Bell Jar

The protagonist of this novel, Esther Greenwood, was undoubtedly pressured by a myriad of aspects of life in the 1950s. Between battling society’s pressures and norms and working out problems with her sexuality and relationships, the problems that she faced are almost understandable. Maybe it was written within Esther’s fate to ungracefully tumble into a pit of depression that set in motion her multiple suicide attempts.

1. Success, progression and prosperity were important concepts that I imagine were all introduced and preached to Esther early on in life. That is most likely the reason that she “fell” so far when these objectives were not being addressed and taken care of the way that she probably planned. Being faced with adversity, Esther made no plans for action and her problems seemed to become greater and more difficult to work through sensibly. Her mind bounced from one subject to another and it became evident that she had trouble finishing what she started.

The fact that