Blog Entry #5: Personal Review
I actually read The Bell Jar last summer, but it so enticed me that I felt drawn to read it again, this time with closer attention to detail. I was most drawn by the fact that the novel is actually a semi-autobiography of Sylvia Plath herself. Plath, who first attempted suicide by sticking her head in an oven (and later succeeding through overdose). The fact that the violent and cynical thoughts of Esther actually were reality in Plath’s mind is truly frightening.
Also notable is that as the novel progresses the contradictions posed by Plath become blurred with Esther’s madness, as she sits stagnant, the opportunities slowly shriveling up and dying (much like the symbol of the fig tree). Esther’s decent into madness was by no means delicate. Though her first signs of distress were her fascination with death (the Rosenburgs) and a mild distrust of others, as the novel progressed, her cynicism skyrocketed and she began to seek exclusively darkness and sleep.
I think that Plath’s utilization of media as Esther’s only clear view into society was very clever. Fashion magazines and Baby Talk portrayed what was expected by society, which was contrasted by the news clippings of the Rosenburgs and Esther’s own suicide. It was as if her suicide was just a curiosity of society, mirrored by Esther’s own listless interest when Joan shows her the clippings.
Either way, this book struck me on the second read in a way it hadn’t before. The progression of Esther’s rise and fall into insanity, I now realize, represents are sort of twisted rebirth. The foreboding “bell jar” that will forever hang over Esther’s head is perhaps a warning to all of us, that the tremors of are mind never fail to follow us for eternity.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Text Connection
Topic #4: Text-Connection
As I found isolation and detachment to be the prevailing motifs within The Bell Jar, I see a vague yet promising association between The Bell Jar and the film The Dreamers, by Bernardo Bertolucci. Though very different in context, isolation from society and from oneself exist predominantly as the themes within each. Though the protagonists within The Dreamers neither suffer from mental disorders nor follow similar a plotline as Esther Greenwood, they find themselves crawling deeper and deeper into their own imagination, unaware of the outside world pressing in from all around. Just like Esther’s only true glimpses of society are through newspaper headlines and magazines, the viewer only glimpses fleeting images outside of their isolated habitats. In the film, an American exchange-student named Matthew studying in France befriends a pair of twins, Isabelle and Theo. As their friendship grows, he notices the extremely intimate relationship between the twins, who claim that they were originally conjoined at the shoulder (which is impossible, as they are opposite sexes. However, glimpses of scars can be seen, creating a sense of isolation from self in the paradox). He is drawn into their world and falls in love with them, and the three, acting as a single entity, isolate themselves from the reality of the 1968 student rebellions. Much like Esther, who finds herself diverting from the norm of women during the age and falling deeper into her own mind, they find themselves unable to separate. However, Esther’s growing disembodiment from herself, (such as when she repeatedly fails to recognize herself in mirrors) is relatable to the growing rift between Theo and Matthew. Both lead to ultimate destruction as they succumb to reality of society around them.
As I found isolation and detachment to be the prevailing motifs within The Bell Jar, I see a vague yet promising association between The Bell Jar and the film The Dreamers, by Bernardo Bertolucci. Though very different in context, isolation from society and from oneself exist predominantly as the themes within each. Though the protagonists within The Dreamers neither suffer from mental disorders nor follow similar a plotline as Esther Greenwood, they find themselves crawling deeper and deeper into their own imagination, unaware of the outside world pressing in from all around. Just like Esther’s only true glimpses of society are through newspaper headlines and magazines, the viewer only glimpses fleeting images outside of their isolated habitats. In the film, an American exchange-student named Matthew studying in France befriends a pair of twins, Isabelle and Theo. As their friendship grows, he notices the extremely intimate relationship between the twins, who claim that they were originally conjoined at the shoulder (which is impossible, as they are opposite sexes. However, glimpses of scars can be seen, creating a sense of isolation from self in the paradox). He is drawn into their world and falls in love with them, and the three, acting as a single entity, isolate themselves from the reality of the 1968 student rebellions. Much like Esther, who finds herself diverting from the norm of women during the age and falling deeper into her own mind, they find themselves unable to separate. However, Esther’s growing disembodiment from herself, (such as when she repeatedly fails to recognize herself in mirrors) is relatable to the growing rift between Theo and Matthew. Both lead to ultimate destruction as they succumb to reality of society around them.
Syntax
Blog Entry #3: Syntax
• “SCHOLARSHIP GIRL MISSING. MOTHER WORRIED. SLEEPING PILLS FEARED MISSING WITH GIRL
GIRL FOUND ALIVE!”
The fact that Esther is first being introduced to the circumstances surrounding her attempted suicide from a third person party (ie. the newspaper headlines) enhances Plath’s recurrent tone of detachment. She had been unaware of society’s fascination with her, and this thus acts as further proof of her isolation from society. Isolation from herself is also evident, through her third-party acknowledgement of the headlines, as if she is not the girl depicted in them, implies that she is not self-aware.
• “The silence depressed me. It wasn’t the silence of silence. It was my own silence. I knew perfectly well the cars were making a noise, and the people in them and behind the lit windows of the buildings were making a noise, and the river was making a noise, but I couldn’t hear a thing” (19).
Plath poses a stark contrast between silence and noise through both anaphora and epistrophe (the utilization of these polar strategies further produces separation). The silence represents Esther and the noise acts as society, and by formulating such a powerful separation of the two entities, Plath amplifies the tone of detachment.
• “I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am” (243).
I believe that Joan’s success in suicide symbolizes Esther’s body’s struggle to stay alive. Plath’s personification of her heart in it’s repetition of “I am”, just as when it refused to stop beating when she attempted to drown herself. The symbol of a heart with will free from Esther’s mind furthers the sense of self-isolation Plath emphasizes.
• “SCHOLARSHIP GIRL MISSING. MOTHER WORRIED. SLEEPING PILLS FEARED MISSING WITH GIRL
GIRL FOUND ALIVE!”
The fact that Esther is first being introduced to the circumstances surrounding her attempted suicide from a third person party (ie. the newspaper headlines) enhances Plath’s recurrent tone of detachment. She had been unaware of society’s fascination with her, and this thus acts as further proof of her isolation from society. Isolation from herself is also evident, through her third-party acknowledgement of the headlines, as if she is not the girl depicted in them, implies that she is not self-aware.
• “The silence depressed me. It wasn’t the silence of silence. It was my own silence. I knew perfectly well the cars were making a noise, and the people in them and behind the lit windows of the buildings were making a noise, and the river was making a noise, but I couldn’t hear a thing” (19).
Plath poses a stark contrast between silence and noise through both anaphora and epistrophe (the utilization of these polar strategies further produces separation). The silence represents Esther and the noise acts as society, and by formulating such a powerful separation of the two entities, Plath amplifies the tone of detachment.
• “I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am” (243).
I believe that Joan’s success in suicide symbolizes Esther’s body’s struggle to stay alive. Plath’s personification of her heart in it’s repetition of “I am”, just as when it refused to stop beating when she attempted to drown herself. The symbol of a heart with will free from Esther’s mind furthers the sense of self-isolation Plath emphasizes.
Diction
Blog Entry #2: Diction
As one of the prevailing motifs in The Bell Jar is isolation, the text was dominated with diction that produced a detached tone. Imagery associated with blurriness, blood, or shadows are often used to portray a sense of separation. For instance, the quote “A glassy haze rippled up. . .and through the haze, as though through a curtain of clear water, I could make out a smudgy skyline of. . .bridges” (156) creates an imaginary barrier between Esther and society. Further, at the peak of her madness Esther describes the darkness to be “thick as velvet,”
Plath made a point to associate society with haze and isolation with shadow and blood. The city, the beach scene, and all else public disoriented Esther with bright lights and heat. For instance, when she was poisoned at the magazine brunch with all the other girls, Esther realized the “poison” of society through the shared and dazing sickness. As society became more and more disagreeable to her, she grew attracted to the quiet and “nothingless” of isolation that shadows provide. When this proved to not be enough, Esther discovers the ultimate silence of death. She seems to have never been calmer than the moments leading up to her suicide with words like: “sweet shadow” and “dark thick as velvet”.
Curiously, despite the shadowy imagery while she was led into the garden alone with Marco (“enveloping darkness” and “the darkness drew up its barricade”) imply that she would have been comfortable, her tone is nevertheless panicked. However, light imagery such as “ghost-pale” and “glimmer of bare skin, like a pale veil” is found to justify her discomfort.
As one of the prevailing motifs in The Bell Jar is isolation, the text was dominated with diction that produced a detached tone. Imagery associated with blurriness, blood, or shadows are often used to portray a sense of separation. For instance, the quote “A glassy haze rippled up. . .and through the haze, as though through a curtain of clear water, I could make out a smudgy skyline of. . .bridges” (156) creates an imaginary barrier between Esther and society. Further, at the peak of her madness Esther describes the darkness to be “thick as velvet,”
Plath made a point to associate society with haze and isolation with shadow and blood. The city, the beach scene, and all else public disoriented Esther with bright lights and heat. For instance, when she was poisoned at the magazine brunch with all the other girls, Esther realized the “poison” of society through the shared and dazing sickness. As society became more and more disagreeable to her, she grew attracted to the quiet and “nothingless” of isolation that shadows provide. When this proved to not be enough, Esther discovers the ultimate silence of death. She seems to have never been calmer than the moments leading up to her suicide with words like: “sweet shadow” and “dark thick as velvet”.
Curiously, despite the shadowy imagery while she was led into the garden alone with Marco (“enveloping darkness” and “the darkness drew up its barricade”) imply that she would have been comfortable, her tone is nevertheless panicked. However, light imagery such as “ghost-pale” and “glimmer of bare skin, like a pale veil” is found to justify her discomfort.
Rhetorical Strategies
Blog Entry #1: Rhetorical Strategies
• Personification—“Lights and voices spilled from the ballroom window, but a few yards beyond the darkness drew up a barricade and sealed them off” (107) As Marco draws Esther outside with the prerogative of raping her, darkness’s “barricade” embodies Esther’s isolation from the party, and thus, represents the feeble power of women during Esther’s time, one of Plath’s recurrent themes.
• Allusion—“‘A man doesn’t have a worry in the world, while I’ve got a baby hanging over my head like a big stick, to keep me in line’”(221). In making an allusion to Theodore Roosevelt’s “Big Stick” foreign affairs policy, Esther is emphasizing the pressure to succumb to motherhood. Roosevelt said, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” This is especially relevant, as while women were encouraged to follow careers, motherhood was deemed a much more suitable role for them. Esther sees the unspoken pressure to reproduce as a “baby hanging over [her] head”.
• Personification/Metaphor—“(I felt very still and very empty, the way the eye of a tornado must feel, moving dully along in the middle of the surrounding hullabaloo)” (3). Clearly, by comparing herself to the eye of a storm, Esther is referring to her position in society. As society moves in mayhem all around her, she finds herself “moving dully along”. While still a limb of society, (as the eye of the storm is still part of the storm) Esther finds herself alone in a stagnant state, unable to comprehend the chaos around her, portraying Plath’s tendencies to form a paradox between calmness and destruction.
• Polysendeton—“Joan’s room, with its closet an bureau and table and chair and white blanket...was a mirror image of my own” (195). Joan, I believe, is a symbol for Esther’s mind, separated from body, as Esther is never completely sure that Joan is real. Because Esther’s body refuses to let go, Joan’s death represents the feebleness of the mind in relation to body. Esther’s body refuses to let go, despite her minds’ determination, suggesting that her body and mind are isolated from one another, a life-saving characteristic, as Plath emphasizes with this symbol.
• Personification—“Lights and voices spilled from the ballroom window, but a few yards beyond the darkness drew up a barricade and sealed them off” (107) As Marco draws Esther outside with the prerogative of raping her, darkness’s “barricade” embodies Esther’s isolation from the party, and thus, represents the feeble power of women during Esther’s time, one of Plath’s recurrent themes.
• Allusion—“‘A man doesn’t have a worry in the world, while I’ve got a baby hanging over my head like a big stick, to keep me in line’”(221). In making an allusion to Theodore Roosevelt’s “Big Stick” foreign affairs policy, Esther is emphasizing the pressure to succumb to motherhood. Roosevelt said, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” This is especially relevant, as while women were encouraged to follow careers, motherhood was deemed a much more suitable role for them. Esther sees the unspoken pressure to reproduce as a “baby hanging over [her] head”.
• Personification/Metaphor—“(I felt very still and very empty, the way the eye of a tornado must feel, moving dully along in the middle of the surrounding hullabaloo)” (3). Clearly, by comparing herself to the eye of a storm, Esther is referring to her position in society. As society moves in mayhem all around her, she finds herself “moving dully along”. While still a limb of society, (as the eye of the storm is still part of the storm) Esther finds herself alone in a stagnant state, unable to comprehend the chaos around her, portraying Plath’s tendencies to form a paradox between calmness and destruction.
• Polysendeton—“Joan’s room, with its closet an bureau and table and chair and white blanket...was a mirror image of my own” (195). Joan, I believe, is a symbol for Esther’s mind, separated from body, as Esther is never completely sure that Joan is real. Because Esther’s body refuses to let go, Joan’s death represents the feebleness of the mind in relation to body. Esther’s body refuses to let go, despite her minds’ determination, suggesting that her body and mind are isolated from one another, a life-saving characteristic, as Plath emphasizes with this symbol.
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