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The Bell Jar
- 274 statements
- 53 feature instances
- 18 referencing feature instances
The Bell Jar | type |
TVTItem | |
The Bell Jar | label |
The Bell Jar | |
The Bell Jar | page |
thebelljar | |
The Bell Jar | comment |
Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_content_3'); })Published in 1963 and written by Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar tells the story of Esther Greenwood, a young, beautiful, successful nineteen-year-old girl whose talents and ambitions are being stifled by societal pressures. The novel opens with Esther in New York working on an internship at a big glamorous publishing company (obviously based on Condé Nast and Mademoiselle, where Plath really interned). The interns get dresses, makeup, free theater tickets and all sort of other gifts from sponsors. In the midst of this glamorous dream come true, all she can think of is how the Rosenbergs are going to be executed. Esther feels increasingly isolated and troubled by her inability to enjoy herself in direct violation of what society expects.Esther observes that being a successful woman and having a family are mutually exclusive in the eyes of society. If she marries, as everyone assumes without question, she will be expected to give up her "silly" notions of a career. She feels her virginity is a burden, but wants to have her first experiences on her own terms.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_content_2'); })The internship over with, Esther returns to her mother's house. She is rejected for an advanced writing course she'd applied for, so she decides to spend the summer writing the Great American Novel, but realizes she hasn't had sufficient experience. Her condition worsens as she develops insomnia. She visits a psychiatrist, who utterly fails to help her; said failure is excruciatingly amplified by incorrect use of electroconvulsive therapy.She begins various half-hearted suicide attempts. Finally she leaves a note saying that she's gone for a stroll, conceals herself in a space in the cellar under a breezeway, downs a bottle of sleeping pills and loses consciousness.Esther is hospitalized and eventually meets Dr. Nolan, a woman psychiatrist. Esther undergoes ECT once more, reassured that if done properly it's "like going to sleep". She describes it as temporarily lifting the "bell jar" of her depression and letting fresh air in, while she engages in regular psychotherapy sessions with Dr. Nolan. Finally, she has someone to listen to and validate her honest thoughts.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_content_1'); })Still at the hospital, Esther loses her virginity and confronts the reality of death. The novel ends with Esther entering a room for an evaluation which will ascertain if she is ready to be released. The novel ends with the words, "I stepped into the room".The novel itself has been adapted once in 1979 starring Marilyn Hassett as the protagonist. A second adaptation starring Julia Stiles was announced but never happened, and Stiles relinquished the rights. Kirsten Dunst has announced another adaptation, starring Dakota Fanning and due out in 2017. | |
The Bell Jar | fetched |
2018-10-20T14:21:48Z | |
The Bell Jar | parsed |
2020-06-25T17:22:59Z | |
The Bell Jar | processingComment |
Dropped link to FinnegansWake: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
The Bell Jar | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
The Bell Jar / int_1397e10d | type |
Rage Against the Reflection | |
The Bell Jar / int_1397e10d | comment |
Rage Against the Reflection: Esther when she wakes up in hospital after her suicide attempt. | |
The Bell Jar / int_1397e10d | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar / int_1397e10d | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_1397e10d | |
The Bell Jar / int_14a5a8e2 | type |
Nerds Are Sexy | |
The Bell Jar / int_14a5a8e2 | comment |
Nerds Are Sexy: Irwin, the mathematics professor who deflowers Esther boasts that he has a way with women, and in fact, sends away another professor's wife when Esther is visiting him. | |
The Bell Jar / int_14a5a8e2 | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_14a5a8e2 | |
The Bell Jar / int_1869b4b1 | type |
UnreliableNarrator | |
The Bell Jar / int_1869b4b1 | comment |
Unreliable Narrator: Esther is very opinionated and makes many damning judgements of people before she even describes them fully. | |
The Bell Jar / int_1869b4b1 | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar / int_1869b4b1 | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_1869b4b1 | |
The Bell Jar / int_18d15922 | type |
Title Drop | |
The Bell Jar / int_18d15922 | comment |
Title Drop: See the opening quotation for the page and Harsher in Hindsight. | |
The Bell Jar / int_18d15922 | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar / int_18d15922 | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_18d15922 | |
The Bell Jar / int_1d47b2b7 | type |
Unable to Cry | |
The Bell Jar / int_1d47b2b7 | comment |
Unable to Cry: When visiting her father's grave as an adult, Esther realizes that she didn't cry when her father died. | |
The Bell Jar / int_1d47b2b7 | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar / int_1d47b2b7 | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_1d47b2b7 | |
The Bell Jar / int_297ab1b9 | type |
Parental Abandonment | |
The Bell Jar / int_297ab1b9 | comment |
Parental Abandonment: Esther's father is dead. | |
The Bell Jar / int_297ab1b9 | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar / int_297ab1b9 | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_297ab1b9 | |
The Bell Jar / int_2a8a7ea6 | type |
Bury Your Gays | |
The Bell Jar / int_2a8a7ea6 | comment |
Bury Your Gays: You could see Joan's suicide coming a mile away. Plath uses great sympathy with the Lesbian characters, while portraying Esther, who is straight, as being faintly repelled by what she's seen. Esther then asks Dr. Nolan what a woman would want with another woman, and Dr. Nolan replies "Tenderness." Plath herself was not gay, but she had a substantial Lesbian following. | |
The Bell Jar / int_2a8a7ea6 | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar / int_2a8a7ea6 | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_2a8a7ea6 | |
The Bell Jar / int_2fc21a19 | type |
Distaff Counterpart | |
The Bell Jar / int_2fc21a19 | comment |
Distaff Counterpart : According to at least one biography, Plath wrote Esther as a female version of Holden Caulfield. Apparently, The Bell Jar is supposed to be wry and comedic. Who knew? There's plenty of wry comedy in it — Esther's witnessing of Doreen's drunken revel with DJ Lenny Shepard, her observations on Technicolor musicals and a session at the U.N. — but the book overall is clearly not meant to be funny. | |
The Bell Jar / int_2fc21a19 | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar / int_2fc21a19 | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_2fc21a19 | |
The Bell Jar / int_3c85bc3e | type |
Grave Clouds | |
The Bell Jar / int_3c85bc3e | comment |
Grave Clouds: It's cloudy at the graveyard before the rain kicks in. | |
The Bell Jar / int_3c85bc3e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_3c85bc3e | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_3c85bc3e | |
The Bell Jar / int_3e74b72e | type |
The Pollyanna | |
The Bell Jar / int_3e74b72e | comment |
The Pollyanna: Betsy is described as a country version of this trope. | |
The Bell Jar / int_3e74b72e | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar / int_3e74b72e | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_3e74b72e | |
The Bell Jar / int_4063fe0d | type |
Stock Shout-Outs | |
The Bell Jar / int_4063fe0d | comment |
Stock Shout-Outs: Got a moody female character or a girl that's feeling down? Show her reading The Bell Jar. Can be seen in The Simpsons, Family Guy, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Gilmore Girls, and 10 Things I Hate About You. Other sources merely reference the novel. | |
The Bell Jar / int_4063fe0d | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar / int_4063fe0d | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_4063fe0d | |
The Bell Jar / int_46118dc5 | type |
Adult Fear | |
The Bell Jar / int_46118dc5 | comment |
Adult Fear: Esther's fear that life is passing her by when she realises that she has no concrete career plans will hit close to home for many teenagers and twenty-somethings. | |
The Bell Jar / int_46118dc5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_46118dc5 | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_46118dc5 | |
The Bell Jar / int_4bfe435c | type |
Lobotomy | |
The Bell Jar / int_4bfe435c | comment |
Lobotomy: Valerie gets one of these. Valerie is a friend of Esther’s in the private mental hospital and she is friendly and relaxed. | |
The Bell Jar / int_4bfe435c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_4bfe435c | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_4bfe435c | |
The Bell Jar / int_4e3dee88 | type |
Their First Time | |
The Bell Jar / int_4e3dee88 | comment |
Her First Time: Esther thought that losing her virginity would bring about this incredible change, like visiting Europe for the first time. She sleeps with an experienced man. Boy, was she wrong. | |
The Bell Jar / int_4e3dee88 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_4e3dee88 | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_4e3dee88 | |
The Bell Jar / int_55180ce | type |
Snow Means Death | |
The Bell Jar / int_55180ce | comment |
Snow Means Death: It snows the day of Joan's funeral. | |
The Bell Jar / int_55180ce | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_55180ce | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_55180ce | |
The Bell Jar / int_5dcb7ce7 | type |
Fashion Magazine | |
The Bell Jar / int_5dcb7ce7 | comment |
Fashion Magazine: Esther won a one-month internship at a fashion magazine called Ladies' Day (based on Mademoiselle). She finds it more sterile and depressing than glamorous, however. | |
The Bell Jar / int_5dcb7ce7 | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar / int_5dcb7ce7 | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_5dcb7ce7 | |
The Bell Jar / int_66755d29 | type |
Author Avatar | |
The Bell Jar / int_66755d29 | comment |
Author Avatar: Esther Greenwood is Sylvia Plath. And an in-universe example: the heroine of Esther's attempted novel is named Elaine. Esther explicitly chooses the name because it begins with an E and has the same number of letters as her own. | |
The Bell Jar / int_66755d29 | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar / int_66755d29 | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_66755d29 | |
The Bell Jar / int_6bda9a30 | type |
Meaningful Name | |
The Bell Jar / int_6bda9a30 | comment |
Meaningful Name: Esther Greenwood. The name Sylvia comes from "sylvan" which is associated with woods and what color do you typically think of when you think of woods? | |
The Bell Jar / int_6bda9a30 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_6bda9a30 | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_6bda9a30 | |
The Bell Jar / int_6d089995 | type |
The Shrink | |
The Bell Jar / int_6d089995 | comment |
The Shrink: Doctor Gordon and Doctor Nolan. | |
The Bell Jar / int_6d089995 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_6d089995 | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_6d089995 | |
The Bell Jar / int_6d332aea | type |
Driven to Suicide | |
The Bell Jar / int_6d332aea | comment |
Driven to Suicide: Several attempts by Esther: also Joan commits suicide. | |
The Bell Jar / int_6d332aea | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_6d332aea | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_6d332aea | |
The Bell Jar / int_6d9bc945 | type |
Babies Ever After | |
The Bell Jar / int_6d9bc945 | comment |
Very early in the story, Esther states that "only last week" she gave her baby one of her Mademoiselle freebies to play with, implying that not only does she recover from the events of the story, but she eventually gets an ending that involves a husband and a family. | |
The Bell Jar / int_6d9bc945 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_6d9bc945 | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_6d9bc945 | |
The Bell Jar / int_7332c94f | type |
Suicide by Sea | |
The Bell Jar / int_7332c94f | comment |
Suicide by Sea: Esther has been trying to commit suicide. After failing to hang/strangle herself because of her body's natural preservation instincts, she decides to swim so far out into the ocean that she won't be able to swim back. She chooses a large rock as a marker to swim to only to realize that if she reaches it, she'll simply climb on the rock. She tries to drown herself where she is but is unsuccessful. | |
The Bell Jar / int_7332c94f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_7332c94f | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_7332c94f | |
The Bell Jar / int_7464705c | type |
Arc Words | |
The Bell Jar / int_7464705c | comment |
Arc Words: "I am, I am, I am". | |
The Bell Jar / int_7464705c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_7464705c | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_7464705c | |
The Bell Jar / int_7870735b | type |
From Bad to Worse | |
The Bell Jar / int_7870735b | comment |
From Bad to Worse: Esther's mental and emotional state deteriorate until she is suicidal. | |
The Bell Jar / int_7870735b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_7870735b | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_7870735b | |
The Bell Jar / int_82accf22 | type |
Gainax Ending | |
The Bell Jar / int_82accf22 | comment |
Gainax Ending: The novel ends with Esther entering the room for her medical review. It's pretty clear that she'll be released from the hospital. Very early in the story, Esther states that "only last week" she gave her baby one of her Mademoiselle freebies to play with, implying that not only does she recover from the events of the story, but she eventually gets an ending that involves a husband and a family. | |
The Bell Jar / int_82accf22 | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar / int_82accf22 | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_82accf22 | |
The Bell Jar / int_835d1cd2 | type |
Satellite Love Interest | |
The Bell Jar / int_835d1cd2 | comment |
Satellite Love Interest: Buddy Willard as a gender subversion. You don't learn a whole lot about him other than wanting to be a doctor and sleeping with a waitress. | |
The Bell Jar / int_835d1cd2 | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar / int_835d1cd2 | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_835d1cd2 | |
The Bell Jar / int_856a425a | type |
TheFifties | |
The Bell Jar / int_856a425a | comment |
The '50s: The novel is set in this decade, and takes an extremely scathing and critical look at the decade's opinions on women. | |
The Bell Jar / int_856a425a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_856a425a | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_856a425a | |
The Bell Jar / int_875615dd | type |
Truth in Television | |
The Bell Jar / int_875615dd | comment |
Truth in Television: This is the epitome of why The Bell Jar is still read today. If you've ever felt depressed or suicidal, or like your environment was stifling and crippling your spirit, then this novel perfectly describes how you felt and does it better than you ever could. The descriptions of being ashamed of still being a virgin in your early twenties are exquisite. Plath has beautifully cutting descriptions of society's Double Standard and sexism, a reality which hasn't changed much fifty years later (see any book by Susan Faludi). | |
The Bell Jar / int_875615dd | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar / int_875615dd | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_875615dd | |
The Bell Jar / int_8af68ed7 | type |
Grave-Marking Scene | |
The Bell Jar / int_8af68ed7 | comment |
Gravemarking Scene: Esther visits her father's grave shortly before her breakdown. | |
The Bell Jar / int_8af68ed7 | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar / int_8af68ed7 | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_8af68ed7 | |
The Bell Jar / int_8c78872 | type |
Writer's Block | |
The Bell Jar / int_8c78872 | comment |
Writer's Block: Esther tries to start a novel after returning home from New York but is unable to write more than a couple of sentences. | |
The Bell Jar / int_8c78872 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_8c78872 | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_8c78872 | |
The Bell Jar / int_8e13262d | type |
Virginity Makes You Stupid | |
The Bell Jar / int_8e13262d | comment |
Virginity Makes You Stupid: Very much Esther's attitude, who unlike the idealized fifties young woman, sees her lack of experience as an embarrassment. She makes a number of attempts to get rid of her virginity and finally succeeds with a math professor she met randomly. | |
The Bell Jar / int_8e13262d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_8e13262d | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_8e13262d | |
The Bell Jar / int_8f3a20a | type |
Heroic Spirit | |
The Bell Jar / int_8f3a20a | comment |
Heroic Spirit: "I am, I am, I am" is the sound of Esther's heartbeat; she hears it when she tries to drown herself. In spite of herself, Esther's body wants to keep living. | |
The Bell Jar / int_8f3a20a | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar / int_8f3a20a | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_8f3a20a | |
The Bell Jar / int_9bbe7fae | type |
Biography | |
The Bell Jar / int_9bbe7fae | comment |
Biography: The events of the novel are so heavily inspired/influenced by Plath's own life that it's particularly difficult to not read The Bell Jar as an autobiography. | |
The Bell Jar / int_9bbe7fae | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar / int_9bbe7fae | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_9bbe7fae | |
The Bell Jar / int_a1a1491e | type |
Homage | |
The Bell Jar / int_a1a1491e | comment |
Part of the novel is a sort of Homage/Shout-Out to Mary Jane Ward's autobiographical novel The Snake Pit. Some of the scenes in the hospital are nearly identical to Ward's. Plath had read reviews of the book in college and had planned to write something about "mental health stuff" after seeing that there was a market for it. Ward's book is based on her treatments at Rockland state hospital in New York. Plath went to McLean asylum in Massachusetts, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School with more lavish funding and research facilities. | |
The Bell Jar / int_a1a1491e | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar / int_a1a1491e | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_a1a1491e | |
The Bell Jar / int_a25af902 | type |
The Food Poisoning Incident | |
The Bell Jar / int_a25af902 | comment |
The Food Poisoning Incident: Esther and the other interns get food poisoning from a fancy lunch that included tainted crab. | |
The Bell Jar / int_a25af902 | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar / int_a25af902 | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_a25af902 | |
The Bell Jar / int_a8982539 | type |
Gray Rain of Depression | |
The Bell Jar / int_a8982539 | comment |
Gray Rain of Depression: When Esther visits her father's grave, it begins to rain. She realizes that she didn't cry when her father died and then she "laid [her] face to the smooth face of the marble and howled [her] loss into the cold salt rain." | |
The Bell Jar / int_a8982539 | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar / int_a8982539 | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_a8982539 | |
The Bell Jar / int_ae3d6438 | type |
Deadpan Snarker | |
The Bell Jar / int_ae3d6438 | comment |
Deadpan Snarker: Doreen, a worldly blonde from the South who befriends Esther during her time at Ladies' Day. Esther herself becomes one when she is admitted to the psych ward. | |
The Bell Jar / int_ae3d6438 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_ae3d6438 | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_ae3d6438 | |
The Bell Jar / int_b1e8a3b3 | type |
Coming of Age Story | |
The Bell Jar / int_b1e8a3b3 | comment |
Coming-of-Age Story: An atypical and significantly darker one because Esther learns from her madness. | |
The Bell Jar / int_b1e8a3b3 | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar / int_b1e8a3b3 | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_b1e8a3b3 | |
The Bell Jar / int_b58c51d8 | type |
My Beloved Smother | |
The Bell Jar / int_b58c51d8 | comment |
My Beloved Smother: Esther sees her mother this way. | |
The Bell Jar / int_b58c51d8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_b58c51d8 | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_b58c51d8 | |
The Bell Jar / int_b6cebad3 | type |
DoubleStandard | |
The Bell Jar / int_b6cebad3 | comment |
Double Standard: Society's expectations on virginity for men and women is a major point of contention for Esther. Buddy Willard expects Esther to be "pure" for him, but openly admits to sleeping with a waitress. | |
The Bell Jar / int_b6cebad3 | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar / int_b6cebad3 | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_b6cebad3 | |
The Bell Jar / int_b905e88c | type |
People Jars | |
The Bell Jar / int_b905e88c | comment |
People Jars: Used metaphorically to describe how depression can come back to haunt you and blurs everything around you. | |
The Bell Jar / int_b905e88c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_b905e88c | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_b905e88c | |
The Bell Jar / int_bc03c871 | type |
Child Hater | |
The Bell Jar / int_bc03c871 | comment |
Child Hater: Esther does not like children and doesn't understand what makes mothers happy. | |
The Bell Jar / int_bc03c871 | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar / int_bc03c871 | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_bc03c871 | |
The Bell Jar / int_bf1255fa | type |
Really Gets Around | |
The Bell Jar / int_bf1255fa | comment |
Really Gets Around: Doreen, the tough-talking Southern society girl Esther befriends in New York. Esther is both intrigued and repelled by Doreen's casual attitude towards sex. | |
The Bell Jar / int_bf1255fa | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_bf1255fa | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_bf1255fa | |
The Bell Jar / int_c75df49a | type |
Shout-Out | |
The Bell Jar / int_c75df49a | comment |
Shout-Out: In chapter 10, while at home, Esther attempts to read Finnegans Wake. It doesn't work out. Part of the novel is a sort of Homage/Shout-Out to Mary Jane Ward's autobiographical novel The Snake Pit. Some of the scenes in the hospital are nearly identical to Ward's. Plath had read reviews of the book in college and had planned to write something about "mental health stuff" after seeing that there was a market for it. Ward's book is based on her treatments at Rockland state hospital in New York. Plath went to McLean asylum in Massachusetts, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School with more lavish funding and research facilities. | |
The Bell Jar / int_c75df49a | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar / int_c75df49a | featureConfidence |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_c75df49a | |
The Bell Jar / int_cb1a6514 | type |
Country Mouse | |
The Bell Jar / int_cb1a6514 | comment |
Country Mouse: Esther grew up in a small town. In New York she wasn't in control of anything, even herself, and she just went through the motions. | |
The Bell Jar / int_cb1a6514 | featureApplicability |
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The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_cb1a6514 | |
The Bell Jar / int_dae4a87 | type |
Seemingly-Wholesome '50s Girl | |
The Bell Jar / int_dae4a87 | comment |
Seemingly Wholesome '50s Girl: Esther. Most of the girls she meets in New York qualify as well, including Joan (at least in outward appearance) and Betsy aka "Pollyanna Cowgirl" (who really is). | |
The Bell Jar / int_dae4a87 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_dae4a87 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_dae4a87 | |
The Bell Jar / int_db1888f0 | type |
Bad Dreams | |
The Bell Jar / int_db1888f0 | comment |
Bad Dreams: Metaphorically used to describe what the world is like to the person inside the bell jar. | |
The Bell Jar / int_db1888f0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_db1888f0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_db1888f0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_dda99fa8 | type |
Despair Event Horizon | |
The Bell Jar / int_dda99fa8 | comment |
Despair Event Horizon: Terrified of the thought of being in the kitchen for the rest of her life, absolutely no idea what to do now that she's out of college because all she was ever good at was winning scholarships, intense insomnia that has lasted for three weeks, traumatized by the botched ECT, and feeling completely trapped inside a bell jar because of her depression, Esther begins suicide attempts. | |
The Bell Jar / int_dda99fa8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_dda99fa8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_dda99fa8 | |
The Bell Jar / int_e6d0ea39 | type |
Nature Abhors a Virgin | |
The Bell Jar / int_e6d0ea39 | comment |
Nature Abhors a Virgin: This is one of Esther's chief concerns. To Esther, her virginity is a burden; she's doomed to be a virgin until she marries a man or be deemed a slut for having premarital sex. She loses her virginity near the end, doing so just to be able to get rid of it. | |
The Bell Jar / int_e6d0ea39 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_e6d0ea39 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_e6d0ea39 | |
The Bell Jar / int_f23ad6de | type |
Food Porn | |
The Bell Jar / int_f23ad6de | comment |
Food Porn: Plath sure knew how to make one's mouth water. Chapter 3 begins with the lavish Ladies' Day banquet luncheon, with all types of delicious food being described. | |
The Bell Jar / int_f23ad6de | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_f23ad6de | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_f23ad6de | |
The Bell Jar / int_f8084d07 | type |
Society Is to Blame | |
The Bell Jar / int_f8084d07 | comment |
Society Is to Blame: Most of Esther's problems at the start can be traced back to society's expectations of young women. Esther is expected to be cheerful no matter how she feels inside; and she's expected to keep herself "pure" when that's the last thing she wants. | |
The Bell Jar / int_f8084d07 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_f8084d07 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_f8084d07 | |
The Bell Jar / int_f85354eb | type |
Attempted Rape | |
The Bell Jar / int_f85354eb | comment |
Attempted Rape: Marco with Esther. She considers going along with it so as to be rid of her unwanted virginity but instead fights back. | |
The Bell Jar / int_f85354eb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_f85354eb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_f85354eb | |
The Bell Jar / int_name | type |
ItemName | |
The Bell Jar / int_name | comment |
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The Bell Jar / int_name | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar / int_name | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Bell Jar | hasFeature |
The Bell Jar / int_name | |
The Bell Jar / int_name | itemName |
The Bell Jar |
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