The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath

This book was another recommendation from the lovely Amanda of Opinions of a Wolf for her Mental Illness Advocacy reading challenge, this is now my third book for this challenge.  The Bell Jar is the one and only novel of American writer and poet Sylvia Plath, which was first published in 1963 under the pseudonym of Victoria Lucas, and wasn’t published under her own name until 1967 (US 1971). The book is regarded as part semi-autobiographical as it follows quite closely the authors real life decent into depression, with just a change of names and places. Sadly Plath committed suicide not long after the books first release in the UK. An early film adaptation of the book was done in 1979 by Larry Peerce and starring Marilyn Hassett as the protagonist, and in 2008 an announcement was made that a hollywood version was to be made but as of now that appears to still be a pipe dream.

Esther Greenwood is a young woman from the outskirts of Boston living with her mother, her father died when she was much younger and since then her mother has single-handed supported them both. While Esther has never been wanting for food or a roof over her head, money has been tight and luxuries are not something she is used to. While at college Esther gains a scholarship at a magazine in New York City, and is showered with new experiences, freebies and gifts that most girls could only dream of but it means nothing to her. Esther is neither stimulated or excited about the big city or the glamorous lifestyle she is being introduced to and expected to emulate. Instead Esther is frightened and confused by everything. On returning home things only get worse when Esther just can’t summing the energy for anything, not even her passion for writing, and this eventually marks the beginning of her dark decent into depression. Which will result in a suicide attempt, hospitalization, and eventually an asylum and shock therapy.

I must admit I find it hard to sum up what I thought of this book because don’t get me wrong it was a beautifully written book however it was not an enjoyable book, and that was because of the subject. Seems so wrong to say you enjoyed a book about someone suffering from clinical depression. What would be best to say is that it was an interesting, it was educational, and it did make me think. The character of Esther is also a hard one to sum up, at the beginning of the book I couldn’t stand her. I thought she was odd and ungrateful, as the situation she was in was one where thousands of other girls would like to be, and if she didn’t like it I couldn’t see why she just couldn’t lump it. Not exactly hard to turn up to a few fashion shows and hand your articles in on time?! But that’s exactly how someone suffering from depression can’t act, because they don’t even feel normal themselves. The more I read the more I started to sympathise with Esther which in turn made me feel guilty for my initial view of her, but I guess that’s what we all do when we are face with something or someone we don’t understand. I mean I will never fully understand what Esther/Plath were going through but I do hope I have had an insight from this.

The Bell Jar is a difficult book to read and not something I would say you can enjoy as such, but if you do really want an insight into the mind of someone suffering with depression this is probably one of the best examples you can find.