Who Is The Author Of 'The Bell Jar' And Why Is It Significant?

The Bell Jar is a novel by the American poet Sylvia Plath. It is her only novel and it is a significant work of confessional literature. On one level the novel is semi-autobiographical and explores the author’s experiences of depression and of feelings of isolation and distorted perception. The ‘bell jar’ which is the central image of the novel is a glass jar which distorts and suffocates the person under its cover in much the same way that mental illness can.

The novel is also a scathing critique of the 1950s. Through the eyes of the protagonist, Esther Greenwood, the reader is exposed to the narrow scope of roles that women were expected to fulfill in society. Plath’s keen insight to the sexism prevalent in academic settings as well as in psychiatry, where women were often patronized by their male doctors, is made starkly apparent in the novel.

The impression the novel makes, by refusing to bring about closure for the main character and by only sparingly depicting positive developments with regard to her mental health, is even more impressive. The novel’s power stems from its ability to cope with things that are discomforting and to look at them in the dark light of reality. It is a novel by a writer, who as a result of his work was influenced by The Bell Jar, and, above all, a novel that continues to be a most relevant reference point to discussions on art and madness.

The significance of ‘The Bell Jar’ by author of the novel, Sylvia Plath, is that it contains a realistic portrayal of mental illness. Much of the novel is written from the author’s own experiences of suffering from depression. She worked without sugar coating or compromising the struggles of the main character as she descended into madness. At the time of the novel’s publication in the 1960s, ‘The Bell Jar’ was a groundbreaking work that exposed the realities of female mental health. Also of significance is the author’s use of her poetic talent to draw a reader into her dark world of despair through the uniquely styled descriptions of her observations and thoughts in the novel. The novel is more than just a read, it is also an important piece of Feminist literature that can still be very relevant today.

This 1961 novel by the late, prolific poet Sylvia Plath has had a profound effect on many readers. Much of the book is autobiographical and thereby a culturally valuable window to the author’s particular time in life and in history, but at its best the book is also simply and effectively written. Plath drew upon her own experiences as a young woman, struggling to come to terms with the pressures placed upon her by the expectations of others as well as by her own growing mental instability.

A time capsule of 1950s America for readers to see how wonderful domesticity was portrayed by 1950s society while denying any real avenues for women’s full participation. The scenes of Esther’s electroshock therapy are particularly horrifying as they show how much damage could be done to someone suffering from mental illness by the treatments prescribed by psychiatry at the time.

Every generation can relate to feeling trapped in some sense – by pressures to conform, by their own thoughts, or by the world around them. This is why The Bell Jar remains a must-read so many decades after it was written. It’s not just literature – it’s a guide for those of us struggling to survive as misfits.