r/books • u/lexiebeef • 3d ago
"The Bell Jar" (Sylvia Plath): Review and Discussion Spoiler
I just finished "The Bell Jar" and really want to share my thoughts and read everyone else's. Coming into this book, I knew it was about depression and I knew Sylvia Plath took her own life when she was quite young, but I wasn't prepared for all the emotions reading it.
First of all, let me just say that I don't think I've ever related so much to a character as Esther Greenwood, and I do not mean this as a compliment to myself at all. She is complex, she is flawed, she has a lot of work to do. And just like me, she is strong minded, she was a genious in school and then struggled to make friends, she sounded rude when she didn't mean to, she was mean and treated others as inferior without meaning to do it. All this was very relatable to me, a 26yo woman, for the better and for the worse, and this was the first time I saw a character like this.
Now, there are definitely somethings I thankfully don't share with Esther/Sylvia Plath, like the infinite amount of racist remarks, fatphobia, her treatment of other girls (the definition of a "not like the other girls")... While reading the book, I decided to look at this with the silver lining that our society evolved to a point where just reading this makes my blood boil. Racism is definitely not over, but writing things like these nowadays would not be acceptable anywhere, thankfully. I will also add here the insanity that was the medical treatment for depression back in the day, because even though I studied it in history class, it's still insane to read about shock therapy and lobotomies irl (not so fun fact, the inventor of lobotomies was my country's first nobel prize, insane)
I also think it's important to discuss the theme of this book: depression and mental health. This was the most realistic depiction of depression I've ever seen in a book and it was heartbreaking. Knowing Sylvia Plath wrote this book while going through depression and her first suicide attempt (and just before taking her own life) just made it all the more real, reading this book you know the author is describing something she was going through herself. I really like that Esther wasn't just a perfect girl who was then sad and mean; she was flawed the whole book, with good moments and bad moments, and her moments of spiraling were so raw that I had to stop reading often.
Another thing I would like to adress is the feminism in the book. Esther was a feminist in some ways: against being forced to marry a man, against patriarchy, against inequality between men and women. She wanted to be a strong, independent woman and that was pretty cool to read. However, I think it's quite obvious that she wasn't a perfect feminist. As mentioned, she constantly criticizes and feels superior to all the girls in her life. She also has quite a toxic relationship to men in general, which I guess would steam from Plath's difficult relationship with her husband (though the book was written before his affair I think). It's an interesting topic to discuss an imperfect form of feminism.
In general, I liked the book. I didn't love the structure of the book with the back and forths because it got confusing at parts, but I also kind of assumed it's to show how the brain of a mentally ill person works. Im also quite curious to watch the movie coming out in 2027, I do think Billie Eilish fits the character of Esther
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u/allgoaton 3d ago edited 3d ago
I read this book in college and had the same experience. Knowing how it ended -- not in the book, which technically doesn't end tragically, but in the narrator -- was chilling. The depiction of the emptiness, the hollowness, was spot on.
Since then I have decade plus of mental health treatment that has resulted in a near remission of symptoms, and I am not longer drawn to picking up texts like this. I am not sure if I could or would read this book again.
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u/re_Claire 2d ago
It’s my all time favourite book for this reason. As a woman with severe mental health problems, I relate so much to the beautiful but messy depiction of it all. For me the imperfections of Esther and the feminism makes it more feminist to me. Seeing a character as an unvarnished imperfect whole rather than a perfect tragedy.
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u/dollcoreglowss 3d ago
I think one of the most brilliant things about The Bell Jar is that Esther doesn't have to be a particularly good person for her suffering to be real. She's judgmental, contradictory, sometimes cruel, and painfully self-aware in ways that don't necessarily make her kinder. I think there's something incredibly honest about a book that doesn't try to make its protagonist more likable just because she's struggling. Mental illness doesn't automatically make someone virtuous, and being flawed doesn't make their pain any less deserving of empathy.
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u/j_cruise 2d ago
I think the fact that she is not a good person makes it more realistic, because this is often how depression manifests outwardly. She is short with people, often not caring of others' feelings, dismissive, etc. I find this type of raw and unflinching depression portrayal to be extremely rare.
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u/9a61a6b7 1d ago
Yeah part of the reason why Esther feels so isolated is she think she's better than everyone, while still being jealous of what they have.
She's flawed.
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u/New_Discussion_6692 3d ago
I related to this book strongly. I'm "fortunate" enough to live with double depression. I've lived many of the experiences in the book. At certain times, it was oddly reassuring and at others it hurt so much.
You might enjoy The Mad Wife: A Novel by Megan Church. It was also very relatable for me and reminded me a lot of The Bell Jar.
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u/perksofbeingcrafty 3d ago
sorry I’m not about to add anything of substance to this discussion, I just want to say, I hadn’t had sex yet the first time I read this, and it definitely scared me into waiting a few more years lol that bleeding scene was trauma central for me
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u/murder_hands 3d ago
I've read this book many, many times and I still don't understand what happened to her. I guess I haven't googled it in a few years so maybe people have explained it better. Either way, what an impression to leave of your first time. Really stressful.
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u/Calm_Canary 2d ago
It’s been many years since I read it but I thought I’d remembered it was that she didn’t know to remove her diaphragm before intercourse.
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u/perksofbeingcrafty 2d ago
Yeah so the Internet said it’s not impossible I remember literally popping up like a gopher when I first read it and running to Google
Anyway it was pretty implausible for this to happen to me and it didn’t but still, if she meant to put young girls off sex with men she definitely succeeded
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u/RoughPotential2081 2d ago
I happen to be reading Heather Clark's doorstopper biography of Plath right now, and I shudder to report that this actually happened to Plath during her first time. Independent corroboration from the friend who nursed her through it, even. She thought Plath was going to die on her.
That Plath ever had sex again makes her sterner stuff than I can imagine. If I'd been in her shoes you couldn't have PAID me to get naked with anyone after that. 😬
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u/lexiebeef 2d ago
Okay, I forgot about this part and wtf. I even googled it and apparently it’s a very rare thing where you hemorrhage after sex?? Like, blood just coming out is insane. Thank God I didn’t read at all younger stage, cause that’s traumatizing
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u/perksofbeingcrafty 2d ago
Ok but not completely made up right?!? That was also my reaction at the time lol of course it didn’t happen to me thank goodness
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u/n3ws4cc 3d ago
I can recommend after finishing it going back and rereading the analogy of the fig tree. It's like 1 page, but it so gorgeously catches the crux of the character and knowing how Plaths own life ended makes it heartwrenching.
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u/lexiebeef 2d ago
The fig tree was the most relatable metaphor I’ve ever read in my life. I’m currently unemployed after having had “the perfect” education and “the perfect” job experiences and internships. And now I’m in such a weird phase where I need to make a decision and there are so many options but I also am not in control and it’s terrifying.
I had to stop reading the book for a couple of days after, it was just too real. I think I’m at the exact spot I needed to be to read this book but it’s also scary how much I related to some things (thankfully not the suicide ideation).
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u/n3ws4cc 2d ago
Ah yeah that'll hit hard then. Be sure to pick a fig eventually, anything but get paralyzed and pick none. I think that's what happened to Plath.
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u/DearMaplexs 2d ago
The saddest part of the fig tree metaphor is how Esther sees every choice as losing all the others. It's such a painful way to look at a future that's supposed to be full of possibilities.
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u/eiko85 2d ago
There is a wonderful part in the hospital where she drops her armour and shows her vulnerable side. The shock therapy felt more like a punishment than a treatment. It was more of a if you don't act how we want you to, we will give you the "treatment" and you won't get to go into the nicer room.
It reminded me a lot of Catcher In The Rye , both people were having a difficult time, maybe somewhat neglected, so they both ended up putting up a defence system, were mean to others and started destroying themselves.
These books seem to raise the question is it better to conform or not. Conforming can be rewardable but also because of people being rebels in the past, we've made some good changes to society.
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u/haight6716 2d ago
The thing that stuck with me from reading this years ago was her fig tree analogy. iykyk
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u/Nearby_Play_8516 3d ago
The writing itself was beautiful, but I honestly hated it. To be fair, I listened to it on audiobook and maybe I just didn’t vibe with the narrator so it colored the entire rest of the book/experience.
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u/New_Discussion_6692 3d ago
Isn't it amazing how the sound of narrator can make or break an audiobook? I have a series I love, so I got it on audiobook. Worst narrator ever. She does this weird cadence thing, and accents partial names and partial phrases. It's very distracting
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u/Nearby_Play_8516 3d ago
It’s crazy! Sometimes I will pick an audiobook based on the narrator instead of the author or story.
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u/bravetailor 1d ago
The narrator for the most recent audiobook release was Maggie Gyllenhaal!
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u/Nearby_Play_8516 1d ago
Correct. Between her voice and the racism (no one warned me ahead of time) it was just not for me.
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u/SharinKJ 2d ago
The analogy of the Bell Jar is what stayed the most with me, not something I’ll ever forget.
As others have said, ECT (or “shock therapy”) remains a valid treatment for depression. It has evolved over time, and it’s one of the fastest and most effective treatments for depression, amongst other conditions.
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u/beers_n_bread 3d ago
i honestly wasn't much a fan of this one. I feel like when you hear about these types of hyped up works of literature, sometimes it sets the bar too high and then you read it and you're just kind of like meh..
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u/Tam_Fix 3d ago
I read it just a month ago. Fortunately, I had no hype for this book because I’ve listened to a review just before opening the book and it was said that it was full of racism that nobody talk about on the Internet. So I was really not into it at first.
And yeah, there is racism.
I also discovered that it was funny in a way I didn’t expect. And I loved the writing too.
So I wasn’t disappointed, cause I was expecting for a way worse novel.
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u/annelabanane19 2d ago
I truly did not enjoy this book, but I am also at a much healthier place in my life. 16 year old me would have adored this book and truly resonated with it. The only part of the book I highlighted and enjoyed was the fig tree image. I’ve always thought about how one day you realize to pursue one dream many others die and the way Plath captured it was masterful.
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u/ThreeTreesForTheePls 2d ago
It’s such a conflicting book, because it’s beautifully written and it’s extremely relatable, but every now and then she would just throw in some of the most blatant racism imaginable and it was so fucking confusing.
And if you’re going to say it was of the times, go check her era of authors, because she wasn’t a writer in the 19th century, it is far closer in time to us than people like to believe.
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u/We-all-gonna-die-oh 2d ago
And if you’re going to say it was of the times, go check her era of authors
Do you actually believe that most writers in 1960 weren't somehow racist? Like we can agree that back then society was very racist, but somehow we think that writers wouldn't be affected by that.
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u/DonnyTheWalrus 2d ago
Why does the character saying racist things imply that the author is racist? I know the book is semiautobiographical but it's still a work of fiction.
What point might the author have been trying to make - about, perhaps, outward expressions of hate when it gets too strong to contain as self-hate - by having the character act this way?
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u/kolyavlasov1979 1d ago
The book is beautifully written. One of the best opening lines in literature. And it’s racism in this book of fiction that puts you off? You guys are insufferable. My god. Yes. If you were born in 1930s you would have been anti racist and taken to the streets in support of all things LGBTQ. Our moral betters, you are so brave. Thank you.
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u/induced-subgraph 1d ago
I think black or asian readers would have been against racism towards black or asian people in the 1930s, no? Kind of demonstrates your bias that you assume readers are not a part of these communities. Brown people are real, shocker.
I read The Bell Jar a while ago and was honestly really thrown by the racism. It doesn’t completely take away from the book’s virtues, but it definitely detracted from my ability to enjoy it. I have to deal with enough bullshit and discrimination in the real world, I prefer not to spend all of my free time reading overtly racist media.
My main issue was how in recent years this book has been portrayed as the canonical reference for the angst of depressive young women. So imagine my surprise when I read it as a depressive young woman to find horrifically disparaging remarks. Depression++
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u/kolyavlasov1979 5h ago
You’re an emotional toddler. The great works yank at you. They make you uncomfortable. Have you ever read The Confessions of Nat Turner by Styron?? It’s supposed to make you feel. That’s what art does. My god. Let’s make sure all artists create works that appeal to our sensibilities.
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u/induced-subgraph 52m ago
Okay! I'm going to write a book berating kolyavlasov1979 and their whole family and explaining in graphic detail the violent things I hope happen to them all. If you don't want to read it, you're an emotional toddler.
My favorite author is Toni Morrison, she does not leave anyone comfortable. You're completely missing the point and I can't tell if it's weaponized ignorance or genuine stupidity. There's a difference between honest and nuanced depictions of the horrifying realities of historical atrocities and just straight up berating marginalized people. If you enjoy reading the latter you might want to see a psychiatrist! Cheers!
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u/Embarrassed-Key5916 1d ago edited 1d ago
The only black character in the book is a racist caricature. The main character’s racism reflects the views and intention of the author, not merely a flawed character. I would not blame a modern reader for being put off by that. The book’s depiction of female depression is incomplete because it purposefully excludes women of color. The prose can be written well but that doesn’t mean the book’s themes will continue to resonate. I liked the book but it’s difficult for me to recommend as a librarian for this reason.
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u/supersageinversaille 1d ago
i just finished this today itself, and like u said i too could relate and understand Esther or Sylvia and the things she was going through, and i had no idea that there is a movie adaptation of this coming in 2027. I would check out more works by Sylvia for sure. I don't have a lot of say to be honest cause i just finished writing a review of this book and my mind is still going through emotions that my mind cant really put words together properly (which happens a lot after i finish reading a book).
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u/Boograssi 1d ago
I really wanted to like this book and I know most people will say it was the time then or that all the classics have unsavory comments, but man the racism was literally in every chapter of the book and would come up at the most random times. It honestly threw me off at how excessive it was with the random racial comparisons or the nurse who is just called “the negro” the entire time he’s in the narrative. Sylvia has some great lines throughout this book, but it’s hard not to feel a little off put by the novel when you come in expecting a feminist classic and can so clearly see that minorities weren’t viewed as part of that. I think some nuance can be had where people can understand why some may like the book while also understanding why there’s been a growing amount of non white readers who just can’t get into the narrative.
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u/EnamelPrism 11h ago
The Book Club podcast has The Bell Jar as their book this week. A really good listen in general.
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u/Warm-Service-5414 11h ago
Such a real world uber tragic IRL twist that her husband’s lover Assia Weevil…well, you know what. Was that to prove to Hughes that she could one up Plath? If you are weak of mind, please don’t contemplate this.
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u/Advanced-Ad-2026 3d ago
I hated the main character and didn’t understand what she was so depressed about
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u/Equivalent-Plan-8498 3d ago
People still get shock treatment. Carrie Fisher, the actress who played Princess Leia in Star Wars, wrote a memoir about her decision to receive shock treatment. The book is called Shockaholic.