The Bell Jar By Slyvia Plath

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath was originally published under the name Victoria Lucas in 1963. It is a semi-autobiography, with the names and places changed. The Bell Jar tells the story of a young woman named Esther Greemwood, who gains an internship to a magazine in New York City. Her experiences frighten and disorient her. She returns to her home in Massachusetts, where she learns that she was not accepted to take a writing course. She becomes depressed and decides she’ll write a novel. Her depression intensifies and she has several attempts at suicide. Esther becomes hospitalized and slowly regains her sanity.

Throughout the book, Esther describes her depression as if a bell jar is over her. She says that “To the person in the bell jar, blank and stopped as a dead baby, the world itself is a bad dream.”(chap.20) This book is a great look into the crumbling of a young girl’s sanity. It can be a little slow at times, but leaves you curious to know what happens next. I’d recommend it to older audiences interested in metal health and what makes someone go insane.