An Analysis Of Esther And Plath s Life - 1947 Words

I. Genres A. Autobiographical novel and Autobiography Literary conventions common to autobiographical works are usually written in the first person, which is the way in which a person might tell their own story. In this case, Esther is telling her story, first in a series of flashbacks and then in the present tense. The awful way in which the protagonist, Esther, views the events around her and the gory descriptions she offers, seem to represent not only horrible events, but also the tortured mind of the writer. The fact that Esther is fixated on suicide and that suicide and death are constant topics in the novel are the most obvious reasons to see the work as autobiographical. There are specific events that happen to Esther in the novel that have been researched and have been determine to have happened to Plath in exactly the same manner or are very similar to events in Plath’s life. Esther and Plath both had fathers who died when they were young. Esther and Plath both won wri ting internships at a magazine in New York City. Esther and Plath both had Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Luke Ferretter, author of Sylvia Plath s Fiction: A Critical Study, argues that Esther’s description of her ECT is a way for Plath to tell her own story about the experience (21). Another validation of the autobiographical nature of The Bell Jar comes from an unexpected source in an unexpected way. Literary scholar Lois Ames offers a surprising insight into why many considerShow MoreRelatedThe Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath1211 Words   |  5 PagesSylvia Plath Research Paper Title The Bell Jar place[s] [the] turbulent months[of an adolescent’s life] in[to] mature perspective (Hall, 30). In The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath uses parallelism, stream of consciousness, the motif of renewal and rebirth, symbolism of the boundary-driven entrapped mentally ill, and auto-biographical details to epitomize the mental downfall of protagonist, Esther Greenwood. 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Plath’s main character, Esther Greenwood, begins the book by facing her disenchantment with the cosmopolitan life that she once admired. After such disconcertion, Esther falls into a deep depression, eventually attempting suicide. She faces her physical and mental symptoms while being kept in a mental institution. Esther eventually comes to terms with her life, recovers fromRead MoreLiterary Criticism : The Free Encyclopedia 7351 Words   |  30 Pagesnovel is sometimes used inter changeably with Bildungsroman, but its use is usually wider and less technical. The birth of the Bildungsroman is normally dated to the publication of Wilhelm Meister s Apprenticeship by Johann Wolfgang Goethe in 1795–96,[8] or, sometimes, to Christoph Martin Wieland s Geschichte des Agathon of 1767.[9] Although the Bildungsroman arose in Germany, it has had extensive influence first in Europe and later throughout the world. Thomas Carlyle translated Goethe’s novel