The Disabled Female Experience: Dissecting Mental Health Representation

Through the Study of the Characters of Esther Greenwood and Bertha

Mason

Abstract: Disability Studies in literature, discusses constructions and deconstructions of

disability. It looks at characters with disabilities, determining the effect on narrative
development, language use and themes. Scholars investigate the ways in which literature
builds, strengthens or questions stereotypes thereby informing larger debates within
Disability Studies. This field deals with different genres from the classics to modern works
revealing subtle representations reflecting shifting perspectives towards disability. Literary
analysis is used to raise awareness in Disability Studies in literature which leads to a greater
understanding of the intricacies relating to disability, identity and narration thus creating
room for inclusivity when interpreting literary works.

In this seminar paper, we shall analyse the disabled female experience by analysing
mental health as “a disability” in relation to a comparative analysis between Esther
Greenwood and Bertha Mason. Both heroines, in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and Charlotte
Brontë’s Jane Eyre, respectively, move through societal norms and personal issues related to
mental health issues. The study uses feminist literary analysis and disability studies to analyse
the characters’ experiences. It looks at the narrative choices that Plath and Brontë make,
giving us insight into how these representations either reinforce or question popular
conceptions of mental health as a disability. It also goes ahead to examine the effects that
such portrayals have on perceptions of women with mental health issues in society. In other
terms, this comparative study helps illuminate the intricacies of gender versus mental health
against societal backdrop all seen through Esther Greenwood and Jane Eyre’s eyes. This
study aims to shed light on the representation of disabled female experience wherein critical
analysis on growing mental health and gender narratives should be encouraged.

The paper intends to examine and justify the aforementioned topic by a thorough
analysis of the characters of Esther Greenwood in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and Bertha
Mason in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and also through examination of secondary resources.

Keywords: Disability, female, mental health, mind, female experience.

Female madness, as one of the techniques for interpretation and understanding women’s
oppression under patriarchy, has preoccupied the minds of western feminist critics with
questions. This is because madness has been, and today still remains to be considered as a
principal female state. Arguments have been made that madness in women should also be
considered either the consequence of, or a reaction against oppression. But, Elaine Showalter
has asserted that female madness shall be understood not for what it is but from the
perspective of a complex cultural and historical formulation in which femininity and western
society’s version of concepts on women had been employed. While studying or viewing
madness as a social construct, the cultural familial and historical context should be
considered when dealing with female madness. It is quite clear historically, that more women
have been diagnosed with some manner of madness that can sometimes seem senseless or
illogical such as hysteria, paranoia, schizophrenia and depression. This is so because ‘deviant’
behaviour basically means mental illnesses or conditions which deviate from the masculine
norm. Madness in men was simply ascribed to be a physical flaw, while madness in women
could be demonised as something unnatural or wicked. Since this paper is concerned with the
constructive discourse of female madness, hence its concern will be more focused on how
madness became associated as a predominant illness confined to women and it will also
showcase that aspect in all its demonisation fury or romantic theories.

Feminist Disability Studies stands as a critical intersectional perspective, concerned

with the delicate relationship between gender and disability from disabled women’s uniquely
challenging position. The essence of feminist disability studies is undermining the ideas that
there are notions on how a woman should be or be regarded by gender and disablement.
Allowing a conspicuous view towards various lived based individuality in both womanhood
and disabled people. This model not only brings to the front the peculiar problems of disabled
women but is also a celebration of their strengths and ability. In the breakdown of ableist
assumptions, this kind of academic discourse makes openness and fights for elaboration
inclusive spaces that reach everyone. As seen through a feminist disability perspective,
scholars would like to challenge the social perceptions, and allow for bidirectionality in
gendered approaches that will allow them understand better how gender, disability as well as
socio- cultural dimensions interact.

Through the ages, in the rich tapestry of literature and beyond it, mental illness was
one such dimension that used to be depicted rather subtly and changeably. In fact, by
carefully studying individuals’ relationship with their surroundings we look at a dynamic
process – an
artistic portrayal influencing readers trying rest its criticism on life as seen through individual
imagination while adjusting this focus to reflected This exploration comes out as even more
significant if one includes the depiction of disabled female protagonists. Our focus for this
study is on the realms of Esther Greenwood in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and Bertha Mason
in Charlotte Brontë’s eponymous novel Jane Eyre, with insistence on discovering mental
health recognition patterns present within these narratives.

As an individual suffering from depression herself, Plath makes use of a major female
character, Esther Greenwood as the ‘mascot figure’ of disabled women who have to struggle
against people to comprehend the magnitude of life that hinders them. Plath, using Esther’s
travels, tackles pathologizing of a human mind and untangles the social norms gnarl holding
Esther bound. By observing Esther’s memory, we enter the labyrinth of her soul admiring
how shallow societal pressures affect her state of mind and inability to find a true self in the
jungle.

In contrast to contemporary realism, Bertha Mason – a classic female protagonist of

Victorian literature – provides another vivid yet opposite illustration of the mind diseases.
The provision of a solution for this progressive test to true strength and femininity involves
disabled women’s resilience in surviving the attacks aimed at them from both outside as well
as deeper struggles that characterize the very nature of being disabled-female experience.
Using a comparative analysis of Esther Greenwood and Jane Bertha Mason, it is our intention
to find out how literature has been depicting mental health in general as well as its
consequences for the broader understanding of disability in females. What does these
characters have in common with our society values and what ground is their story stand on
when compared to a broader conception picture of the universal conventions?

This paper does not only fill the temporal gap between these two characters but also
makes readers think of how the thoughts on mental illness became more complicated. In this
regard, our exploration of the tragic fall into the “bell jar” experienced by Esther in Plath’s
story and Bertha Mason’s quest for self-realization, allows developing an awareness of
resilience, agency and vulnerabilities that characterize disabled women. Studying both
characters offers a fascinating canvas for discussing mental health representation in literature.

Textual analysis

The representation of mental health problems in literature from a female point of view has
been deemed to experience significant research interests among scholars. This paper seeks to
analyse and compare the representations of mental health in two iconic female characters in
the novels:
Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and Charlotte Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre. This analysis, through a
study of the characters from these two novels, Esther Greenwood and Bertha Mason, aims to
shed light on some insights into issues pertaining mental conditions among women in the
society setting during this time.

Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar gives a heart-wrenching representation of Esther

Greenwood's descent into mental evils. Esther is a young energetic woman full of fire and
passion, fighting against different forms of pressures – societal, familial as well inner
conflicts. By the skilful writing of Plath, it is possible to see Esther’s inner struggle with
depression, anxiety and identity issues. Esther’s story, which takes place during the 1950s in
America, is a depressing reflection of stigma surrounding mental illness and its available
options for treatment that women faced back then. The symptoms of Esther’s mental illness
are recorded as a sequence of critical life events and encounters that aggravate her issues.
From her first prestigious internship in New York City to initial descent into madness and the
subsequent breakdown followed by institutionalization, Esther journeys through a world
filled with alienation, industrialism, horrendous retreatments and unreachable love. Plath’s
story redefines the conventional notions of a woman and sanity, depicting how society prods
women to develop themselves based on specific standards. “The silence depressed me. It
wasn’t the silence of silence. It was silence of my own.” (Plath 24)

This quote is a reflection on the inner battles Esther faces in her journey to solve depression
and identity crisis. Additionally, Plath uses symbolism and metaphor to make Esther’s mental
state more evident. For instance, the “bell jar” motif repeats throughout the novel and is used
as a symbol for Esther’s mind prison. These literary devices used by Plath allows the readers
to sympathize with Esther in her plight and deal with issues of gender roles as well as mental
disorders. In the novel we could also find instances when Esther returns from her guest
editorship in New York City, she edges nearer to severe nervous breakdown and lose control
over her body and mind. When she tries to read, her “eyes sank through an alphabet soup of
letters” (Plath 147) and when she tries to write a letter, her “hand made big, jerky letters like
those of a child” (Plath 154).

In comparison with the intimate first-person telling of Esther Greenwood, Charlotte

Brontë’s Jane Eyre renders mental illness an elusive depiction through the character of
Bertha Mason. The first wife of Mr. Rochester, Bertha is a mysterious figure locked in the
attic at Thornfield hall because she was supposedly mad. Bertha’s image in Brontë’s novel
is full of
Gothic connotations, foreshadowing unhappiness and gloom. Although Bertha is not well-
represented in the text, her character can be seen as an effective symbol of social oppression
and consequences that arise from buried passions. The confinement of Bertha in the attic
portrays the situation to which Victorian-era women were subjected. Rochester reveals of
Bertha in confinement saying:

What it was, whether beast or human being, one could not, at first sight, tell: it
grovelled, seemingly, on all fours; it snatched and growled like some strange wild
animal. (Bronte 31)

Bertha is a Creole woman from Jamaica, which inevitably puts her in the most
marginalized position within an extremely rigid social order. Her madness represents the
societal fears regarding race, gender and colonialism as well as it is thought of as a stigma
attached with mental illness. The intersections of power, privilege and mental health in
Victorian society is interrogated through the character of Bertha. In the novel, Rochester
resorts to a traditional method of confinement which further contrasts with Jane who is a
representation of a more updated and sympathetic views on madness. She defends Bertha,
calling her an “unfortunate lady” and reminding Rochester that Bertha “cannot help being
mad.” (Bronte 29)

Although their narrative contexts and literary styles are different, Esther Greenwood
and Bertha Mason are comparable in terms of the portrayal of mental illness. Both characters
struggle with alienation and despair, confined in the dark walls of patriarchal norms set by
society. Esther’s odyssey symbolizes the plights of women in mid-twentieth century America
and Bertha is imprisoned as a representation to enumerate how marginalized people suffered
under Victorian England. Still, Esther’s story provides an opportunity for a more detailed
study of her psychiatric personal journey while Bertha is still mysteriously enigmatic figure
sharing little about herself. This contrast also brings into light the different ways of
portraying mental health issues in literature, as well as discusses the complications involved
with representing female madness within historical and cultural frameworks. Although the
reader can see much of Esther’s hardships to sympathize with her, Bertha remains veiled in
vague ambivalence for speculations and analyst. By comparing Esther Greenwood with
Bertha Mason, one can discover more about the changing representations of mental health in
art and its correlation to gender, race, social norms.

The character portrayal of Esther and Bertha is taken up by various adaptations across
film, television & theatre. These adaptations often transform and modernize their characters,
reflecting contemporary perspectives on disability and mental illness. The study of
adaptations by analysing how these depict Esther and Bertha, offers a perspective into the
changing cultural perceptions on disability as well as mental health. The media images of
Esther and Bertha help to develop disability and mental illness stories as a cultural construct.
These images can work to subvert or reaffirm the stereotypes and stigmas surrounding mental
health problems. Critical analysis of the cultural significance behind these portrayals provides
deeper insight into wider societal perceptions concerning disability women and how media
influence perceives their plights. The way that media present the characters of Esther and
Bertha should be more dignified to better understand them, as well as appreciate disabled
individuals’ lives.

Sylvia Plath and Charlotte Brontë undermine societal conceptions of mental illness
through their stories while also providing trenchant commentaries on how people expect
individuals to behave. This is why Esther’s narrative may be considered a particularly
effective charge against gendered notions and the limited offerings in women-related
treatment that was characteristic of mid-century America. Esther’s journey is one of the best
illustrations for how societal pressures can damage individual minds, and invariably calling
on everyone to foster empathy, awareness and advocacy towards mental health issues. While
on the other hand Bertha’s character presents an opportunity for readers to question issues of
race, gender and mental health in Victorian England. Though marginalised in the text,
Bertha’s presence dominates and conflicts with traditional ideals of femininity and sanity. By
denying the audience access to Bertha’s perspective, Brontë underlines that marginalized
voices remain suppressed and encourages readers to reflect on their role in sustaining societal
imbalances. Gender, class and race are some of the intersectional identities depicted by Esther
Greenwood and Bertha Mason. Esther is a middle-class, and white woman, who tries to find
her way around the society’s demands for women in 1950. Bertha, however, is Creole woman
from Jamaica whose racial and colonial background deepens the depiction of “madwoman in
an attic”. Comparing how these identity markers intersect with disability and mental illness,
can illuminate character dynamics even further. The gender-specific role expectations and
societal pressures expect women to comply with patriarchal norms and the lack of
opportunities and privileges for women define a set of life events which resulted in mental
illness development.

In the interim, Bertha is portrayed as a woman of Color that adds racial othering and
exoticism to her representation with madness being yet another layer in this complicated
presentation. Race, gender, and class are intersecting issues that affect the way society treats
them or how much resources they can access to treat their conditions. An intersectional
approach to the lived experiences of Esther and Bertha provides a deeper insight into what it
means to be woman with disability. Recognizing their shared identities allows us to
understand that the issues of mental illness and disability are complex. This intersectional
perspective is critical in drawing attention to specific issues of psychological services and
representation for disabled women with various cultural backgrounds

Work cited:

Abrams, M. H., and Geoffrey Galt Harpham. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 10th ed.
Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012.

Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. 1847. Reprint, Toronto: Broadview Press, 1999.

Budick, E. Miller. “The Feminist Discourse of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar.” College English,
vol. 49, no. 8, 1987, pp. 872–885. JSTOR.

Hughes, G, Haley. “Mental Illness and Human Dignity in Jane Eyre”. UNM Digital
Repository. 2021. https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&contex
t=ugresearchaward_2022.

Maple, Jeni. “The Intersection of Feminism and Disability Theory in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell
Jar”. UCLA Thinking Gender Papers. 2009. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/16j6q39s

Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar. New York: Harper and Row, 1971.

Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar. Al Haines and Mark Akrigg. 1963. Faded page,
https://www.fadedpage.com/link.php?file=20160540-a5.pdf. PDF download.
Bio note

Dhritishna Jiri Pachani is a final year student of master’s degree in the department of English
at Jagannath Barooah University. She has written several research papers on various issues
and topics and has also presented her paper in an international conference organised by
Dibrugarh University. Her research interests include gender studies and north-eastern
literature. She is an avid learner, constantly exploring various avenues to advance her career
in academics following her post-graduation.

Paper Submitted by-

Dhritishna Jiri Pachani

Pg 4th semester, Department of English