Symbols can help a writer convey ideas, develop characters, establish atmosphere, etc. To
what effect are symbols employed in The Bell Jar?
‘The Bell Jar’ is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Sylvia Plath, published under the
pseudonym Victoria Lucas in 1963. The novel chronicles Esther Greenwood as she grapples
social expectations placed upon women in the 1950s, as she struggles to conform to societal
norms, the Bell Jar will follow her descent into madness. This essay will explore to what
effect symbols are employed in The Bell Jar, looking further into symbols such as the
bathtub, New York, The Boston suburbs and many more. Following the exploration of
symbols, this essay will look at how Plath uses symbols to convey ideas, establish the
environment and characterisation. Plat uses literary devices such as metaphors, hyperbole and
religious references to convey a message to her audience.
‘The Bell Jar’ opens with the electrocution of the Rosenberg's who at the height of the red
scare amid the cold war period, were suspected communists. Readers are given an insight on
Esther Greenwoods fascination with death and all the possibilities which surround death.
Following the execution, the novel establishes an atmosphere for readers to better understand
the inner workings of Esther’s psyche through Plath’s description of setting. The novel starts
off in New York city, where Esther is working a summer job at the ‘Lady’s Day’ magazine.
As Plath characterizes Esther to reflect herself, we find her writing Esther as an independent
woman, attempting to overcome gender norms and seeing purpose beyond serving her
husband within the stereotypical nuclear family who lives in the suburbs. Esther is an
aspiring poet who finds her time at New York unfulfilling, as a result, she descends into
madness as a result of the environment around her. This essay unfolds the effect to which
symbols are employed in ‘The Bell Jar’.
In chapter 7, Plath uses a fig tree as a metaphor for the avenues open to her throughout her
life. Esther's intelligence and her indecision about her future are both understandable given
the difficulties both provide. Esther has a goal that is bigger than herself, thus doors keep
opening for her. Her indecision foreshadows a bleak future when she will be unable to change
her situation. A symbol of the vast opportunities available to Esther, the fig tree towers over
the garden. As a plump purple fig bursting with possibility, Plath describes the fruit and then
on to name future after future. Esther explains the struggles she faces as a woman in her
description of the fig tree and what each fig represents. She states “I saw my life branching
out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat
purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy
home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant
professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and
Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack
of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic
lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite
make out. 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.”, The
phrase makes Esther consider two possible paths for her future: she may choose to go her
own way and risk being alone by defying gender norms, or she can accept the traditional role
of a woman and raise a family. As Esther sits at the fig tree's crotch and watches the figs fall
to the ground at her feet, she is reminded of the societal pressures on women to choose
between staying in a marriage and giving up your dreams to be a career woman or pursuing a
career and abandoning your marriage. Esther is unable to decide because she feels as though
choosing one fig would mean losing all. A family and a career are not completely
contradictory for males, but women often face difficult choices between the two. This is a
powerful depiction of the difficulties women faced in the United States in the 1950s. Plath
used this metaphor to depict the indecision that ultimately led to Esther's descent into
madness, and it serves as a symbol for the demands imposed upon her by the society in which
she lived. The fig tree is an important metaphor for grasping the depth of Plath's
characterisation of the protagonist Esther Greenwood.
As the novel's central theme and message surround women's place in society and their
individual role in adapting the socially acceptable identity. Through the norms set out in
1950s American society, the ideal woman was one who was a suburban housewife, who
cared for her husband and children. Esther's descent into madness was hastened by this
realisation that she is more than a commodity to be used by men. She is reminded time over
time by society that if she loses her virginity, she loses everything that makes her valuable as
a person, including her ability to be a competent housewife and raise a family, and she fights
to tolerate the double standard that exists because of this. Esther faces the challenge of what it
means to be a pure woman in society during the 1950s when she discovers that her boyfriend
Buddy Willard has been having sexual relations with a waitress during the summer, they
were together. Plath uses inanimate objects like the bathtub, which link to illustrate the
double standards that women in Esther's position must confront. This portion of the essay will
analyse the role that the bathtub plays in relation to her descend into madness as a by-product
of the pressures of society to maintain her virginity. Esther says “There must be quite a few
things a hot bath won’t cure, but I don’t know many of them. Whenever I’m sad I’m going to
die, or so nervous I can’t sleep, or in love with somebody I won’t be seeing for a week, I
slump down just so far and then I say: 'I’ll go take a hot bath.”. this quote allows readers an
insight into the significance of the bathtub in Esther Greenwoods life. One evening, she finds
herself at her friend Doreen's boyfriend's apartment, as they are drinking, they began
becoming more intimate. Esther is made deeply uncomfortable when watching this, this is
due to her upbringing in a society where women who engage in premarital sex are doomed
and will be lonely. When faced with the events at Lenny’s apartment, Esther walks away
back to the hotel where she runs a hot bath for herself to rinse her of the impurities she
encountered at the hotel. She will go onto describing how she does not know much that a hot
bath can’t cure for her, she explains how id she is facing sadness, the possibility of death, or
is so nervous she can’t sleep or so in love with someone she wouldn’t be seeing for a week
she simply slumps down and says: “I'll go take a hot bath”. The several instances in which
Plath listed allow for readers to gain an insight into the significance of the hot bath given the
many instances which Esther finds refuge and solace in a hot bath. Plath adds religious
connotations when discussing the text when she says , “I don't believe in baptism or the waters
of Jordan or anything like that, but I guess I feel about a hot bath the way those religious
people feel about holy water." By drawing the distinctive parallel between how she feels after
a hot bath and how some people feel after immersing in holy water, she seems to indicate that
the hot bath has some sort of divine influence over her, even though she denies viewing the
bath as a religious ritual. The authoritative decision to bring in a religious connotation allows
readers to understand the atmosphere during the height of the cold war, in which god would
have played a significant role in the nuclear family, this brings in the element of setting being
the 1950s American society which the novel was set in, allowing for readers to understand
the link between religion and the expectations which were set for women in the 1950s. Esther
uses the hot bath as a method to regain purity, she compares it to how religious people must
feel after a baptism because she acknowledges that the bath tub holds ritualistic significance
to her, Plath utilises religious connotations in order to allow readers an insight into the link
between the importance of religion during the time period the novel is set in alongside it’s
significance in establishing an environment and allowing readers to understand the reason
behind her desire for purity.
The novel is set in New York City and the Boston suburbs, setting plays to be a significant
marker in to understanding the themes discussed in the novel; the mind and the body. This
portion of the essay will explore the symbolism behind the Boston suburbs in ‘The Bell Jar’.
The novel is initially set in New York City where Esther was at her summer job at the Lady’s
Day magazine and as the summer job comes to an end, Esther must return to the Boston
suburbs where she is faced with grappling societal expectations for what it means to be a
woman in the 1950s. Esther is surrounded by women like Dodo Conway who is a catholic
woman with six children and one on the way, she is surrounded by houses which look the
same better known as cookie cutter houses. The idea of conformity drove her insane, during
the cold war era in which achieving the nuclear family and living in the suburbs was the goal.
American singer-song writer and political activists Malvina Renyolds song ‘Little boxes’
highlights the problem surrounding uniformity and sameness, in her song she breaks down
how regardless at the attempts which may be made at diversity, people will still succumb to
social conformity. Her song mentions the positioning of the houses being on the hillside,
made of easy to break material such as ‘ticky tacky’, meaning if a few were to turn away
from the social norms set out, that it is likely the system would collapse. American real estate
developer and founder of Levittown houses, Willian Levitt once said “No one who owns a
house and lot can be a communist, he has too much to do” this quote was greatly reaffirming
in the height of the red scare during the cold war era, only leading to greater rates of
conformity. It drove Esther insane seeing everyone giving up what would make them unique
individuals simply to succumb to social norms and expectations. As the setting changes from
New York City to the Boston suburbs, readers are given an insight into the role environment
plays in her descend into madness, the Boston suburbs in ‘The Bell Jar’ represent conformity,
Esther struggles during her time in this environment due to the societal expectations
surrounding her during the time period in the Boston suburbs, a concept Esther struggles to
understand as previously highlighted in the fig tree analogy in which she was plagued with
indecision.
The following symbol which will be explored in this portion of the essay is the bell jar; a bell
jar is an inverted glass jar typically used to display something of scientific curiosity, the bell
jar is introduced in chapter 15. This symbol represents her mental state as she describes the
bell jar as suffocating, being under the bell jar has made it evidently challengig for Esther to
break free from contemproary society. Regardless of where she finds herself, her state of
mind remains a constant, made evident in the quote “because wherever I sat—on the deck of
a ship or at a street café in Paris or Bangkok—I would be sitting under the same glass bell jar,
stewing in my own sour air.” this quote allows reader an insight into Esther’s frustration
regarding her state of mind, she places herself in different locations and concludes that
regardless of where she is, it is her own sour air that she is encapsulated in. She has the
impression that she is trapped inside of an airtight jar, which warps her view of the world and
hinders her from forming meaningful connections with the people in her immediate
environment. Towards the end of the book, the bell jar has been removed; yet she gets the
impression that it is still hanging above her could fall again at any moment, encapsulating her
in her own madness once again. Plath uses this metaphor to allow readers to understand the
role her illness plays in her life regardless of the setting she finds herself in, it is her mind
which is inescapable. Plath characterizes Esther to have a melancholic undertone throughout
the novel, this is made evident through her fascination with the possibility of death. Parrells
can be drawn between Plath utilising inanimate objects to bring Esther’s state of mind into
context and novelist Franz Kafka’s quote “I am not well; I could have built the Pyramids with
the effort it takes me to cling on to life and reason.” - Letters to Felice, Franz Kafka. This
quote has similarities in the choices made by writers to allow readers a better understanding
of the individuals state of mind being depressed. The bell jar is a significant symbol, Plath
and Kafka utilise inanimate object to allow readers an insight into the inner workings of the
characters minds who struggles with an illness which plagues their very being, from making
them feel as though they take on an unbearable burden to stay alive and feeling trapped in
their own mind, inable to escape from their minds.
Throughout the novel, it is made evident that the relationships in Esther’s life are a major
contributor to her descend into madness. This section will look at the symbolism found
within the mother-daughter relationship, between Esther and her mother, Mrs Greenwood.
Esther understands that the expectations set out for women are being reinforced and further
fuelled by women around, she views her mother as haven given into what is expected of
women during 1950s American society. Mrs Greenwood following her husband's death,
began teaching women shorthand for a living, Esther viewed shorthand as giving into
domestic life. To learn shorthand meant adopting a career in which she would serve men,
Esther hated the idea of serving a man, made evident in the quote “hated the idea of serving
men in any way”. The refusal to learning shorthand was a form of resistance to society which
as shown throughout the novel is a central theme in the novel, it is Esther’s fight against
societal expectations which are greatly to blame for her descent into madness. Throughout the
novel, Plath writes Esther to be greatly confused regarding why a woman would wish to
conform to societal expectations and when Mrs. Greenwood is embodiment of what is
expected of women in 1950s American society, it leads to a strain in their relationship. It
could be said that Mrs. Greenwood sees herself in Esther, seeing all that she could have been
and when Esther sees her mother, she fears what she could become. They exist as wretched
mirrors of one another. Throughout the novel, it is made evident the distaste Esther has for
her mother, the strain on their relationship is a major marker in her descend into mental
illness.
As has been demonstrated throughout the essay, the symbols Plath creates throughout the
'The Bell Jar’ establish a greater understanding of the meaning being conveyed in the novel,
this is done through the utilisation of literary devices, religious connotations and attaching
significance to inanimate objects. Through this, readers have been able to better understand
the struggles women faced during the 1950s in American society. The symbols have allowed
for readers to be given an insight into the struggles on has to grapple with when faced with
depression and the toll which it takes on the relationships in the individuals life. The symbols
aid in the exploration of the mind and the body in the novel ‘The Bell Jar’.