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gray 's review for:
The Bell Jar
by Sylvia Plath
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The story centers around Esther, supposedly an average young woman around college age who grew up in a small town in Boston. In the first pages of the book, we see her in New York after she had won a contest and got the opportunity to work in a magazine.
From the beginning, Esther is not really amicable at all. I could see that she is only nice to people who she thinks she would benefit from or she thinks are cool like Doreen. We see this again in the types of guys she tries to hang out with like Buddy, Constantin, and later on Irwin. After her breakdown, she's more candid about it and is outright horrible to people. She also puts down women a lot throughout the book. I'm here for morally gray characters but Esther is just outright unlikeable and hostile towards some characters sometimes.
I do see how it caused her despair to grow up in a small town and be looked upon and feel like she's not good, as well as facing the feeling of being "trapped in a Bell Jar" which has probably been a sentiment for a lot of young women in those times, where their only choices were a career or marriage. However, there were a lot of passive-aggressive and racist sentiments (probably understandable since this was published at a time when it was acceptable to say and do those things). I read in the extended version that a lot of the plot is based on Sylvia Plath's lived experience (growing up in Boston, having her father die when they were only young, having a brother, being torn between a career and motherhood) but I hope the racist sentiments were not part of it. It was hard to read those offhanded comments a lot of times, especially as a person of color.
Is it a story about mental health? Sure.
Is it a feminist story? It's more of a white feminist story and would not pass through today's standards of feminism.
From the beginning, Esther is not really amicable at all. I could see that she is only nice to people who she thinks she would benefit from or she thinks are cool like Doreen. We see this again in the types of guys she tries to hang out with like Buddy, Constantin, and later on Irwin. After her breakdown, she's more candid about it and is outright horrible to people. She also puts down women a lot throughout the book. I'm here for morally gray characters but Esther is just outright unlikeable and hostile towards some characters sometimes.
I do see how it caused her despair to grow up in a small town and be looked upon and feel like she's not good, as well as facing the feeling of being "trapped in a Bell Jar" which has probably been a sentiment for a lot of young women in those times, where their only choices were a career or marriage. However, there were a lot of passive-aggressive and racist sentiments (probably understandable since this was published at a time when it was acceptable to say and do those things). I read in the extended version that a lot of the plot is based on Sylvia Plath's lived experience (growing up in Boston, having her father die when they were only young, having a brother, being torn between a career and motherhood) but I hope the racist sentiments were not part of it. It was hard to read those offhanded comments a lot of times, especially as a person of color.
Is it a story about mental health? Sure.
Is it a feminist story? It's more of a white feminist story and would not pass through today's standards of feminism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence