Analysis of The Bell Jar Novel by Sylvia Plath - Essay Example

The publication of the novel under her name was first done in 1967 but this delayed up to 1971 in the US in the interest of her parents’ wishes (Plath, 20). Indeed in the novel, there are a lot of conflicts; emotional, physical, moral, and intellectual in the book. In the first instance, the main character in the play under the name Esther Greenwood who came for Boston suburbs to the city of New York for an internship for an internship is not pleased with the lifestyle there. This is quite ironical, most women of her age will be thrilled with the kind of life in New York, but instead, the city conflicts her way of life.

Despite this, she appreciates her friend Doreen’s wittiness and adventurous way of life. Philomena Guinea who was Esther’s benefactress pays her treatment bill later in the novel (Plath, 111). Esther narrates the several incidences that took place while she was an internship in the City of New York. During this time, she also reminisces about a friend by the name of Buddy. She had dated Buddy for quite a long time and he does consider her his fiance. When she returned to her home in Massachusetts, she appeared more or less crestfallen.

During her stay in New York, she had been thinking of joining another school where she wanted to continue with the scholarly studies and to be taught by one of the renowned and famous authors. Unfortunately, her mother tells her that she did not qualify to be admitted to the school of her choice (Plath, 157). The information given to her by the mother disappointed her and she decided to spend the summer holiday writing a novel even though she had little experience in writing. She had always wished to be an accomplished academician and the choices given to her by the mother presented her with the most difficult decision to make after her education.

With time, Esther started growing restless and being unable to sleep. She is severely depressed for not being able to pursue her education as she had planned. Her mother gets concern and advises her to visit a psychiatrist to help her normalize. The psychiatrist proposed by the mother was Dr Gordon. It is interesting that Esther on the other hand mistrust the doctor given his charming nature and she believes that the doctor will only be showing her his charming family character and not being able to listen to her.

The doctor then prescribed her (ECT) electroconvulsive therapy (Plath, 161). After the administration of the prescription, Esther feels that it was not properly administered and complains of electrocution and fails to go back. Her mental state worsens and she describes her condition as that of being trapped in a bell jar and in a struggle to breathe. Esther also considered committing suicide because of her mental problem, she considered swimming in the sea to commit suicide, in the later days she attempted a more serious suicide by taking up to 50 sleeping pills that were initially prescribed to her to administer for insomnia.