Sylvia Plath and Esther Greenwood

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar", is semiautobiographical and how the events that happen in the story almost directly parallel events that occurred in Sylvia Plath's life when she was twenty years old. It analyzes the plethora of similarities occurring between Sylvia and the protagonist in the novel, Esther, in an attempt to show that the presence of numerous parallels between Sylvia Plath and Esther Greenwood serves as evidence that Esther is a literary representation of Plath.

From the Paper:

"Down to the minutest of details, similarities between Plath and Greenwood can be seen. Plath and Greenwood both lived near Boston. Both had younger brothers and were their parents' eldest children. Both Plath, and her fictional counterpart Esther, lost their fathers when they were young girls. Their mothers played an enormous role in shaping their lives. Being that their fathers were deceased, their mothers were forced to take on the role of both, mother and father. This centrality quite possibly led to the many problems resulting between the mothers and daughters. Esther's inability to cope with change led to her severe case of depression. Plath's dark and depressing poetry suggests a depressed mind frame."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar. New York City: Harper & Row, 1971.
• "Plath, Sylvia." 24 Apr. 2007 <http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-literary-criticism/plath-sylvia-vol-111>.
• "Sylvia Plath -- the Bell Jar." 14 Apr. 2007 <http://www.sylviaplath.de/plath/belljar.html>.

More papers on Sylvia Plath and Esther Greenwood:

• Analytical Essay # 3085 : "Sylvia Plath's "Bell Jar"
• Analytical Essay # 142182 : "Plath's "The Bell Jar" and Second-Wave Feminism"
• Term Paper # 114218 : "The Bell Jar"

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