Independent Women

Compared to The Jest of God and Handmaid’s Tale, The Bell Jar seems to be the only book we’ve read so far that doesn’t have the main character (who is a woman) being smothered by men so to speak. Offred is obviously controlled men in the society she lives in. And while Offred’s case may be easier to see, Rachel also seems to be dominated by men. She constantly obsesses over Nick and what she has done wrong or what she should have done around him. For a time she seems to be living for Nick. Esther has the opportunity to have that same kind of relationship with Buddy but she chooses not too. It is true that when she first knew Buddy she obsessed over liking him, but she never really lets Buddy ‘use’ her like Offred and Rachel. So even though Esther seems like the ‘craziest’ one, she is also the most independent. Plath could have had Esther dominated by the male physiatrist in the novel, but she chooses to get rid of him and have a woman in charge of Esther. I think it’s interesting that Joan and Calla also refuse to be controlled by men and have thus turned to being lesbians. I think Esther’s independence is why Joan admires Esther so much in the novel and thus chooses to try to emulate Esther the best she can. It is also interesting how men are presented, as other people have noticed, in one dimensional form. Except for The Bell Jar (and even that is a bit of a stretch) all the men in these novels seem to be very flat characters. They all paint a picture of a selfish and dim man who is usually in the way of the protagonist (always a woman in these novels).