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A review by tumblyhome_caroline
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
5.0
This was a re re re read I think the third or fourth time over my life so far ( being 59 now). I was dubious about it, having not read the book in about 20 years. I picked it up because I am reading Ariel and Birthday Letters( slowly, but that is the thing with poetry like that) and am about to read the new Plath biography, Red Comet and just wanted to refamiliarise myself with The Bell Jar. But it seems that each time I read this book I find it more poignant and find new depths in the story. I just understand more.
One thing that strikes me is that Esther Greenwood rarely speaks out, she lives her life internally and any interaction with other people seems to happen to her and around her. She doesn’t describe any verbal conversations other than almost polite reactive responses or what others do and say. This happens all through the book from her early story working as an intern, to her relationships with men and her time in hospital. It is as if she is muffled...it really does make it feel as if you are experiencing the bell jar imprisonment too. It isn’t that you want her to speak out, it is far more closed than that..you feel locked up with her. Like watching but powerless to do anything, both powerless regarding other people and powerless within yourself too. Just that lack of dialogue spoken out by Esther is a powerful way to get so much across about her state of mind. I think this is strongly echoed in Plaths poem ‘Tulips’
A really strong theme is fertility, childbirth, a woman’s expectations of life in the 1950s and the dread of that. The horror of it really. But also the deep down feeling that that is what she should want. From the babies in Jars, watching a birth, descriptions of mothers, the demeaning insensitivity of a fertility appointment...all of that describes an absolute horror of the inevitability of women’s expectations and the death of spirit that she sees as going hand in hand with motherhood and wifedom. It is difficult now in 2020 to really understand how it was in the 1950s and 60s for women. We so quickly forget. Esther is so torn between what is expected and what she might want. I think this turmoil is what makes her so passive and apathetic about her future.the battle within herself and with expectations in the world outside her mind is so great it strips her of the ability think at all never mind to focus on a future of her own making.
There are sections of this book where the writing is utterly beautiful and show stopping. Those ‘wow’ moments you get when you read some sentences or paragraphs is what makes me a reader.
I don’t think I have put this in a very cohesive way, but as I reread this I could see all the layers upon layers of meaning in it. It is a clever, masterful book. The writing is at times stunning and breathtaking. If I had to say anything about it that was less than positive I would say the end was abrupt and I almost think Sylvia felt she had had enough of it...The End!
Anyway. Five stars.
One thing that strikes me is that Esther Greenwood rarely speaks out, she lives her life internally and any interaction with other people seems to happen to her and around her. She doesn’t describe any verbal conversations other than almost polite reactive responses or what others do and say. This happens all through the book from her early story working as an intern, to her relationships with men and her time in hospital. It is as if she is muffled...it really does make it feel as if you are experiencing the bell jar imprisonment too. It isn’t that you want her to speak out, it is far more closed than that..you feel locked up with her. Like watching but powerless to do anything, both powerless regarding other people and powerless within yourself too. Just that lack of dialogue spoken out by Esther is a powerful way to get so much across about her state of mind. I think this is strongly echoed in Plaths poem ‘Tulips’
A really strong theme is fertility, childbirth, a woman’s expectations of life in the 1950s and the dread of that. The horror of it really. But also the deep down feeling that that is what she should want. From the babies in Jars, watching a birth, descriptions of mothers, the demeaning insensitivity of a fertility appointment...all of that describes an absolute horror of the inevitability of women’s expectations and the death of spirit that she sees as going hand in hand with motherhood and wifedom. It is difficult now in 2020 to really understand how it was in the 1950s and 60s for women. We so quickly forget. Esther is so torn between what is expected and what she might want. I think this turmoil is what makes her so passive and apathetic about her future.the battle within herself and with expectations in the world outside her mind is so great it strips her of the ability think at all never mind to focus on a future of her own making.
There are sections of this book where the writing is utterly beautiful and show stopping. Those ‘wow’ moments you get when you read some sentences or paragraphs is what makes me a reader.
I don’t think I have put this in a very cohesive way, but as I reread this I could see all the layers upon layers of meaning in it. It is a clever, masterful book. The writing is at times stunning and breathtaking. If I had to say anything about it that was less than positive I would say the end was abrupt and I almost think Sylvia felt she had had enough of it...The End!
Anyway. Five stars.