There has been a lot of talk about how crazy Esther is. I would have to agree in some aspects, she is a bit unorthodox. However, I decided to do a little bit of research and see just how common a mental illness was in the 1950's. Was Esther really that unordinary? Was she the only college age girl losing her mind?
The answer is no. More so, DEFINITELY NOT! I visited this online journal: http://www.enotes.com/1950-medicine-health-american-decades/mental-illness, and the findings were a bit different than what many of us might expect. There were a ton of cases of mental illness. In fact, it was reported that one in three would have a family member admitted to a mental institution. This fact causes me to believe it was some kind of popular trend, much like the rehab stints of today's well known stars. If you weren't spending some time in a mental institution, you were rare. It was a time of all types of neurosis's and mental disorders, that today would be thought of as no more than ADD, OCD, or just being a little odd. Maybe treated with some Prozac or Zoloft instead of these electroshock therapy of Esther's time.
After finding this, it is hard to place the label "crazy" on Esther. In her generation, being crazy was in fact not the crazy thing to do at all. Being normal was. On top of all of that, sans the suicide attempts, I think Esther was just a relatively normal college girl with all the worries, fears, and dislikes that are still common today, maybe just a bit exaggerated though.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
It's a bad time to get depressed
Esther’s character in this novel is strongly shaped by her profound depression. How society views her depression and mental illness in general is reflected in the novel. Mr. Willard displays a particularly uniformed and potentially harmful attitude toward illness. When dropping Esther off at the tuberculosis sanatorium, he is visibly agitated, Esther observes, and soon he leaves her with Buddy. Buddy explains that his father “couldn’t stand the sight of sickness… because he thought all sickness was sickness of the will.” This strikes us as an antiquated philosophy to hold toward illness.
Esther’s mother displays a subtler, and thus more dangerous, misconception of illness. In this case, she doesn’t understand her daughter’s mental illness at all. When Esther tells her mother she doesn’t want to see Doctor Gordon again, her mother smiles and says, “I knew my baby wasn’t like that… I knew you’d decide to be all right again.” These two characters, as adults and parents, seem to stand in as some of the novel’s representatives of New England society in general, which, as we discussed in class, seems to have a great degree of preoccupation with constructing and maintaining a pristine public image. The idea that a mental disorder—something so esoteric as a severe serotonin imbalance in her brain—could preclude a New England from successfully engaging in that society and playing her predefined social role.
These two characters offer a glimpse of the harsh stigma that isolates Esther, who as a consequence of her depression already isolates herself. Plath’s title is apt; a bell jar is used almost exclusively as an illustrative tool, to demonstrate to science classes the effects of a vacuum on various experiments, like exploding marshmallows or listening to a ringing alarm clock fade into silence. Since the quality of vacuum they produce is low, they can be used for virtually nothing else but to display scientific curiosities. Especially when visited by George Bakewell, Ester feels like she is on exhibit, like “some exciting new zoo animal.” She sees that he “just wanted to see what a girl who was crazy enough to kill herself looked like.” And Bakewell is supposed to be a medical student, yet he still displays an unfortunately unprofessional attitude. Esther was living in a very difficult time to suffer from mental disorders, highly misunderstood as they were.
Esther’s mother displays a subtler, and thus more dangerous, misconception of illness. In this case, she doesn’t understand her daughter’s mental illness at all. When Esther tells her mother she doesn’t want to see Doctor Gordon again, her mother smiles and says, “I knew my baby wasn’t like that… I knew you’d decide to be all right again.” These two characters, as adults and parents, seem to stand in as some of the novel’s representatives of New England society in general, which, as we discussed in class, seems to have a great degree of preoccupation with constructing and maintaining a pristine public image. The idea that a mental disorder—something so esoteric as a severe serotonin imbalance in her brain—could preclude a New England from successfully engaging in that society and playing her predefined social role.
These two characters offer a glimpse of the harsh stigma that isolates Esther, who as a consequence of her depression already isolates herself. Plath’s title is apt; a bell jar is used almost exclusively as an illustrative tool, to demonstrate to science classes the effects of a vacuum on various experiments, like exploding marshmallows or listening to a ringing alarm clock fade into silence. Since the quality of vacuum they produce is low, they can be used for virtually nothing else but to display scientific curiosities. Especially when visited by George Bakewell, Ester feels like she is on exhibit, like “some exciting new zoo animal.” She sees that he “just wanted to see what a girl who was crazy enough to kill herself looked like.” And Bakewell is supposed to be a medical student, yet he still displays an unfortunately unprofessional attitude. Esther was living in a very difficult time to suffer from mental disorders, highly misunderstood as they were.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Bipolar Disorder
I will be less American-centric in this post.
Many experts in the mental health field, as well as ardent Plath historians, have largely come to the conclusion that Sylvia Plath most likely suffered from bipolar disorder. This kind of diagnosis would not have been available to Plath in her lifetime (the very term "bipolar disorder" has only been around for a couple decades), nor would she have had access to the myriad treatments and therapies available today. Shock therapy was one of the more popular treatments at that time, and you'll notice that Esther's psychiatrist first turns to shock therapy before anything else. Today, shock therapy is still in use, but only after having exhausted almost all other options. The only other major option for treatment in the 1950s would have been lithium, but that was a very new medication. I don't recall lithium being mentioned in The Bell Jar, nor do I remember hearing anything about Plath using lithium, but it is possible that she took it at some point.
If you read carefully, you might notice some symptoms of bipolar disorder in Esther. At the beginning of the novel, Esther is prone to going on shopping sprees and buying expensive clothing. She associates with the most troublesome girl in the group, goes drinking with unfamiliar people at unfamiliar places, and eats excessively. While she is in New York, it's clear that Esther is experiencing mania. Mania is depression's counterpart, and as such characterizes a state of heightened mood and activity. Her impulsive behavior is very typical for a bipolar person on the manic side of the spectrum. Also, her opinions of the other girls are very telling signs of her artificially bolstered self-esteem, another symptom of mania.
After Esther leaves New York, her behavior flips. Now faced with the prospect of living at home with her mother after the glow and trauma of New York, Esther withdraws. She is no longer able to engage in enjoyable activities, like reading, writing, or hanging out with friends. She's unable to make decisions about the short-term, let alone the long-term. She can't sleep. Her dreams for the future dim into regressively auspicious plans until she has no plans at all, and she hopes for death. It goes without saying that these are all sure signs of depression.
It's interesting that so many writers have retroactively been diagnosed with some sort of psychosis. It is peculiar how madness seems most at home in creative people, but what I find most interesting is how these people found the willpower to create art in the midst of their turmoil.
Sorry for my tardiness. No excuses. Except that I fell asleep watching PBS.
Many experts in the mental health field, as well as ardent Plath historians, have largely come to the conclusion that Sylvia Plath most likely suffered from bipolar disorder. This kind of diagnosis would not have been available to Plath in her lifetime (the very term "bipolar disorder" has only been around for a couple decades), nor would she have had access to the myriad treatments and therapies available today. Shock therapy was one of the more popular treatments at that time, and you'll notice that Esther's psychiatrist first turns to shock therapy before anything else. Today, shock therapy is still in use, but only after having exhausted almost all other options. The only other major option for treatment in the 1950s would have been lithium, but that was a very new medication. I don't recall lithium being mentioned in The Bell Jar, nor do I remember hearing anything about Plath using lithium, but it is possible that she took it at some point.
If you read carefully, you might notice some symptoms of bipolar disorder in Esther. At the beginning of the novel, Esther is prone to going on shopping sprees and buying expensive clothing. She associates with the most troublesome girl in the group, goes drinking with unfamiliar people at unfamiliar places, and eats excessively. While she is in New York, it's clear that Esther is experiencing mania. Mania is depression's counterpart, and as such characterizes a state of heightened mood and activity. Her impulsive behavior is very typical for a bipolar person on the manic side of the spectrum. Also, her opinions of the other girls are very telling signs of her artificially bolstered self-esteem, another symptom of mania.
After Esther leaves New York, her behavior flips. Now faced with the prospect of living at home with her mother after the glow and trauma of New York, Esther withdraws. She is no longer able to engage in enjoyable activities, like reading, writing, or hanging out with friends. She's unable to make decisions about the short-term, let alone the long-term. She can't sleep. Her dreams for the future dim into regressively auspicious plans until she has no plans at all, and she hopes for death. It goes without saying that these are all sure signs of depression.
It's interesting that so many writers have retroactively been diagnosed with some sort of psychosis. It is peculiar how madness seems most at home in creative people, but what I find most interesting is how these people found the willpower to create art in the midst of their turmoil.
Sorry for my tardiness. No excuses. Except that I fell asleep watching PBS.
Esther = crazy
Knowing about the biographical nature of The Bell Jar adds a morbidly chilling realism to Esther’s downward spiral, in her attempt to escape the external pressures that push her towards insanity and suicide. Esther’s fear of losing academic success at the end of college captures a moment that every student, including Sylvia Plath, feels towards the future and what will define us. While most normal people have complex worries and desires for what their identity shall be, Esther’s insecurity is in her idea that she cannot marry and have children while being a professor and a poet. Her lack of vision and motivation to merge these two possible realities lies at the root of her struggle for normalcy. Not to say that the external pressures of her environment do not greatly exacerbate her mental struggle, but it his her mind that cannot find the middle of the road between these two identities she feels needs pursuing. Esther slips into insanity by the happenings in her environment and in her own mind. Esther’s inability to find the motivation to inherit the qualities of both identities is what makes her mental reality skewed and is the answer to why she feels suicide to be the cure for her conflict. Esther feels she must become both to be happy but in her mind it’s one or the other. Killing herself is a rational option because it absolves her from having to deal with her identity paradox. As an audience we see the lunacy in this logic of her trying to save herself by killing herself.
Knowing Plath’s suicidal struggles in her own life; one can only wonder how much of Esther’s insanity she had to create and how much is pulled from her own troubled mind.
Knowing Plath’s suicidal struggles in her own life; one can only wonder how much of Esther’s insanity she had to create and how much is pulled from her own troubled mind.
Sylvia and Esther
As I read The Bell Jar, I can't help but think about the origins of Esther's story. Knowing that Esther is closely based on Sylvia Plath herself, I often wonder what amount, if any, of this story is simply fictional. I noticed while reading the other blogs that Jessica posed an interesting pair of questions in her reponse that I wish to consider myself. She stated, "So, my two questions, posed to both you and to myself, are: a.) how deeply should we allow outside knowledge of Plath's life to influence our reading of novel, and b.) how do we examine the theme of death throughout the work?"
I believe that the outside knowledge we have of Plath's life is a great benefit and helpful influence on our reading of the novel. I feel that when we seperate the two women we potentially destroy our own ability to connect with the story. Because I am aware of Plath's own sufferings and personal stages of development, it allows me to see Esther in a different light. Initially I felt that she seemed somewhat immature and ungrateful, but as I know more about Plath I have a deeper view on Esther's issues. I feel that this novel was Plath's call to the world. While she may have married a man she didn't truly enjoy being with and she may have spent her life in a seemingly never-ending internal struggle, this novel releases some of what she felt to the world. In her death, her words were altered by her husband and her family, but this piece reamins as a testament to the power she had as a woman and as a writer. I believe that when we consider the her circumstances as the author of this novel, we are better able to identify a piece of ourselves or someone we know within it.
Secondly, the theme of death is rather curious to consider throughout the work. I believe that death is what Plath saw as the ultimate solace for her pain. Inherently as an autobiographical work, Esther must feel the same. Both women achieve what appears as academic perfection, but are dissatisfied in the end. Death is not a dreary end to Esther, but a resolutory end for her own self-doubt. While death seems a negative end and rather gruesome to discuss, for Plath it looks as if it is all she longed for... a quiet end.
I believe that the outside knowledge we have of Plath's life is a great benefit and helpful influence on our reading of the novel. I feel that when we seperate the two women we potentially destroy our own ability to connect with the story. Because I am aware of Plath's own sufferings and personal stages of development, it allows me to see Esther in a different light. Initially I felt that she seemed somewhat immature and ungrateful, but as I know more about Plath I have a deeper view on Esther's issues. I feel that this novel was Plath's call to the world. While she may have married a man she didn't truly enjoy being with and she may have spent her life in a seemingly never-ending internal struggle, this novel releases some of what she felt to the world. In her death, her words were altered by her husband and her family, but this piece reamins as a testament to the power she had as a woman and as a writer. I believe that when we consider the her circumstances as the author of this novel, we are better able to identify a piece of ourselves or someone we know within it.
Secondly, the theme of death is rather curious to consider throughout the work. I believe that death is what Plath saw as the ultimate solace for her pain. Inherently as an autobiographical work, Esther must feel the same. Both women achieve what appears as academic perfection, but are dissatisfied in the end. Death is not a dreary end to Esther, but a resolutory end for her own self-doubt. While death seems a negative end and rather gruesome to discuss, for Plath it looks as if it is all she longed for... a quiet end.
The Waverley Syndrome
Most blog posts that have dealt with Plath's novel have dealt both with Esther's obsession with death and whether we as readers should sympathize with her. I personally believe that these concepts are intertwined, and I cannot feel sympathy towards Esther's character.
First of all, Esther always focuses on the most negative possible outcomes in her daydreams. Every situation she dreams up becomes too dull for her to actually consider pursuing. Then, when she gets to the next one, she finds something wrong with it. This is most obvious when she is considering dropping down to regular English and then switching colleges. She automatically focuses on the assumed fact that anyone in those programs would be more knowledgeable than her. She completely fails to realize, however, that she is extremely knowledgeable about Dylan Thomas. Instead of having some knowledge about a vast array of information, she has intense knowledge of one subject. Esther always seems to focus on the negative, though. She refuses to believe that there is anything good in her life, which seems to be what leads to her obsession with death.
While she is at Doctor Gordon's office, Esther tells us that she thought "everything people did seemed so silly, because they only died in the end." This certainly seems to fit in with her negative attitude. Since she is always looking for the negative, it should come as no surprise that she views everything that people do as futile. It seems that, for her, nothing is good. Thus, nothing really matters. This is why I have trouble sympathizing with her. While I would be inclined to feel some sort of empathy towards her overall bleak picture of the world, I feel that everything that is "ailing" her is self-created and that she is smply wallowing in her own self-pity, waiting for someone else to "diagnose" her problem and make it all better. She takes no action to better her situation herself and does not expect that she should have to. In this way, Esther parallels Rachel, but she is also much more Waverley-like in that she takes absolutely no agency and takes no action or responsibility for her own situation. I feel like I've been a bit harsh in my analysis of Esther, but it is only because I want to see some gumption and she seems to be just a lame-duck so far.
First of all, Esther always focuses on the most negative possible outcomes in her daydreams. Every situation she dreams up becomes too dull for her to actually consider pursuing. Then, when she gets to the next one, she finds something wrong with it. This is most obvious when she is considering dropping down to regular English and then switching colleges. She automatically focuses on the assumed fact that anyone in those programs would be more knowledgeable than her. She completely fails to realize, however, that she is extremely knowledgeable about Dylan Thomas. Instead of having some knowledge about a vast array of information, she has intense knowledge of one subject. Esther always seems to focus on the negative, though. She refuses to believe that there is anything good in her life, which seems to be what leads to her obsession with death.
While she is at Doctor Gordon's office, Esther tells us that she thought "everything people did seemed so silly, because they only died in the end." This certainly seems to fit in with her negative attitude. Since she is always looking for the negative, it should come as no surprise that she views everything that people do as futile. It seems that, for her, nothing is good. Thus, nothing really matters. This is why I have trouble sympathizing with her. While I would be inclined to feel some sort of empathy towards her overall bleak picture of the world, I feel that everything that is "ailing" her is self-created and that she is smply wallowing in her own self-pity, waiting for someone else to "diagnose" her problem and make it all better. She takes no action to better her situation herself and does not expect that she should have to. In this way, Esther parallels Rachel, but she is also much more Waverley-like in that she takes absolutely no agency and takes no action or responsibility for her own situation. I feel like I've been a bit harsh in my analysis of Esther, but it is only because I want to see some gumption and she seems to be just a lame-duck so far.
Buddy a hypocrite?
Esther troubles me. She focuses solely on minute details yet describes individuals like Buddy Willard is generalities. Buddy Willard is a hypocrite— she follows her declaration up with a story. However, does she truly understand the word? (My response is to the first seven chapters).
I believe she understands the meaning of the word hypocrite—someone who says one thing and does another. However, how truly hypocritical is Buddy? He simply explains to her that she seems like she has been dating a lot of boys. Esther appears to over analyze the situation and labels Buddy as a hypocrite upon discovering his sexual impurity.
I believe Buddy is a not a hypocrite. He simply is dating in the college world and often the dating world has no bars or rules. Esther shows interest in him yet she has nothing good to say and minimal intellectual interaction. She appears extremely focused on falling in love and falling in love fast. If Buddy were such a hypocrite, he may have simply dumped Esther and pursued a girl with looser morals in order to get his fix. However, he shows interest in her poetry and education and he continues the rendezvous. Esther is more at fault then Buddy. She lives in a dream world perpetually reliving the encounters with Buddy—yet she replaces her “I guess so’s” with more witty and interesting comments. It is almost no wonder why no one calls her back for a second date. If I were on a date with her I wouldn’t call her back ever—not even to set her up with one of my friends. Esther appears to want to be interesting yet short of the mark.
I have more problems with Esther’s character aside from this character flaw. And want to discuss them further in class tomorrow.
I believe she understands the meaning of the word hypocrite—someone who says one thing and does another. However, how truly hypocritical is Buddy? He simply explains to her that she seems like she has been dating a lot of boys. Esther appears to over analyze the situation and labels Buddy as a hypocrite upon discovering his sexual impurity.
I believe Buddy is a not a hypocrite. He simply is dating in the college world and often the dating world has no bars or rules. Esther shows interest in him yet she has nothing good to say and minimal intellectual interaction. She appears extremely focused on falling in love and falling in love fast. If Buddy were such a hypocrite, he may have simply dumped Esther and pursued a girl with looser morals in order to get his fix. However, he shows interest in her poetry and education and he continues the rendezvous. Esther is more at fault then Buddy. She lives in a dream world perpetually reliving the encounters with Buddy—yet she replaces her “I guess so’s” with more witty and interesting comments. It is almost no wonder why no one calls her back for a second date. If I were on a date with her I wouldn’t call her back ever—not even to set her up with one of my friends. Esther appears to want to be interesting yet short of the mark.
I have more problems with Esther’s character aside from this character flaw. And want to discuss them further in class tomorrow.
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