, Research Paper

In The Bell Jar, originally published under the anonym of Victoria Lucas, Sylvia Plath

was entering much of her personal experience. Plath was born on October 27, 1932. Her

brother, Warren Joseph Plath, was born in 1935. When Plath was five old ages old, her household

moved to Winthrop, Massachusetts, where she was a exemplary pupil. However, in 1940, her

father Otto Plath died of pneumonia and complications from diabetes. Plath won many awards,

both local and national, for her authorship in the old ages after her male parent & # 8217 ; s decease. During her teens, she

met a schoolmate named Richard Willard. Later, she dated his older brother, Buddy. In 1950,

Sylvia Plath entered Smith College in Nothampton, Massachusetts. While she was at that place, Buddy

Willard asked her to the Yale prom.

When Sylvia was 20 old ages old, she won the Mademoiselle fiction competition, and during

the summer of 1953, she was a invitee editor at Mademoiselle.

Later that summer, Plath attempted

self-destruction with kiping pills. She was found and taken to Newton-Wellesley Hospital. For the

staying portion of that twelvemonth, she resided at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, and was

treated with insulin and electro-shock therapy. In The Bell Jar, Plath does non compose about her life

after this point.

Plath returned to Smith and graduated in 1955. She moved to London, where she met

Ted Hughes. She married him, and they returned to the U.S. in 1957. In the following two old ages, Ms.

Plath held a hospital clerical place after she quit her teacher occupation at Smith. She did this in

order to give more clip to composing. The last few old ages of Sylvia Plath & # 8217 ; s life were really busy.

She moved back to England with her hubby and had a miss in the spring of 1960. The following

twelvemonth was hard because she had both a abortion and an appendicectomy. In early 1962, she

gave birth to a babe male child, but a few months subsequently, her hubby left her. She so moved to London

and wrote The Bell Jar. On February 11, 1963, Sylvia Plath committed self-destruction in her London

place by turning on the gas jets.

Sylvia suffered from a deficiency of helpful support. There were no good support systems in her

life. Her female parent

did non understand her, and her male parent was dead. She had no attractive function

theoretical accounts to follow, in her sentiment. In the book, Esther does non desire to be like her female parent and

Teach stenography. Ms. Plath did non acquire much aid from the professional universe. In her diary, she

wrote that she was unable to kip during the last winter that she lived in London. Her British

physician prescribed kiping pills, & # 8220 ; the panacea for everything & # 8221 ; . Sylvia Plath could hold good been a

victim of multiple failures created by the historical epoch in which she lived.

Until the 1970 & # 8217 ; s, American literature did non hold a great many female heroines in its

fiction plants, and even fewer had been created by female writers. In short, there were no

adult female authors making adult females characters who spoke their heads. The chief twelvemonth of Esther & # 8217 ; s life

in the narrative is 1953, before the popularity of the birth control pill, adult females & # 8217 ; s release, and other

societal motions in the 1960 & # 8217 ; s.

Esther reached adulthood in the early 1950 & # 8217 ; s when Women & # 8217 ; s functions were stiffly assigned.

American adult females fell into two groups: the good misss and the bad misss. The good misss married

good and had two or three kids. They cooked proper and alimentary repasts while maintaining the

house spotless, and in their trim clip, they would go to PTA meetings. The good misss made

duteous married womans. The bad misss, on the other manus, were sexy, bosomy, and blonde. They did non

get married the proper work forces ( physicians, attorneies, etc. ) . There was besides a group of adult females who were non

truly considered adult females. They frequently held low-paying occupations, such as bibliothecs and societal workers.

These adult females were bright, yet doomed in society because they did non seek to acquire the attending of

work forces.

The Bell Jar besides gives the audience a rather moving and likely really accurate history of

mental wellness intervention in the 1950 & # 8217 ; s. Electro-shock therapy was really common during that

decennary, but today, it is merely seldom used. In decision, during the clip of the novel, there is

clearly non much encouragement for adult females to be single, to be different, and to be brave and

dare. For this ground, Esther Greenwood was pushed to insanity, for society could non accept

her.