Blood Imagery in The Bell Jar

FOR ANYONE WHO HASN’T FINISHED THE BOOK: SPOILERS AHEAD

We’ve seen quite a bit of blood imagery throughout the novel—blood as a badge of courage (or as a mark of a victim, or both), blood as the sheets of a potential deathbed, and finally, the shedding of blood signifying not only the release of the burden of her virginity, but, more significantly, Esther’s will to live. Naturally, she doesn’t see this herself. “I wanted to brood over my new condition in perfect peace. But the towel came away black and dripping.” It’s remarkable that Esther, after all of her wanting to die (and especially her wanting to bleed, but her unwillingness to break her own skin) not only sees her blood as a hindrance to her mood, but as a threat to her physical well-being. Because of this uncontrollable blood flow, Esther steps into survival mode and acts instinctively to save her own life. She chooses to not revel in her newfound "womanhood," but goes over to Joan’s house, a person who she tries to avoid as much as possible. From Joan's house, she insists on going to the emergency room. These are huge steps on her behalf, whether or not she is able to acknowledge it.

Is it a stretch to say that this scene could constitute as wish fulfillment regarding Esther’s desire to be born twice? Is that too optimistic of a reading? She had no exterior wounds, and yet she was covered in blood in a hospital bed. That sounds like the description of a baby to me. Her doctor said that she was “one in a million,” and while the reader is kept in the dark as to what the official prognosis is, we do know that something about this case (or something about Esther) is special. I would like to think that she got her wish, but was not entirely conscious of it. If that were the case, then a happy ending or a tragic ending would be beside the point—instead, we see Esther equipped with the tools and the promise to slip out from underneath the bell jar and gain control of her life.

An unrelated note:
My copy of the book has a short biography about Plath as an epilogue of sorts. It has her quoted (via her mother) as saying, “I think it will show how isolated a person feels when he is suffering a breakdown…I’ve tried to picture my world and the people in it as seen through the distorting lens of a bell jar. My second book will show the same world as seen through the eyes of health.” Plath's statement says quite a bit about Esther's skewed character and also how Sylvia Plath viewed her own mental illness. It's interesting to know that this novel was intended to be only one half of a complete story. If we could see Esther's world through the eyes of health, how would our perceptions of this character change? Would we be more inclined to adore her and sympathize with her? Perhaps it is fitting that the story that was told through the lens of mental illness is the one that remains.