The Bell Jar

 

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A PSYCHOANALYSIS READING OF SYLVIA PLATH’S THE BELL JAR A Mini Project Submitted by  Name of the Students

Register Number

JEFFY.J JELIN SHARON.J JEMIMA RAJINI SANKAR.R JEMIMAH GNANA PUSHPAM.J JENALSI.E JENCI GLADWIN.P JENEFA NESAMALAR.F JENIFA BLESSY.D

18UEN025 18UEN026 18UEN027 18UEN028 18UEN029 18UEN030 18UEN031 18UEN032

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of

BACHELOR OF ARTS IN ENGLISH

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND RESEARCH CENTRE SARAH TUCKER COLLEGE (AUTUNOMOUS) (Affiliated to Manonmaniam Sundaranar University) TIRUNELVELI-7  NOVEMBER 2020

 

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SARAH TUCKER COLLEGE (AUTONOMOUS) (Affiliated to Manonmaniam Sundaranar University) DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND RESEARCH CENTRE TIRUNELVELI-7 BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE Certified that the mini project entitled “A Psychoanalysis reading of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar” is the bonafide work done by the following students who carried out the work

under my supervisor:

Name of the Students

Register number

JEFFY.J

18UEN025

JELIN SHARON.J

18UEN026

JEMIMA RAJINI SANKAR.R

18UEN027

JEMIMAH GNANA PUSHPAM.J

18UEN028

JENALSI.E

18UEN029

JENCI GLADWIN.P

18UEN030

JENEFA NESAMALAR.F

18UEN031

JENIFA BLESSY.D

18UEN032

Signature of the HOD with date Dr. Felicia Manoah Associate professor and Head Department of English and Research Centre Sarah Tucker College Tirunelveli-7

Signature

Signature of the Supervisor with date Mrs. Sheeba Assistant professor Department of English and Research Centre Sarah Tucker College Tirunelveli-7

 

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost, we thank God Almighty for His blessings and grace and for his guidance to carry out our research project with interest and enthusiasm. We acknowledge the co-operation and assistance given by our esteemed Principal Dr. Usha Godwin, and express our heart full thanks for her guidance. We have immense pleasure in thanking our Head, Department of English Dr. S. Felicia Gladys Sathiadevi , for what she has given us. Without her help, the completion of our project would not have been easy. We should like to express our deepest feelings of indebtedness and  profound gratitude to Mrs. Sheeba, Assistant Professor of English for her diligent supervision, enormous patience and eminent guidance. We are thankful to our librarian for their ready help in lending us the  books, articles and other study materials.

Finally, we would like to

acknowledge our indebtedness and thanks to our family, friends, brothers, sisters for enabling us to complete our project successfully.

 

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CONTENTS CHAPTER

TITLE

ONE

Introduction

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A psychoanalysis reading of Esther

PAGE NO

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Greenwood’s reenwood’s character  character in Sylvia Plath’s Plath’s The Bell Jar

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THREE

Identity crisis in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar Identity

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FOUR

eminism in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar Feminism F

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FIVE

Summation

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Works cited

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5 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Literature somehow reflects humankind and also the life itself. Literature is a term used to describe written and sometimes spoken material. It is nothing but any oral or written  body of work which consists of particular use of a language which gives pleasure and reflects refle cts human life in it. The word literature is derived from a Latin word  Littera  meaning ‘letter of the alphabet’. The genres of literature are epic, poetry, novel, short story, drama, essay,  biography and autobiography. The major types of literature across the world are English, Greek, Latin, Roman, African, Indian, French, Irish, Spain, Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Persian, Sanskrit, Nepali, Russian, Canadian and American literature. Let’s discover more about American Literature. American literature, like American history, although short, however, still full of glories and shining masterpieces and writers. Those American writers, while subjugating this wild America, also had conquered the great field of American literature. From its first counterfeit activities to progressive attempts nowadays, American literature gradually gains its unique style, theme and form, and there is a great excitement to see their works, as they are more and more America in its true sense. American American literature is part of world’s literature  literature  however, it always has its rare flavor that cannot be freely ignored. First, American literature reflects  beliefs and traditions traditions that come from the nation’s frontier frontier days. The pioneer ideals of self reliance and independence appear again and again in American writings. American authors have great respect for the value and importance of the individual. They tend to refuse authority and to maintain democracy and the equality of people. They often celebrate nature and a sense of limitless space. Second, American writers have always had a strong impulse to break with literary tradition and to initiate their individual directions. Writers of other countries seem to

 

6 take in their national literary traditions. But many American authors have abandoned the old in order to discover something new. Literature has remained in the Americas for as long as the people who lived there have been telling stories. Indigenous American cultures have a rich history of oral literature. This tale of American literature begins in the early 17 th century with the advent of Englishspeaking Europeans in what would become the United States. At first American literature was generally a colonial literature, by authors who were Englishmen and who thought and wrote that way. Thus, a particular group of writers supported the colonization through their writings while the others spurred the colonist to leave their homeland. Both the content and form of the literature of this first century in America were thus markedly English. In the Eighteenth century, there were writers who still followed the tradition. But due to The Great Awakening, a new trend for Philosophy and Religion started to flourish. The  bend of the American revolution, accentuated variations between the American and The British political policies. This influenced the writers and they turned their attention to  politics. Thus, the period of political pamphlets and journals started to bloom. In the years toward the close of the 18th century, both dramas and novels of some historical importance were produced. Competition between provincial printers and London publishers arose. The major themes that dominated early American writing are wilderness, community and individualism. Interdisciplinary in its origins, early American literature fosters close ties with other departments, including history, religious studies, and romance languages, in order to find the  best methodological approaches for grappling with writings that often sit uneasily in any  particular genre. Thus, it slowly began its journey and acclaimed its place in today’s literature which cannot be neglected.

 

7 Mark Twain, is considered as the father of American literature and an inimitable icon of American culture. Although he was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, he’ll be forever known as the quintessential American writer Mark Twain. Raised in Hannibal, Missouri, Twain began his literary aspirations as a modest young journalist for his local newspaper. But it was his quick wit and brilliantly brilli antly ambitious use of a pen that would catapult him into literary American royalty. Twain’s childhood and adolescence in Missouri served as the inspiration for his legendary novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and its better half, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Both Tom Sawyer and its sequel in Huckleberry Finn are landmark texts not only in the canon of Twain’s work, but also in that of American literature. Twain’s explicit sense of place is articulated in the rugged aesthetic of the American Midwest. The untouched labyrinth of underground caves, the secrets hidden in the planks of abandoned houses, and the natural landscape of the American Midwest in the aftermath of a  bloody Civil War, War, explicitly defines Twain’s work as stories of place. His texts also have an undeniable sense of place rooted in the speech of his characters. The dialect, speech patterns, slang and syntax of the dialogue create a palpable experience for the reader. Descriptions of natural sights, smells and sounds of Missouri, display Twain’s true craftsmanship as a novelist. Twain’s works aren’t just written texts, but tangible artifacts of both American literary and cultural history. Twain’s critical eye, eye , and ear, of social observation and political injustices of an often-bigoted America, along with a clever tongue, much like that of his young heroes, has solidified his role as what no less a luminary than William Faulkner called “the father of American literature”.  literature”.   Harper Lee was an American novelist born on April 28, 1926 in Alabama. She was the youngest of four children. She attended all female Huntington's college in Montgomery. She focused on her studies studies and writing not in beauty. Lee was a member of Literary Hon Honour our

 

8 Society and the Glee Club. Club. During her junior year, Lee was accepted into into the university's law school, which allowed students to work on law degrees while still undergraduates. The demands of her law studies forced her to leave her post as Rammer Jammer editor. Lee joined law school and in her first year she began expressing to her family that writing is her true calling and not the law. She was dropped out in first semester in law, after then she moved to follow her dream as writer. In 1949 Lee went to New York city. She faced many struggles so she worked as ticket agent for Eastern Airlines and for British Overseas Air Corporation. While in city she became friends with Michael Martin Brown and his wife Joy. In 1956 his friend browns gave her an impressive Christmas gift to support her so that she could write full time. She left her job and concentrated on writing. Brown helped her to find a publisher J. B. Lippincott and worked with the editor Tay Hohoff they worked on manuscript in Alabama Town. On her life time she wrote only two novels, the first one is To Kill A Mockingbird and published in 1960 and the other novel is Go Set A Watchman and she wrote many articles such as  Love in Other Words  vogue, April 1961, Christmas To Me McCall’s, December 1961, When Children Discover America 1965,  Romance and High Adventure 1938, a paper  presented in Eufaula. She was rewarded many awards such as ‘Pulitzer Prize for Fiction’ 1961, ‘Presidential Medal of Freedom’ Freedom’ 2007, 2007, ‘Quill ‘Quill Award for Audio Book ’  2007, ‘Good Reads Choice Award Best Fiction in 2015 for her Go Set A Watchman novel . And she died in February 19, 2016. Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison known as ‘Toni’ was born on February 18, 1931 in Lorain, Ohio. She was a novelist, essayist, book editor and college professor. Toni was not aware of racial divisions until she was in her teens. She did her schooling in Latin and read works of European literature. Graduated from Lorain high school in 1949, she pursued her literature in Howard University, she chooses major for English and classics for minor, continued her education at Carnell University, she wrote thesis on work of Virginia Woolf

 

9 and William Faulkner. Toni completed her MA degree in 1955, she moved to lone star state to teach in Texas Southern University. In 1957 Toni returned to Howard to teach English. The next year she married an architect Marold Morrison from Jamia, after birth of her first son she joined a writers group and began her first novel. In 1964 she moved to Ohio and lived with her family, then she went to New York and worked for textbook publisher as senior editor. She had contributed much to English literature her first novel was The Bluest Eye 1970. Other works includes Sula 1973, Song of Solomon  1977,  Beloved 1987 , Jazz 1992, Paradise 1998 , Margaret Garner 2002, A Mercy 2008,  Home 2012. And she was honoured

 by many awards such as ‘Noble Prize in Literature’ 1993, ‘Pulitzer Prize for Fiction’1988, ‘American Book Award’1988, ‘Presidential Medal of Freedom' 2012, ‘National Humanities Medal’ 2000. She died in died in August 5, 2019. Alice Malsenior Walker also known as Alice Walker, was born on February 9   ,1944 in Eatonton, Georgia. She was the 8 th child of African American Sharecroppers. Walker was  blinded in one eye, so her mother gave her a type writer to practice writing, she studied in Spelman College after two years transferred to Sarah Lawrence college, graduated in 1965, after that she moved to Mississippi and took part in Civil Rights Movement. She began her work in literature by publishing short story and essay. Walker was married in 1967 and divorced in 1976. Her first novel was The Third Life of Grange Copeland 1970. Her first short story named as  In love and trouble   was published in 1973. Her notable works are  Meridian (1976), The Colour purple (1989), The Temple of My Familiar (1989), Possessing the Secret of Joy (1992), Light of My Father's Smile ( 1998),  Is the Time to Open Your Heart

(2005). Notable short stories are  Broken heart (2000), Trust in the goodness of the earth  (2003),  Earthling  poem (1991). Walker was rewarded by notable awards such as ‘Pulitzer  prize for Fiction’ in 1983, ‘National Book award for fiction’ in 1983, ‘O. ‘ O. Henry Award’ in 1986.

 

10 Stephen Edwin King shortly known as Stephen king, was born on September 21,1947 in Portland Maine. His parents got separated when he was very young and he and his brother David lived their life between Indiana and Connecticut to several years, Stephen king later moved back to Maine with his mom and brother. There he was graduated in Lisbon Falls High School in 1966, he stayed close to home and he attended the University of Maine at Orono, there he wrote for school newspaper, while he was in school, he published his first short story Starting Mystery stories. In 1970 he graduated with a degree in English. Stephen king started working in a laundry and continued his writing during his free time until 1971. He worked as English educator at Hampden Academy. At the same year he married his fellow writer Tabitha Spruce and had three children. In 1973 he published his first novel Carrie.  And his famous novels   are Salem's Lot (1975),  The Shining (1997), Firestarter

(1980), Cujo (1981),  IT (1986). He published several books as Richard Bachman, his four early novels are  Rage (1977), The Long Walk (1979) ,  Roadwork  (1981),   (1981), and The Long wall  (1982). These books were published under Moniker because people will not accept more than one book from a same author within a year. In 2011 he published a novel 11/22/63 and also two other novels  Joyland  (2013),   (2013),  Doctor Sleep (2013) . He was honoured by many awards such as ‘National Medal for Arts’ in 2015, ‘Edgar Award for Best Novel’ and ‘ World Fantasy Award’ for short stories in 1982, ‘O. Henry Award’ in 1996, ‘Edgar Grand Master Award’ in 2007, and ‘World Fantasy Award' for life Achievement in 2004 and he is a living author. Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. She was one of the most dynamic and admired poet of 20 th century, she was born on October 27, 1932 in Boston, Massachusetts. When she was 8 years old her father died of diabetes. He was a strict father, his authoritarian attitudes and his death dramatically defined Plath's relationship and her  poem in her elegiac and infamous poem Daddy. When she was at the age of 11, she published

 

11  poems in newspapers and magazines. Her first national publication was after her high school. In 1950 she went to Smith College and in 1957  –  1958   1958 she worked in the same college as instructor. In 1955 1955 she graduated in Summa Cum Cum Laude, after graduation he moved to Cambridge, England. In 1956 June 16 th she married Ted Hughes. Her first collection of poem Colossus  was published in 1960. In 1962 her most famous book  Ariel that comprises all her

 poem was published. In 1963 on February 11th  she died by inhaling gas from oven in her kitchen. And some of her book were published after her death they are  Johnny panic pan ic and The  Bible of Dreams. Book of Short Stories and prose was published in 1977. The Collected Poems which include unpublished poem poemss appeared in 1981 and received the ‘Pulitzer prize

for poetry’ in 1982. Her book Unbridged Journals of Sylvia Plath covering years from 1950 to 1962 was published in 2000. In 2019 the story Mary venture and The Ninth Kingdom was  published it was written in 1952. And she was awarded ‘Glasco Prize’ in 1955.  1955.  The Bell Jar   is generally considered by critics as an autobiographical novel. It was

 published in London under the pseudonym Victorian Lucas in 1963 and then republished in America in 1966 under her real name, quickly making its way on the New York Times  bestseller list. The works of confessional confessi onal poets are always autobiographical, displaying their own inner worlds in a very frank way. Sylvia Plath was considered as the youngest confessional poet with unparallel artistic talent whose poems are full of anger, despair, love, death, mental disorders and self-destruction. She experienced a failed marriage with poet Ted Hughes, short but legendary, which was a turning point for her life and always a myth to the readers. As a distinguish poet, she was haunted in a strong contradiction between her ideal career and the traditional female role in 1950s. The anguish of death and rebirth contributed to her only novel The Bell Jar   in in which Plath tries to explore the dark and painful level of human consciousness. The main concern of the novel is the mental health of Esther Greenwood, her immersion into a deep depression and eventual recovery. The Bell Jar  

 

12 describes the gradual process of mental illness and treatment from a completely distinctive and truthful perspective. “A psychoanalysis reading of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar ” is the title given to this mini project. As an autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar  was  was at first highly controversial that critics have tried to analyze it from various angles. In recent years, research works of Sylvia Plath have revaluated its importance in the literature and reinterpret the novel from the feminist point of view. Since then, the subject has been extensively explored and previous studies are most carried out from feminist perspective. From the summary of literary reviews on Plath’s life and her works, we can observe that deep research on psychological analysis, ideological and cultural background and reflection on the ritual meaning of death in this novel are still relatively insufficient. Actually, Plath herself was keen on psychological analysis and also applied it to her own writings. Obviously, the “bell jar” which titles titles the novel has symbolic meanings through the story.

 

13 CHAPTER II A PSYCHOANALYSIS READING OF ESTHER GREENWOOD GREENWOOD’S ’S CHARACTER IN SYLVIA PLATH’S THE BELL JAR Psychoanalytic theory is the theory of personality organization and the dynamics of  personality development that guides psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating  psychopathology. Freud developed the psychoanalytical theory. According to him, Personality is formed through conflicts among three fundamental structures of the human mind. Often in the literature, authors take different psychological approaches, such as the use of Freud’s three different ideas that affect the soul in order to under stand under stand the different motives and ideas. The different concepts are which is the pleasure principle that often includes reckless thoughts, the superego; this is based off of morals and helps protects society as a whole, the last concept is called ego; this is the rationing part of the mind and it helps make reasonable decisions between doing rational and irrational things; include id. When we overlook the character of Esther Greenwood in the novel, she displays major depressive disorder and depression. In the beginning of the novel, we can clearly able to clarify how Esther feels about the electrocution of the Rosenbergs. Thus, when the same scenario is applied to her life, she couldn’t accept the fact of her fears turning out to be true in her life. Thus, our protagonist is in possession of her own fears and insecurities. “It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they executed the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York. I'm stupid about executions. The idea of being electrocuted makes me sick and I thought it must be the worst thing in the world.” world. ” (TBJ) Fear is an emotion induced by perceived danger or threat, which causes physiological changes and ultimately behavioral changes. Fear in human beings may occur in response to a certain stimulus occurring in the present or in anticipation or expectation of a future threat  perceived as a risk to oneself.

 

14 Apart from fear she also tries to hideaway her real nature by maintaining a clear-cut  profile before other girls. But it doesn’t turn out to be the fact. When she begins to elaborate about her stay in Amazon, we can observe that she is bored of the characteristics exhibited by the typical women who stay in her hotel. We can also get a glimpse of her jealousy towards other girls. “Girls like that make that make me sick. I’ I ’m so jealous I can’t can’t speak.” (TBJ) speak.” (TBJ) Thus, we are able to spot that her jealousy towards other girls arises from her unexplainable inferiority complex. An inferiority complex is a psychological term used to describe people with intense feelings of inadequacy, often resulting in extreme shyness, selfisolation, or social submissiveness. It often sterns from the belief that one is someway deficient, or inferior, to virtually all others. Her admiration for Doreen and Jay Cee comes from her underlying inferiority complex. She looks up to them as she couldn’t be like them.  them.   “I  “I  guess one of my troubles troubl es was Doreen”, Doreen”, “Jay Cee was my boss, and I liked her a lot, in spite of what Doreen said ”. (TBJ) Esther doesn’t feel confident about carrying herself in the public so she uses Doreen as a trump card to make herself feel better. “Ordinarily, I would have been nervous about my dress and my odd color, but being with Doreen made me forget my worries. I felt wise and cynical as all hell” hell”. (TBJ) When Esther walks into the bar with Doreen and Lenny Shepherd and his friends, she feels uncomfortable and completely out of place. She also introduces herself as Elly Higginbottom to Frankie. Accompanying Accompanying Doreen to Lenny Shepherd’s house, Esther notices that she is a third wheel and a person with no worth there. Being so she is insulted there and then. The story of the Esther’s handling of the class dean shows that Esther does not handle stress well and treats it primarily by avoiding it. It can also be seen that to escape from her she always takes hot bath. She feels safe there so choses the same way to take her life. “There must be quite a few things a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them. Whenever

 

15 I'm sad I'm going to die, or so nervous I can't sleep, or in love with somebody I won't be seeing for a week, I slump down just so far and then I say: "I'll go take a hot bath ”. (TBJ) Esther’s story about Philomena Guinea adds to the notion that Esther was an outstanding achiever. The most ordinary events that take place when Esther lives in New York primarily show Esther’s attitude and sense of life around her. Esther approaches appro aches the film through cynicism and teasing detachment. She expresses dissatisfaction with Technicolor movies, almost equal to the dissatisfaction she shows when she and other girls she food poisoning. Her insecurities can be interpreted when Esther says that she can face it if she has physical illness but she couldn’t even bear to face a mental illness.   “I wanted to tell her that if only something were wrong with my body it would be fine, I would rather have anything wrong with my body than something wrong with my head, but the idea seemed so involved and wearisome that I didn’t say anything”. anything”. (TBJ) For Esther, Buddy Willard is removed from the expectations, but the specific reason why Buddy Willard proved such disappointment will only emerge later. Esther’s frustration is caused by an ideological treatment of Buddy Willard. He belittles her when she makes her decision about not marrying him. Esther Greenwood is more repressed than her actions around Doreen. She likens her friendship with Buddy to a fairy tale and thinks of her relationship with him only in terms of kiss. This oppression is additionally related to the  prison feeling Esther feels, but in this case, it is especially self-inflicted. Esther had to overcome her idealistic and innocent view of the nowhere romantic relationship between innocent Betsy’s spectrum and the worldly Doreen. Esther worries about her future and issues dealing with her own and others sexuality. Rather than worrying about the big questions of what she is doing as a successful business woman, Esther worries about not being able to fulfill responsibilities. Esther sees the world in terms of contraries and she hopes that losing her virginity will turn her into a different person

 

16 so that she can escape from the prison where she currently finds herself. Her decision was not an empowerment measure, but rather a sign of great weakness. Esther is somewhat unable to feel the effect of physical activities on her body. This mental conflict between mind and body can be clearly viewed during her suicide attempt. The return of the Rosenberg as the details of the plot that establishes the structure of the novel is proof that Sylvia Plath predicts the part of it. Esther’s horror personalized the receiving her electroshock treatment’ she receives the sympathy from Rosenberg Hild a. Esther’s suffers from  from  more physical symptoms including insomnia and inattention. At this  point her depression became clear and her doctor recommended psychiatric treatment. “So, I told him again, in the same dull flat voice, only it was angrier this time, because he seemed so slow to understand, how I hadn’t slept for fourteen nights and how I couldn’t read or write or swallow very well” well”. (TBJ) Plath continues to associate Esther’s anxiety with fears about sexual roles through the details of her life in the suburbs. The two most notable personalities in the neighborhood represent the traditional female characters that Esther considers negative The psychological circumstances of our protagonist is quite depressing in the novel. She loses her interest in almost everything. Without taking care of herself she keeps on living as she wishes. When we analyze the character of Esther Greenwood’s hatred towards Dr. Gordon, at first Esther expects the doctor to be encouraging and a person she can rely on. But Dr. Gordon is not in the way she had expected him to be. Thus, she detests him from the very first meeting. “I had imagined a kind, ugly, intuitive int uitive man looking up and saying “Ah!” in an encouraging way, as if he could see something I couldn’t and then I would find words to tell him how I was so scared, as I were being stuffed farther and farther into a black, airless sack with no way out”’ out”’ (TBJ)  (TBJ) The role of a Psychiatrist is to make their patients feel at ease. But Esther Greenwood is utterly anxious to share about her psychological condition to Dr. Gordon. Her emotional

 

17 turmoil can be interpreted when she can’t can’t bring  bring herself to write to her friend Doreen. On the other hand, Dr. Gordon didn’t even try getting to know Esther. We humans only trust people who make us feel comfortable. So, there is no wonder that Esther turns out to be gloomy in Dr. Gordon’s hospital.  hospital.  “I need more than anything right now what is, of course, most impossible, someone to love me, to be with me at night when I wake up in shuddering horror and fear of the cement tunnels leading down to the shock room, to comfort me with an assurance that no psychiatrist can quite manage to convey” convey ”. (TBJ) In the part where Esther engages with a sailor, we can undoubtedly see that th at she didn’t wish to disclose her real name. This displays that she is battling between her true self and what society expects her to be. She also have intentions to go Chicago and live there as Elly Higginbottom. This shows that. She is ashamed of herself and lacks self-esteem. It can also be seen that she feels that the society would accuse her for rejecting her  perfect life and living the other way around. a round. She is frustrated frustrate d by the piling manuscripts in the internship. She wants to have a new family and kids thus indicating her thirst for love. Her Id takes charge when she plans to run off to Chicago without worrying about the consequences. And because of her low self-esteem, she believes that every person is living better life than her. Even though Esther Greenwood doesn’t really like Dr. Gordon, she tries to describe about her condition to him. Through the novel we clearly see that Esther is a keen observer. She tends to observe each and every intricate details in the hospital. Dr. Gordon however  before the shock treatment, fails to assure Esther. He didn’t even try to hear her. Thus, she feels terrible after the shock treatment. Due to fear, she tells Dr. Gordon that she is alright. As we can see, Esther can speak with her own psyche. “As I paddled on, mt heartbeat boomed like a motor in my ears. I am I am I am ”. (TBJ) She possesses numerous ideas to die. At first, she takes Gillette blades to cut her veins in a warm bath. The author very well confirms that

 

18 the person in the mirror is not Esther Greenwood’s and that it is her depression which changed her. After reaching nearer to the sea, she realizes that there is no warm bath there to execute her plan. In this situation, her only motive is to die and she did n’t n’t care about the plan. So, her Id overpowers her ego here. She wants to die peacefully and doesn’t want to be rescued. So, she tries to bribe the little boy with candies. When Cal narrates a play, Esther Greenwood evokes it as it deals with a mad person. This implies that deep down she is also believing that she is one among them. She enjoys  being with Jody, Mark and Cal. But she fears that she will spit out the truth about her life. She wants to show herself as a normal person before them so she pushes them farther. Esther did n’t n’t trust the doctor and believed that her case is incurable.  incurable. “The only reason I remembered this play was because it had a mad person in it, and everything I had ever read about mad  people stuck in my mind, while everything else flew out” out”. (TBJ) We can evidently observe that Esther begins to compare her psychological condition with that of the symptoms given in  psychology book. And to make the sailor to find f ind her story convincing, she keeps making m aking up story after story. According to the Psychoanalytical theory, the psychological state of an individual is influenced by the environment. But in Esther’s case, her surroundings are often gloomy and grey. Her mother has been crying and Esther is being treated like a mad woman. Esther didn’t want to live and waited for her life to end. In this situation, it is her ego which is the driving force to make relevant actions to take her life. “The trouble about jumping was that if you didn’t pick the right number of story story’’s, you might still be alive when you hit bottom” bottom ”. (TBJ) She pictures herself parallel to the weeping scholar tree originated from Japan. Thus, not wanting to stay in Dr. Gordon’s hospital Esther  plans to escape to Chicago. Esther also undergoes uncertainty of future as she begins to fear that her family would abandon her.

 

19 Even though Esther is in a hospital she develops the willpower to help others by carrying flowers to the maternity wards. But Dr. Gordon’s hospital does not have a healthy environment. So, Esther is made a laughing stock by them. Then it is shown that Esther Greenwood has not yet grieved for her father’s death. That grief could also be one of the causes for her psychological state. It can also be seen that Esther doesn’t believe in life after death. This is one of the foremost causes for her decision to die. Her emotions which are suppressed bursts out when she visits her father’s grave. Thus, grave. Thus, another major reason for her condition might be grief. Grief can be described describe d as the intense emotional and physical reaction that an individual experiences following the death of a loved one. Not only is grief characterized by deep sadness but also by an intense yearning to be with that person again. “I couldn’t understand why I was crying c rying so hard. Then I remembered that I had never cried crie d for my father’s death”. death”. (TBJ) When she tells if her father had been alive, he would have taught her about insects, we can surely sense that she misses her father. She tries to take the sleeping pills and commits suicide. But however, she is saved stuck inside a gap. When she opens her eyes, her mother and her brother are next to her. Esther then tells that she doesn’t doesn’t want any visitors. The reason for this is that she doesn’t want anybody seeing her in her vulnerable state. Thus, whenever group of doctor’s visits her and question her, she doesn’t co-operate. co-operate. She slams George Bakewell to get lost which vividly unfolds her embarrassment. It is also shown how the nurse blames for breaking the mirror and likewise the thermometer. As a famous novelist comes forward to support Esther Greenwood, she is transferred to a private hospital. Esther’s mood remains the same. She even plans to jump off of the  bridge. This shows that she is expecting the hospital to be as same as Dr. Gordon’s hospital. But surprisingly Dr. Nolan is nothing like Dr. Gordon. She is friendly. And Esther clearly trusts her. As the doctor strengthens her, she develops a lot. She didn’t feel any pain during

 

20 the shock treatments. The surroundings are also friendly and the nurses showered their love on the patients. Thus, Esther is filled with positive vibes. Esther’s friend Joan is being admitted in the same hospital. She confesses that she has read about Esther in the newspaper. But Esther didn’t feel embarrassment like the past. But still she didn’t appreciate when her mother bought her roses for her birthday. She still loathes her mother as she is the person who failed to give her moral support and admitted her to a Psychiatrist. When she was transferred to Belsize, she couldn’t believe it because she thought she would never be alright. She develops a wonderful bond with Joan and Dee Dee. She  begins to experience the outside world and started starte d seeing seein g Professor Irwin with whom Esther decides to lose her virginity. After getting the shock treatment, Esther feels at ease. In the novel the bell jar is denoted as the symbol of suppressed emotions. “All the heat and fear had  purged itself. I felt surprisingly at peace. The bell jar hung suspended a few feet above my head. I was open to the circulating air ”. (TBJ) Esther is not silenced anymore. Even the death of Joan didn’t affect her. The traits of sex drive comes under Id. Id became dominant in a particular situation and without further thinking Esther and Irwin have sex and Esther starts to bleed. From a naïve girl who acknowledges to everything while Buddy speaks to a withstanding girl who fights back for herself, her psyche has become stronger in the course of time. She never feels any remorse when she meets Buddy Willard again. She self-reliantly attends the funeral of Joan. Thus, surroundings play an extensive role in Esther Greenwood’s  psychological condition. Thus, due to Dr. Nolan assistance, she recovers gradually and is confident to attend the board meeting with the doctors.

 

21 CHAPTER III IDENTITY CRISIS IN SYLVIA PLATH’S  PLATH’S THE BELL JAR The

concept, concept,

“Identity

crisis”  originates crisis” 

in

the

work

of

developmental

 psychologist Erik  psychologist  Erik Erikson, who believed that the formation of identity was one of the most important parts of a person's life. Theorist Erikson coined the term identity crisis and believed that it was one of the most important conflicts important  conflicts people  people face in development. According to Erikson, An identity crisis is a time of intensive analysis and exploration of  different  different ways of looking at oneself.  The identity crisis has demonstrated its power as one of the main thematic concerns in literature. Devastation becomes ineluctable i neluctable when characters chara cters are unable to t o extricate themselves from the conflict between who they are and who they are supposed to be. Conversely, each individual’s awareness of their true selves is essential to the eventual achievement of self-realization. In American literature, especially contemporary American literature, an identity crisis is frequently occasioned by conflict. Conflict between a person or another person, group, or natural force etc., is what drives one into change. An identity crisis in The Bell Jar   is a  psychological study on Esther Greenwood, the main character of the novel who undergoes the identity crisis. The role the environment plays during one’s journey for self -realization -realization cannot be neglected. It can either foster or hinder the individual’s growth and development. The better society encourages the potential development of an individual. When analyzing Esther’s anxiety of marginality, the general social context certainly should be taken into consideration. Patriarchal society and shortfall of her family have negative influence on Esther’s maturity.  maturity.  

 

22 Through acting her false self, she temporarily gains respect and satisfaction. However, the more faultless she acts to be, the further she loses touch with her inner self. She attempts to be an ideal person by taking on many conflicting identities and cares too much to fulfil other’s expectations. Lingering between dream and reality, Esther is tortur ed ed by her divided self so much that she feels feel s stressed out and cannot find a way to solve the crisis. The death of Esther’s father leaves an unhealed pain in her heart for years. It seems to Esther that her father’s death is unreal. The only interaction in teraction between Esther and her father in The Bell Jar   comes when Esther pays a visit to her father’s graveyard. “I “I had a great

yearning, lately, to pay my father back for all the years of neglect, and start tending his grave. I had always been my father’s father’s favorite, and it seemed fitting I should take on a mourning my mother had never bothered with.” with.” (TBJ,159) Esther even presume that if her father didn’t die, her life would be much more different. Esther was brought up by her grandmother as her mother was busy devoting much time supporting the family and taking care of her brother. Esther’s brother is only mentioned when she is in hospital and a very little conversation between them also exhibits the family’s detachment.. In Esther’s description, detachment description, her mother is a practical and traditional woman who seriously lacks understanding. Obviously, shortfall of family has negative impact on Esther’s maturity and self-understanding, leading to her sensitive and gloomy personality. The early chapters chapters of the novel also portray Esther’s financial insecurity. She has grown up poor since her father’s death. Philomena Guinea is Esther’s patron, a famous, wealthy and elderly novelist who funds Esther’s scholarship. Also, and it is through the sponsorship only Esther is able to go to spend a summer in New York. So, she feels isolated in upscale restaurants in New York and the pressure to do well weighs heavily on her. We can understand that Esther’s adolescent development is a lonely one. As a result, Esther Est her

 

23 cannot establish a positive genuine sense of self and she gradually drives to depression and disillusion. Esther is dissatisfied with the reality and only in fantasy can she find balance and remove distress. She has great enthusiasm about literature and an ambition to be a writer. She loves poetry so much that she wants to be a poetess. She decides to become an ordinary English major when she is in the college. However, the traditional literary courses are not as what she expected. She goes to look up the requirements of an ordinary English major at her college. There are lots of requirements, and she doesn’t have half of them. One of the requirements was a course in the eighteenth century. She has spent most of her time on Dylan Thomas and hates the very idea of the eighteenth century. However, this is the ideal which exactly contradicts with traditional female role in the society that time and the affliction which at last causes her mental breakdown. Buddy Willard becomes Esther’s Esther’s boyfriend just because the society and her family view Buddy as the perfect man for her to marry. When the girls heard she was going to Yale to see Buddy, they treated her with amazement and respect. Although Esther feels little compassion for Buddy, she is good at playing the part of the concerned girlfriend and tells her friends that they are practically engaged. It seems that a woman’s value can only be manifested by her male mate. Esther has always been a gentle submissive girlfriend for Buddy. In fact, fact, when someone make some comments or seeks Esther’s views, most of her common response is “probably yes” or “I think yes” although she doesn’t necessarily agree with it. “When they asked me what I wanted to be I said I didn’t know”. Here, Plath clearly shows shows Esther’s passivity and her lack of questioning. The basic characteristics of this obedience in Esther’s false self is to cater her mother’s wishes and expectations, which is also a kind of escape from making choice. Mrs. Greenwood loves her her daughter but doesn’t understand her. Esther has always been a very

 

24 good child. Also, she is an excellent student who is good at getting high scores, but her mother hopes that Esther can follow the traditional path for women and asks Esther to learn shorthand from her in order to make a living. Esther discriminates this boring kind of work,  but she still tries to do as her mother asks her to. Esther volunteers at a hospital because her mother convinces her that volunteering will help her pulling out of depression, which actually aggravates her anxiety. Hardly can she find a good way to communicate with her mother mother successfully. Therefore, when facing a variety of puzzles during her growth, Esther only hides them deeply in the heart and unwilling to disclose her inner i nner self. Esther is just one of the representatives who get lost in the so-called American Dream. Although poor, she obtains an enviable opportunity to do internship in a well-known magazine in New York. Esther arrives in New York with high expectations: “I was supposed to be the envy of thousands of other college girls just like me all over America. ” (TBJ,2). She also imagines that others would consider her lucky. So, the totally different surroundings satisfy her curiosity about new things, and this challenge arouses her potential to prevail over others. Plath tries to indicate that Esther hopes to encounter the competitive world and accomplish her dreams like other male counterparts. Ironically, these expectations and pressures are in conflict with Esther’s actual experiences.

Esther is ignorant to the social etiquettes in New York. However, she doesn’t want to  be inferior to others. So, she makes effort effor t to integrate into the circl circle. e. She joins various parties and went on dates with guys, pretending to be popular and cheerful. If Esther was really a docile and conservative girl, all her behaviors can be regarded normal. She feels that her selfrelationship turns to be a pseudo-interpersonal one, and her mind is like a bell jar, vacant, futile and meaningless. Esther’s perception of identity continues to be fragmented, and she feels desperate and unable to breathe fresh air outside outside living in the “bell jar”.  jar”. 

 

25 From Esther’s narrative, we can see that she often has sharp and penetrating vision,  but before her mental breakdown, she has almost never expressed her true thoughts. Esther is a clever girl after all and unwilling to be defeated, pouring out accusations of persecution to the people with whom she has been complying for years. With strong self-consciousness, Esther is determined to throw her cowardly masks and get back herself, regardless of any  price. With the improvement, Esther picks more courage to face her own negative sentiments. As the story move towards the end, we can see that Esther has become more confident, more forgiving, and more willing to face her emotions.

 

26 CHAPTER IV  FEMINISM IN SYLVIA PLATH’S THE BELL JAR Sylvia Plath is a Feminist author, so we can easily identify that her novel also deals with the feminist power, immoral issues and the urging of nourishing. The title expresses the female device. The 1950’s American society is a male chauvinist society.  society.   The situation of women in the modern world is a major of Sylvia Plath’s Plat h’s novel The Bell Jar . In the novel, the character Esther Greenwood, who aspires to become a writer, lose her control on identifying herself. She was the finest in School and also had won many rewards. She wants to become a writer. She works on a Magazine in New York City. Through her achievements, she got her training with Ladies’ Day Magazine. She returned to spend her leave in her mother ‘s ‘s house. At that time, she got a message that she could not attend the internship. She feels inferior. She knew that her feelings could not be controlled by her. Because of her losing control, she tries to self-destruct herself. She fails to die, so she tries to overcome it. Esther works hard to fulfil her desires and wants to get help from others. But the society put up a wall for her to become a poet turning her life into more challenging. In the novel, Plath explains about the sexual double standard. Esther found that her lover Buddy Willard was not pure and that he is a hypocrite. He tells Esther to marry him but he had an affair with a hostess. “That’s one of the reasons I never wanted to get married. The last thing I wanted was infinite security and to be the place an arrow shoots off from. I wanted change and excitement and to shoot off in all directions myself, like the colored arrows from a Fourth of July rocket”. rocket ”. (TBJ)  (TBJ) She questions about the virginity being different for women and men. She tells that women leads a pure life being loyal to their boyfriend or husband but most of the men like Willard fails to live pure. She doesn’t want the double standard sex. “What a man wants is a mate and what a woman wants is infinite security. I couldn’t stand stand the idea of a woman having to have a single pure life and a man being able to

 

27 have a double life, one pure and one not”. (TBJ) She express that the virginity should be equal to men and women. She hates the traditional roles insisted by the society, so she had a connection with Constantin. “I was my own woman. The woman.  The trouble was, I hated the idea of serving men in any way. I wanted to dictate my own thrilling letters”. (TBJ) For men, they have very simple restrictions to build their identity, for women they have tight restrictions to find their identity. It express the difference and also the superior of men. Esther’s society expresses that women must be pure before marriage and cheer men to have a sex before marriage. This hypocrisy ions for women’s career. This duplicity sex disturbs her and it is a burden makes some limitat limitations for her and this drift is also one of the reasons she decide to commit suicide. Then she explains about the search for herself. She tells that her life had opportunities to move on. But when she loses her control on her life, she could not find any way to move on. She was not on her track. She thought that she should instinctively know about her way. This leads to her loss of feelings. She could not find her way to move on her track, she thought that her track was swap, she tries to conquer but lacks the spirit to push herself forward. Plath explains that through gender limitations and Cultural activities in America, she struggles to exhibit her adherent character. Esther had different aspirations like a Fig tree,  because of more and confusing desires, the tree died. “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”. (TBJ) feet”.  (TBJ) Likewise, she also wants to finish her life. Esther lived in a society with sexual variations. She wants to live as the traditional women,  but she fails to live as of her wish. wish. In the novel, female characters such as Esther’s mother,

 

28 Mrs. Willard, Betsy hold on a point that pre-marital sex is a problem. Dr. Nolan tells that  premarital sex was not wrong. Female characters had adulterous sex and male characters dominated women. The sexual act expresses in a way of dominance of men on women. The differences of traditional ideas made topper Esther into insanity. Her struggle to reach her ambition to become a poet was rejected by male dominated society. Finally, Esther finds her way, abilities and desires. She goes forward in her life. To some extent, the formation of the ‘ bell  bell jar’ ja r’  above Esther’s mind partly comes from her twisted sexual awareness that is shown in two aspects: Esther’s preoccupation with virginity and her understanding of sexuality as being equal to violence . Esther becomes critical to men for the reason that she can’t be absolutely persuaded by such false reasoning and she believes that people should be judged by intelligence instead of gender. Esther thinks that it is a pity to sacrifice her femininity for independence in order to pursue her career. Esther is just one of those who make resistance or challenge to the unreasonable social tradition and people’s numb obedience. However, she doesn’t find a way out, and degenerates into the victim of the patriarchal society.

 

29 CHAPTER V SUMMATION  Psycho analysis is a method of analyzing one’s self or one who has a deep thoughts in his/her heart. And the victim is encouraged to talk freely about their past or hidden emotions. The aim for psychoanalysis is to release the pain or depressed emotions. Psycho analysis is also an attention for mental illness. In the novel The Bell Jar, Esther is not stable. Freud states that in majority of the victims seen during his early practice most frequently expressed illnesses that were concerned with disturbing sexual experiences. Though she achieved a lot she didn’t seemed an achiever. She is unsatisfied though she has a perfect life. Many incidents mentioned in the novel puts her in a position to realize her true self. The project clearly explained the psychoanalytic conflicts of Esther Greenwood. The Bell Jar   can be interrupted by the theme identity crisis. It is also related to some mental illness like  psychotic problem and suppressed emotions. Esther has her own identity crisis. She has trouble expressing her own self and she falls into depression. This project dealt with theories such as psychoanalysis, feminism and identity crisis. Unconvinced by the patriarchal society, Esther falls into a passive position, feeling hatred to the society and also upset about herself. The gap between her and the world widens and thus self isolates herself from other people. Feeling deeply haunted by a sense of loss and confusion under the bell jar, Esther eventually gets mental breakdown and tries to suicide. In short, through the description of Esther’s recovery process, the novel reveals similarities of the growing experience among young female about how to accept their own female genders, how to get rid of loneliness and confusion, how to make a choice for the future. Thus, under Psychoanalysis, identity crisis and feminism make its branch and develops a character of utter confusion in the novel.

 

30 WORKS CITED  Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar . London: Faber and Faber, 2013. Freud, Sigmund. Beyond the Pleasure Principle . New York: W.W. Norton & Co.,1961. Print. Herman, Judith. Trauma and Recovery. New York: Basic Books, 1992. Kihlstrom, J.F. Recovered memories: British Psychological Society. The Therapist . 1995. Tal, Kali. Words of Hurt: Reading Literatures of Trauma. Cambridge University Press, 1996.