Sylvia Plath

The Bell Jar

David Roxana
Clasa a XII-a E
Colegiul Național "Elena Ghiba Birta" Arad
Profesor coordonator: Faur Elisabeta
Table of contents
• Introduction
• Sylvia Plath and her work
• Plot
• The main character
• Plath's relevance today
• Cover evolution over time
• Conclusion
Introduction
• Published in 1963, The Bell Jar is
a classic coming-of-age tale that
also serves as a societal critique.
• The novel works to challenge the
cultural belief that women's
primary purpose in life is to
marry and have children.
• The novel's most compelling
aspect is its raw and honest
portrayal of mental illness.
Sylvia Plath Plath only published one volume of poetry (The Colossus
and Other Poems) during her lifetime, but several other
and her work anthologies were released after her death, including Ariel
and Winter Trees.
Plot
• It tells the story of Esther, a 19-year-old
who wins an essay writing contest
organized by a fashion magazine and as a
reward is given a job within a company in
New York. There she is introduced to a
glitzy but high-pressure lifestyle whose
trappings aggravate her undiagnosed-but-
very-real depression and cause her to
suffer a mental breakdown that then
prompts her return to her New England
hometown to recuperate.
The main character
• Esther's experiences highlight the ongoing
societal pressure on women to conform to
certain expectations and roles.
• "The Bell Jar" includes a romantic plotline,
but it is not the primary focus of the novel.
In fact, the novel works to challenge the
cultural belief that women's primary
purpose in life is to marry and have
children.
• The novel provides a candid and
unflinching portrayal of the protagonist's
descent into mental illness, including her
experiences with electroconvulsive therapy
and her thoughts of suicide.
 Plath's relevance
today
“I saw my life branching out before me
like the green fig tree in the story. From
the tip of every branch, like a fat purple
fig, a wonderful future beckoned and
winked. (…)
I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this
fig tree, starving to death, just because I
couldn't make up my mind which of the
figs I would choose. I wanted each and
every one of them, but choosing one
meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat
there, unable to decide, the figs began to
wrinkle and go black, and, one by one,
they plopped to the ground at my feet.”
 Cover evolution over time

First edition cover 25th anniversary cover 50th anniversary cover

Conclusion

•The Bell Jar, with its haunting and

deeply personal portrayal of mental
illness, has become a cultural
touchstone and a beacon of
feminist literature. Its influence on
generations of readers, particularly
women, cannot be overstated.
Bibliography
• https://lithub.com/the-coming-of-age-tale-as-societal-critique-sy
lvia-plaths-the-bell-jar-at-60/

•
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rereading-the-bell-jar-by-sylv
ia-plath-review-young-and-unhappy-read-this-novel-swkbvhmg
2

• https://www.nylon.com/articles/bell-jar-female-sadness
• https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20210720-sylvia-plath-the-l
iterary-icon-destined-to-remain-an-enigma
• https://i-d.vice.com/en/article/4a3v79/unpacking-our-undying-o
bsession-with-sylvia-plaths-fig-tree
• https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-cultural-misunderstanding-of-s
ylvia-plath/