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''The Bell Jar'' is Sylvia Plath 's only novel, which was originally published under the Pseudonym "Victoria Lucas" in 1963 . The novel is semi-autobiographical, with the names of places and people changed to avoid causing offense. After Plath's Suicide , the novel was published under her real name, and the novel did cause great offense. This resulted in a successful Lawsuit by one individual (who is portrayed as "Joan" in the book), where the court ruled that the novel unfairly branded her as Homosexual . Sylvia Plath's mother, Aurelia Plath, tried (unsuccessfully) to prevent the book from being published in the United States . The book is often regarded as a Roman à Clef , with the protagonist's descent into madness paralleling Plath's own experiences with what is thought to have been Bipolar Disorder . Sylvia Plath's novel ''The Bell Jar'' can be viewed as an example of how society induces mental illness by using the sociological structural strain theory. Structural strain theory is a theory of sociology that explains the occurrence of mental illness by placing the cause of illness in the broader organization of society. It claims that the less well-integrated an individual is in society, because of its expectations and norms, the greater anomic strain they will experience. Anomie is the term used by sociologist R. K. Merton, to describe the gap between cultural or societal goals and the structural means to achieve those goals. For example, a person may feel the need to achieve wealth and buy the appropriate materials to demonstrate such (a suburban home, nice car, etc.) but be unable to reach that goal because of their disadvantaged position in society (growing up in an inner city with poor educational opportunities, etc.). The narrative ''The Bell Jar'' can by analyzed under the guise of structural strain theory because it is an example of how 1950s societal expectations for women induced psychological strain and thus triggered Esther's mental illness. Esther Greenwood is a young woman growing up in the 1950s, at a time when the role of women in society was confined to the domestic scene. Esther has other goals though, as she wishes to be a writer. The 1950s American society has other plans for her though. Women were not supposed to achieve professional independence or pursue a career of their choosing. Rather, women could be school teachers and secretaries if they wanted, but their primary goal in life was to be a good wife and mother. This is the societal expectation that Esther was up against. At one point in the book she reflects on what it would be like to be married and how she feels about it. "It would mean getting up at seven and cooking him eggs and bacon and toast and coffee and dawdling about my nightgown and curlers after he'd left for work to wash up the dirty plates and make the bed, and then when he came home aster a lively fascinating day he'd expect a big dinner, and I'd spend the evening washing up even more dirty plates till I fell into bed utterly exhausted. The seemed a dreary and wasted life for a girl with fifteen years of straight A's…" (Plath 84) Esther wanted a "lively, fascinating" career for herself, but in the society she was in that was unacceptable. Following the lines of the structural strain theory, the social goals Esther was expected to follow and aspire to caused her emotional and psychological stress. She felt out of place in her situation, and could not get herself to react emotionally. She then suffered from a number of depressive episodes and eventually attempted suicide, which she survived, but which landed her in a mental hospital. Although Esther Greenwood recovered from her depression at the end of the story, we know that Sylvia Plath did eventually end up committing suicide. It can be assumed that as a writer in the 1950s, Sylvia Plath experienced similar societal expectations which dictated and shaped her depression. PLOT SUMMARY The protagonist, Esther Greenwood, gains a scholarship in New York City to work at a prominent magazine under the editor Jay Cee, at the time of the Rosenbergs ' Execution (Plath's real-life magazine scholarship was at '' Mademoiselle '' magazine). Esther is exhilarated by the rush of Manhattan, but her experiences also frighten and disorientate her. She appreciates the hedonism of her friend, Doreen, but also identifies with the piety of Betsy (dubbed "Pollyanna Cowgirl" by Doreen, because she's from Kansas), a 'goody-goody' sorority girl who always does the right thing. She has a benefactress in Philomena Guinea (based on Plath's own patron, Olive Higgins Prouty , author of '' Stella Dallas '' and '' Now, Voyager '', who funded Plath's scholarship to study at Smith College ). Esther struggles to cope with life in New York, and returns to her home in Boston in low spirits. Esther becomes increasingly depressed, and finds herself unable to sleep. She sees a psychiatrist who quickly recommends Electroshock therapy. By this time, Esther is suffering from intense insomnia, and is traumatised by the therapy, which was improperly administered. Esther's mental state spirals. She makes several obscure attempts at suicide (including swimming far out to sea in the hope of being swept away by the current) before making her most serious attempt at the end of Chapter Thirteen. True to Sylvia Plath's actual suicide attempt, Esther leaves a note saying she is taking a long walk, crawls into the cellar, and swallows almost 50 sleeping pills (part of her medication for insomnia). She survives, and is then sent to a mental hospital and meets Dr. Nolan, her therapist, who prescribes electroshock therapy and ensures that it is properly administered. Her stay at the private institution is funded by her benefactress, Philomena Guinea. Dr. Nolan is thought to be based on Plath's own therapist, who she continued seeing into adulthood, Ruth Beuscher. Under Dr. Nolan, Esther improves, and eventually, is released from the hospital at the climax of the novel. The book has feminist connotations; for example, when Esther discovers that her boyfriend, Buddy Willard, had sex with a waitress over the summer, she sees the hypocrisy of the moral code of her generation (in that promiscuity in a man is acceptable, but in a woman it is not). In order to subvert the idealism that Esther recognizes as flawed, she immediately endeavours to lose her virginity as soon as possible. Whilst a resident of the hospital (which is based on McLean Hospital , in which Robert Lowell and Susanna Kaysen have also been treated), Esther loses her virginity to Irwin, a professor of mathematics at Harvard (Chapter 19), near the end of the book. After having sex with Irwin, Esther experiences uncontrollable haemorrhaging, and is admitted to a hospital. The book is full of irony, especially in comparison to Plath's life. Esther continually makes reference to her hatred of children and how she would never have any — although very early on in the book, as she is beginning her narration, Esther makes a passing and somewhat enigmatic mention to cutting a plastic star-fish off a sunglasses case 'for the baby to play with'; Sylvia Plath did in fact have children with the English poet Ted Hughes ; Nicholas Farr Hughes , and Frieda Rebecca Hughes , who is now a prominent artist and poet. There are also connections between Plath's life and the Rosenbergs. Plath was subjected to Electroshock , and the Rosenbergs were executed in the Electric Chair ; when she committed suicide, she left her two children behind, as did the Rosenbergs. Some critics have likened the book to '' The Catcher In The Rye '' by J.D. Salinger . It is widely considered to be the seminal read for teenage girls everywhere. A film version ( The Bell Jar-movie ) was made in 1979. EXTERNAL LINKS
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