Sylvia Plath

Follows step-by-step for one month as Esther Greenwood's strained relations with her mother and her boyfriend leads her to a mental breakdown.

The Bell Jar

Melanie

Neurotic, ha!" I let out a scornful laugh. "If neurotic is wanting two mutually exclusive things at one and the same time, then Im neurotic as hell. I’ll be flying back and forth between one mutually exclusive thing and another for the rest of my days."  

Harze

“...I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”

Maia 

“I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig-tree in the story.

From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a h and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other overs with queer names and off-beat professions, and another f was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out”

It was very slow for me at first. At the same time it slowly grasp me with the struggle of Esther in her life. It finally captured me when she made the fig symbolism. The casul racism caught me off guard though 

Swept me off my feet and into a fascinatingly disorienting world. 

As I flipped through the book, page after page, it clung through my mind and settled roots into my bones. An incredibly grappling read. 

A definite comfort—place of solace for my mind and heart to rest during times of internal catastrophe. I am sure I will be saying hello to Esther quite often. 

Swept me off my feet and into a fascinatingly disorienting world. 

As I flipped through the book, page after page, it clung through my mind and settled roots into my bones. An incredibly grappling read. 

A definite comfort—place of solace for my mind and heart to rest during times of internal catastrophe. I am sure I will be saying hello to Esther quite often. 

The Bell Jar

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