Plath's genius lies in making Esther's inability to cope seem entirely rational, using haunting poetic imagery to suggest a recognizable world that is far more out of joint than is her doomed protagonist. But enviable and likeable as she may appear from the outside, she is in turmoil-an extraordinarily complex woman who yearns to be as simple as what she perceives around herself, even as she finds that simplicity boring, revolting, and hypocritical. She has a coterie of close friends and a medical student boyfriend who wants to marry her. Esther Greenwood is a high achiever, garnering scholarships and awards without much effort. Plath's autobiographical novel, which details her first suicide attempt, her struggle with depression and her breakdown as a young adult in the 1950s, is both a testament to how far medical science has come in the treatment of mental illness and a somber reminder of the double standard that still, though to a far lesser extent, handicaps American women.
MLA style: "The Bell Jar." The Free Library.
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