Research Paper (The Bell Jar) - CM1135

Writing my final paper for this course was difficult but proved to be interesting at the same time . In my research i discovered a lot about Sylvia Plath and her literary work. I have to say she is my favourite writer. I've now read a variety for works by Plath however, my favourite of Plath's works is The Bell Jar.

I loved this book because in conducting my research I discovered that this novel is based off of Sylvia Plath's life. Esther Greenwood is Sylvia Plath. So in reading the novel without realising it you are basically reading a biography of Sylvia Plath through the fictional character of Esther Greenwood. It is amazing how similar Esther Greenwood and Sylvia Plath are. First of all they were both straight A student in college and both went to college on a scholarship provided by a wealthy older woman.  Both of them had also lost their father, had unsatisfactory relationships with men and spent the summer of 1953 doing an internship for a magazine in New York. After they had finished their internship both had learned that they did not make their summer course that they had been hoping to get into which was one of the factors that lead them into depression. Sylvia and Esther both attempted suicide with pills but were unsuccessful and were hospitalised afterwards where they were treated with EST. Esther was later released into society where her future was uncertain however Plath took her own life about a decade after the release of the novel. In conducting my research this is what I discovered about the similarities between Esther Greenwood and Sylvia Plath.