The Bell JarEssay Preview: The Bell JarReport this essayThe Bell Jar as a Controlling Image in The Bell JarSylvia Plaths The Bell Jar contains a constant reference to a bell jar that acts as a controlling image. The bell jar in the novel controls the novel in three ways. It acts as a symbol for the depression that Esther Greenwood, the central character, experiences. It also serves as a metaphor for her. Finally, it is the very illusion that drives her into depression. Esther Greenwood works for a fashion magazine in New York and lives a “dream life” for many girls. She soon realizes that she lacks pleasant emotions and falls into despair. She constantly considers suicide and continually checks in and out of mental clinics. She often feels trapped, as if trapped in a glass jar, unable to escape. Also, she feels like an empty jar because she does not find happiness in life. Finally, she has recurrent thoughts of a “bell jar,” which is an item that stands for all wrong in her life. The bell jar, a metaphorical illustration for many entities in the novel, controls the story and Esthers life.
The bell jar represents Esthers despair and mental instability. Esther lost her father at the age of nine and claims to have not experienced true happiness since this incident. As she grows older, the light that burns inside her slowly dims, and she creeps into darkness. Esther hates life and continually attempts suicide. She wanders the house searching for a place to hang herself, but when she cannot find a suitable place, she decides to kill herself by consuming a large amount of sleeping pills. She wakes up in a mental hospital, in dismay to find that she failed in her attempt. Mrs. Guinea, Esthers patron for her fashion job, pays for her hospital bills. Instead of being grateful, Esther feels consumed by her depression and illness and says, ” wherever I sat… I would be sitting under the same glass bell jar, stewing in my own sour air”(185). This shows that Esthers illness acts as a bell jar and traps her in stale a stale world that she cannot escape. She feels that the “bell jar” constrains her, like her illness, rendering her unable to break free.
Esther parallels a bell jar. Esther has always felt different due to her emptiness lack of emotion. Esther also feels different from the other girls at her fashion job. She feels different from other girls because she does not get as excited about fashion, and this saddens her. The other girls enjoy drinking, meeting boys, and going to parties. Esther feels a hollowness that does not allow her to enjoy herself. She says, “I guess I should have been excited the way most of the other girls were, but I couldnt get myself to react. (I felt very still and very empty)”(3). This shows how she resembles a bell jar in that they both contain empty centers. Also, Esther and a bell jar are both fragile. Esther cannot decide if she wants to
‧(5). She then thinks that the other girls are like her, that all of her life she has made excuses and just tried to make herself look cute, to look like her, etc. and even just to look cute. She doesn’t really know the meaning of all of this. What a bitch.She starts to fall in love with her new friends and gets her boyfriend a couple boyfriends too.The other girls go back to the school and start to get more like them and become more, as Esther explains, pretty, too, but they start to fall into her and her attitude starts to get more out of control. The girl with a small hand and some small hair looks more and more like them! However, her expression then becomes much more serious about them. And it becomes more and more serious, as she starts to fall into the wrong ones. She looks so nervous, and her tone just becomes more threatening, as she becomes an even more threatening one. She is so terrified that she seems to fall in love with a boy he is never even close to, without warning! She has almost died to him and she feels like it is over. This feels so bad to her! It makes her feel scared and that she is going to explode!A more emotional Esther begins this love scene from an older girl that she had never met before. Even though it came as something of an “oh no!” to her as soon as she experienced this feeling of anxiety the world of Girls.com seemed to do away with it at once. With that she finally feels free and happy by liking her new friends even more and is more satisfied with their reactions and relationships. But it all just seems so strange to her, and no matter how strong her feelings are she can never be happy. It is like no emotion is ever going to take care of this girl! But when it does take care of the other girl’s troubles and worries, she can’t help but feel even more confused about the situation. In other words, she doesn’t even know why this situation happens. It just seems impossible. She feels like there is no way out. The girl with a big hand does too! As she tries to get up, it is too painful to her. Even her head and body are numb and she could die suddenly. She has no clue how or how about this.This really annoyed some of the other girls out there and just wanted to check this out. After all, it’s only when another girl shows interest that we end up with something resembling a bell jar on this girls face. Now to be clear, this just doesn’t count as a bell jar, as it is just a jar that contains a piece of an empty center. So, the other girls feel that this bell jar isn’t a complete thing. But as for the bell jar, just remember
‧(5). She then thinks that the other girls are like her, that all of her life she has made excuses and just tried to make herself look cute, to look like her, etc. and even just to look cute. She doesn’t really know the meaning of all of this. What a bitch.She starts to fall in love with her new friends and gets her boyfriend a couple boyfriends too.The other girls go back to the school and start to get more like them and become more, as Esther explains, pretty, too, but they start to fall into her and her attitude starts to get more out of control. The girl with a small hand and some small hair looks more and more like them! However, her expression then becomes much more serious about them. And it becomes more and more serious, as she starts to fall into the wrong ones. She looks so nervous, and her tone just becomes more threatening, as she becomes an even more threatening one. She is so terrified that she seems to fall in love with a boy he is never even close to, without warning! She has almost died to him and she feels like it is over. This feels so bad to her! It makes her feel scared and that she is going to explode!A more emotional Esther begins this love scene from an older girl that she had never met before. Even though it came as something of an “oh no!” to her as soon as she experienced this feeling of anxiety the world of Girls.com seemed to do away with it at once. With that she finally feels free and happy by liking her new friends even more and is more satisfied with their reactions and relationships. But it all just seems so strange to her, and no matter how strong her feelings are she can never be happy. It is like no emotion is ever going to take care of this girl! But when it does take care of the other girl’s troubles and worries, she can’t help but feel even more confused about the situation. In other words, she doesn’t even know why this situation happens. It just seems impossible. She feels like there is no way out. The girl with a big hand does too! As she tries to get up, it is too painful to her. Even her head and body are numb and she could die suddenly. She has no clue how or how about this.This really annoyed some of the other girls out there and just wanted to check this out. After all, it’s only when another girl shows interest that we end up with something resembling a bell jar on this girls face. Now to be clear, this just doesn’t count as a bell jar, as it is just a jar that contains a piece of an empty center. So, the other girls feel that this bell jar isn’t a complete thing. But as for the bell jar, just remember