The plot: Sylvia Plath’s semi-autobiographical masterpiece follows Esther Greenwood, a bright young woman who appears to have everything going for her. She’s academic, she has talent and ambition, and has been given the opportunity to spend the summer in New York City, working at a fashion magazine. On the surface, her life seems filled with promise. Underneath, the story is very different. Esther is struggling to understand who she is, what she wants, and her place in the world.

As the pressure of relationships, expectations, and an increasingly uncertain future begin to build, Esther’s mental health deteriorates. We follow her on a challenging journey, as she tries to find her place in a world that has very definite ideas about how a woman should live.

What did I think of this book?

This novel has been a powerful influence on my life. I’ve returned to it again and again over the years. But on some level, its power is quiet. Plath balances dark humor with vulnerability, and even when the subject matter becomes painful (some parts of it hit very close to home for me), her observations about people and everyday life can be surprisingly witty.

Esther’s uncertainty still feels very relatable. We don’t have to share her experiences to recognize the pressure to make certain choices: the pressure to meet expectations. Or the pressure to somehow have everything figured out.

The Bell Jar is not an easy read. (Perhaps don’t take it on holiday, like I once did!) It explores depression and psychological distress openly, and in great detail. But the emotional depth is part of what makes it such a great novel. We are not offered any neat, easy answers to the big questions posed by this book. What we have instead is a character whose struggles deserve to be understood, not judged.

What was most interesting about this book?

For me, it is Plath’s exploration of the expectations placed on women. Esther is intelligent, she is ambitious, but she finds herself caught between different versions of the future she is apparently meant to want.

The book explores the tension between independence and convention, career and personal relationships, personal ambition and social approval. The story is set in the 1950s, but still feels incredibly relevant today.

The central metaphor is fascinating too. The Bell Jar of the title represents Esther’s feeling of being trapped beneath an invisible barrier, separated from the world around her. It’s an interesting way of conveying the isolation that often accompanies depression, particularly when others find it hard to understand what the sufferer is going through. Too often sufferers of depression are labelled as weak, selfish, or self indulgent. Esther demonstrates that these outdated summations are wholly inaccurate.

What am I going to take away from this book?

The importance of compassion, towards both ourselves and others, was my biggest takeaway from The Bell Jar. It’s easy to assume that someone who appears successful, capable, with a life full of potential, is doing well. Appearances have a habit of being deceptive – they rarely tell the full story. Mental health struggles don’t always look like what they are supposed to. A person can appear fine to the outside world, and struggle with a world of anxiety and severe depression internally.

This novel also encourages us to challenge the expectations we place upon ourselves. There is no single correct way to build our lives. Comparison is often said to be the thief of joy, and we don’t need to follow someone’s else’s timeline to prove that we are doing well or living the “right” life.

Sometimes the most meaningful thing we can offer a person is understanding, patience and the space to be honest about how they are feeling.

Will I enjoy The Bell Jar?

The Bell Jar is a character driven novel, with thoughtful writing, dark wit and a book that raises questions rather than providing the reader with straightforward answers. If you’re prepared for what awaits you in its clutches, you will be rewarded. Likewise, it’s a particularly rewarding read for those who are interested in women’s experiences, societal expectations, and the relationship between creativity and mental health.

It is important to consider that this is a novel that deals with suicidal ideation, severe depression, and psychiatric treatment. The world of The Bell Jar is not one that should be entered lightly. If you find these themes distressing, you may wish to choose another piece.

But if you decide to give this sharp, thoughtful novel your attention, you will find that it deserves its place amongst the classics. It isn’t a comfortable read, but it offers much to reflect upon and reminds us why stories about mental health continue to matter.