“Sylvia Plath – interesting poetess whose tragic suicide was misinterpreted as romantic by the college girl mentality.”
Annie Hall (1977)
That quote is the perfect illustration of why it can be difficult to say that you love Sylvia Plath, especially for young women; her name and the title of her novel have become synonymous with a whole set of implications neither Plath nor the reader ever asked for.
It’s a barely fictionalised account of Plath’s time working for a magazine in New York and her subsequent mental breakdown.
That sounds depressing.
Surprisingly, it’s not.
Why “surprisingly”?
Plath is best known for her extremely dark and often shocking poetry, which outlines in very emotional language the practical and ideological difficulties encountered when suffering from a severe mental illness. This is her only novel.
But she was OK, right?
No.The Bell Jar was published a month before she killed herself. She is the source of the “head stuck in the oven” image of suicide. However, if you’ve read Game of Thrones and you find The Bell Jar too bleak, you should present yourself to the relevant authorities at first light.
But this book isn’t too depressing?
Not all of it. The first half is funny, upbeat, engaging, and deeply feminist (in the good way). The second half is all about her descent into depression and psychosis, and the attempts of various mental health professionals to treat her.
She calls her condition “the bell jar” because she feels suffocated mentally, and she takes it with her wherever she goes.
What should I say to make people think I’ve read it?
“We need to start taking mental health more seriously.”
What should I avoid saying when trying to convince people I’ve read it?
“Why didn’t she just try to cheer up?”
Should I actually read it?
Yes. It’s a wonderful picture of what it was like to be a modern, funny, clever woman in 1960, and then it’s a very frank description of depression.
“I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in my life.“
The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath,Sylvia Plath
When Sylvia Plath wrote, ‘I was supposed to be having the time of my life.’ and when Sylvia Plath wrote, ’… but here I was, sitting back and letting it run through my fingers like so much water.’ and when she wrote, ’… I wondered why I couldn’t go the whole way doing what I should any more. This made me sad and tired. Then I wondered why I couldn’t go the whole way doing what I shouldn’t,… and this made me even sadder and more tired.’ and when she wrote, 'what did I do but balk and balk like a dull cart horse?’
And when Sylvia Plath described the essence of society by saying, ’… because he thought all sickness was the sickness of the will.’ and when she said 'she wants…to be everything’ and when she wrote, 'What did I think was wrong? That made it sound as if nothing was really wrong, I only thought it was wrong.’ and 'You’ll never get anywhere like that…’
When Sylvia Plath wrote, ‘I was supposed to be having the time of my life.’ and when Sylvia Plath wrote, ’… but here I was, sitting back and letting it run through my fingers like so much water.’ and when she wrote, ’… I wondered why I couldn’t go the whole way doing what I should any more. This made me sad and tired. Then I wondered why I couldn’t go the whole way doing what I shouldn’t,… and this made me even sadder and more tired.’ and when she wrote, 'what did I do but balk and balk like a dull cart horse?’
“I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn’t make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”
I’m surprised it took me so long to read this book, I’ve had it on my bookshelf for a couple of years now but never had a moment to sit down and really get into it. I had zero expectations of this book and had heard very little in relation to what it was about or what people thought of it - so it was so nice to read a book and just let it take me on its narrative journey without any initial idea what it was about!
The way Plath describes New York in the 50’s just makes me wish I could have seen it for myself! There is a sense in the book that you are really living through the main character and it’s very easy to feel quickly engrossed and connected to the character and story line. The way she described the city, the fashion, the dinners and the architecture genuinely make me feel like I was born in the wrong era!
Without revealing too much, this book is fantastic - the way the writer really toys with your emotions and expectations of the book too. Set in New York, the book follows Esther, a young woman trying to figure out her future and how to make her mark on the world. The book touches on themes of femininity, sexuality, women’s rights and most notably mental health. Before I read this book I already knew about Plath’s own mental health story and so when reading this book made very close links between her own story and Esther’s. Plath caught me completely off guard, and the end of the book was so moving and left me with so much to think about. Set a time when liberation for women was occurring, it really is heartbreaking to read this book as a modern woman and compare how different my life is compared to the characters within the novel.
A read that will definitely lure you into a false sense of comfort and completely break your heart! I gave it a 6/10 purely when comparing it to other books I’d read recently that were more fast paced - this book can feel like the storyline doesn’t really progress within a whole chapter, but that being said I still loved it! I definitely recommend it, an absolute classic!
“It was the day after Christmas and a gray sky bellied over us, fat with snow. I felt overstuffed and dull and disappointed, the way I always do the day after Christmas, as if whatever it was the pine boughs and the candles and the silver and gilt-ribboned presents and the birch-log fires and the Christmas turkey and the carols and the piano promised never came to pass.”
watching the sunset, going on late night drives, soft radio noise, looking at the stars, light warm breezes, and closing your eyes and being content with where you are at that moment.
