The Bell Jar Won't Shatter in Our Lifetimes
While reading The Bell Jar, something that kept popping into my mind was glass. I would try to bring it up in class discussions, but I didn’t fully understand the meaning behind it. Originally, I was focused on the idea that glass can be fragile, and that if it shatters (which could be a representation of Esther attempting suicide) while it could break Esther free, it could prove to be fatal
But honestly, after trying to think through my thoughts about the importance of glass in the story, my original idea about Esther breaking the glass seems like the exact opposite of Plath’s intention of incorporating the glass of the bell jar. Maybe the glass is never meant to break. Maybe not breaking is another angle of looking at Esther’s depression in the book, where Plath is not letting Esther reach a breaking point. Maybe the glass throughout the story is rising from the ground with Esther stuck in it. We as readers seem to be waiting for this glass to drop and shatter on the ground, symbolizing freedom, but the plot, which represents Esther’s depression, intentionally will not allow it.
An aspect of the glass other than fragility that drew my attention was its transparency. Glass usually doesn’t mask any imperfections, which could be Esther’s actual problem. She sees society, the progress and joy they create clearly. Life isn’t stopping while she is stuck in the bell jar. But the jar won’t allow her to leave her mark, or collaborate with others to potentially innovate or create something interesting. The jar isn’t blinding her, but dramatically limits all her other senses. This also connects to her depression, as it’s not like the world ceases to exist, but that it’s moving on without you, and no matter how hard you try, an invisible barrier that one can’t break through or cross seems to always stop you from catching up. This constriction slowly becomes suffocation, which Esther sums up by saying "wherever I sat – on the deck of a ship or a street café in Paris or Bangkok – I would be sitting under the same glass bell jar, stewing in my own sour air” (Plath 185). Esther is always surrounded by glass, yet no one seems to notice, or care enough to look for it.
- Sri
Hi Sri! Great job on this blog, I really liked reading your interpretation of the symbolism of the bell jar. I thought it was interesting how you talked about the meaning of the breaking of the jar, and how that could be a sort of double edged sword. I never thought of it like that, and I more thought of it as something that could be opened and closed, freeing Esther, but I really like your interpretation of literally having to break out. Maybe even there are many ways to get out of this "bell jar", and one can open and close it, or even break it in a sense.
ReplyDeleteHello!
ReplyDeleteI really liked your two interpretations of the glass making up the bell jar.
That quote you highlighted at the end really stuck out to me. Plath's description of Esther as 'stewing in her own sour air' is so vivid. I feel like another piece of the bell jar being made of glass is it's slight reflectivity. Esther can see all the mistakes of the world around herself and can't participate in the good parts, while also seeing her mistakes thrown right back at her.
Hi Sri! I just want to start off by commending your prose throughout this entire blog post. For one, I really liked how your own voice naturally was incorporated throughout the post. It felt as if we were having a sit down conversation on The Bell Jar, and you were explaining your perspectives with your corresponding evidence. I also just really liked the fact that you chose to center it on the glass of the Bell Jar. Overall, great blog!
ReplyDeleteI agree that the bell jar is a really interesting metaphor for Esther's mental state and works on many different levels. One thing I aspect of the bell jar which I found illustrative is how it distorts light. The jar is made of thick, curved glass which bends light and distorts images which pass through it, just as depression warps one's view of their life and the world around them.
ReplyDeleteHi Sri,
ReplyDeleteCool interpretation of the literal "Bell Jar" in which Esther is placed within. I think the glass of the Bell Jar, as you made a reference to in terms of it representing societal transparency, gets clearer as the novel progresses. She suppresses her depressive tendencies until she can't anymore.
Interesting blog! I agree that it made sense that the glass never broke, but I think the more freeing realization was less so about her freedom and moreso about the fact that everyone was trapped in their own bell jar.
ReplyDeleteGood blog Sri! I think there is definitely a lot to dig into when it comes to the potential symbolism of the bell jar itself. I think the most accessible interpretation is that the bell jar almost lingers over Esther, threatening to descend against her again. Good job with this post!
ReplyDeleteHey Sri,
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting blog topic. I like that you created a new sort of symbolism from the bell jar analogy. This idea of transparency is intriguing because Esther is able to look out to the world around her. However, she can't obtain that type of life because of the glass, and if she rushes to get out she risks breaking the glass and having it shatter. The idea of transparency is also interesting because as you pointed out, the outside world doesn't recognize or notice that she is entrapped. They are still able to see her and observe regularly.
Hi Sri! I remember you talking about this during discussion and I like how your ideas evolved. The symbolism of the Bell Jar in the book is literally the main idea of the novel, and I appreciate both your original and new interpretations of it. Great Blog!
ReplyDeleteI agree that the more salient aspect of the glass in the bell jar metaphor is its transparency--or, put another way, its *invisibility*. If you consider Esther as analogous to a "specimen" contained by the jar, it's clear that a mouse or insect cannot even perceive the walls of their entrapment, let alone break or overturn them. The bell jar is not in danger of shattering into shards and cutting her--it's threatening to suffocate her, to stifle her, to isolate her, to make the outside world seem increasingly strange, distorted, hostile, judgmental. And the key is, *others can't see it*. At least initially, Esther LOOKS "fine"--so she wonders herself what is "wrong with her," since she can't bring herself to ACT fine. The more we unpack it, it really is a multifaceted and revealing metaphor for the central issues in the novel.
ReplyDelete