what was expected of her. Esther craved academic validation, as well as social validation, but in a very abnormal way, as if she was trying to capture something that was constantly eluding her — something that would make her finally, truly, happy.

Unfortunately, many things were not on Esther’s side — the patriarchal social system of the early 1960s, and the barbarian way they treated mental health patients (inducing lobotomies, and inducing a seizure through electric shock therapy; I can’t believe they still do that today, and it supposedly is effective?) It was sad, and strangely communal, to watch Esther buckle and cripple under the weight of her social injustices. I thought it was masterful how Sylvia portrayed women’s issues in the early 1960s. The presence of the woman-hater, the hypocritical way Buddy spoke to her about marriage and purity, her bitter insights into how her friends acted around other men, (Doreen and Lenny, for example), and watching her female friends go through the same things as her (Joan’s suicide). No wonder Esther could not choose a fig from the tree; how could she, when the shape of her body would not let her even reach the branches?

At the end of the novel, and after many suicide attempts, Esther must be put on trial before a team of doctors to determine if she is fit to return to society. It’s not written what happens, whether she is cured or not, and in my particular copy of The Bell Jar, the following 10 pages were completely blank. I didn’t know if this was on purpose or not, but I thought it very poetic and fitting. I learned that Sylvia Plath, just a few weeks after publishing The Bell Jar — her only novel — committed suicide by sticking her head in an oven. I wonder if she planned on killing herself all along, while writing the book, and The Bell Jar is both a cry for help and her suicide note.

Sylvia’s death is a testament to ongoing women’s issues in America, even today, 60 years later. I am so very sorry, Sylvia Plath, that you and many other women like you did not get the help you needed. Rest in peace.

Content Warnings

lillianreads's review against another edition

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reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I had to read this for my uni class on American 1960s literature and I genuinely enjoyed it. Our professor warned us that it's a depressing read and it definitely is that but it doesn't feel overly emotional. Sylvia Plath makes the world feel very removed and far away which captures mental illness very well in my opinion. The main character does things that seem to make no sense and at points you want to kind of scream at her. But that portrayal of the mc and her actions fit very well into the world of depression Plath has created.
I loved the metaphors of the fig tree and the bell jar and the overall writing style felt very accessible.
If you want to get into reading classics The Bell Jar definitely is a good place to start.

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chelseeaa's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

hannahethomson's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I struggled to read this at points, as someone who has depression. This book does speak about mental health but not in the way that’s positive so trigger warning to those who do struggle mentally. I did like the book and the way it was written.

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courtmckenz's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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godfrina's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I sadly didn't enjoy this classic at all. I find Esther insufferable. The writing is truly poetic but I couldn't get into the story, I took what feels like an eternity to finish it. On top of that, there's uncomfortable streaks of rasicm and fat phobia all throughout, possibly as a product of its time, but it takes you out of the story reading it in this age.

Content Warnings