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| Plot Summary of The Bell Jar |
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"She sees her first boyfriend naked and then has sex with a sailor she just met. She goes home from her college and then loses her mind and is given shock treatments."
Lyla Sharratt, Resident Scholar
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"Esther at age nineteen while staying in New York becomes overwhelmed by depression and is subsequently sent to a psychiatric hospital. "
jenifer, Resident Scholar
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"Esther seizes a great opportunity to travel to New York and work on a magazine, only to find the night life and social obligations to be more than she desires. She struggles with trying to fit in with everyone else in terms of men and work, but ultimately finds herself wishing to be anywhere else. When faced with marriage, she fights to find a way out of that as well.
Ultimately, she finds herself finally struggling with a mental illness, which includes severe depression and contemplations of suicide. Meanwhile, she tries hard to keep a hold on reality and make others think there is nothing wrong with her. She goes as far as going to a mental hospital and facing electric shock treatments to "cure" herself."
kammie, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of The Bell Jar |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Struggle with:
- Mother
Phys disability/mental struggle?
Yes
Struggle with
- mental illness
- general search for meaning
Which institution
- mental hospital
Life in an institution
Yes
Period of greatest activity?
- 1950+
Subject of Biography
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- writer
Age:
- 20's-30's
Eccentric/Mental
Yes
Eccentric:
- mentally ill
- emotionally unstable
Ethnicity
- White
Nationality
- American (!)
How sensitive is this person?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Physique
- average physique
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 4 ()
United States
Yes
The US:
- Midwest
Misc setting
- moving train
Century:
- 1930's-1950's
Style
Person
- mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Book makes you feel?
- thoughtful
Is book humorous?
Yes
If humorous, kind of humor
- Dry-cynical
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- descript. of nude males (the big P)
- vague references
Commentary on society?
Yes
Commentary on
- love/sex
- dying
Unusual Style:
- a lot of flashback and forwards
Writer's slant towards subject:
- favorable
Story of entire life, or part?
- story of nearly entire life
Is this a biography of several people?
Yes
Pictures/Illustrations?
- None
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Click here for more information about this book
Sylvia Plath Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 kammie
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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