Sylvia Plath

Depression

We are using text from a play called ‘The bell jar’ by Sylvia Plath. I decided to research the author to learn about her background and her relationship with mental health.
Sylvia Plath was born on 27th October 1932. She was an American poet, novelist, and short-story writer. She unfortunately suffered from depression and committed suicide in 1963. This is interesting as her text may reflect on her own personal life. It is interesting to her about her interpretation of mental health from the viewpoint of someone who suffered greatly from depression herself. Before her death, Plath tried several times to take her own life. On August 24, 1953 Plath overdosed on pills in the cellar of her mother's home. In June, 1962 Plath drove her car off the side of the road, into a river. When questioned about the incident by police she admitted to trying to take her own life. Doctors knew about her depression and had given her antidepressants before her death, she was admitted to a hospital but refused to go, and therefore she had a stay-in nurse arranged for her. She was found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning with her head in the oven, having sealed the rooms between her and her sleeping children with wet towels and cloths. This sounds like a horrific way to die and I can’t imagine the traumatic pain she was going through. This makes me think about how serious and severe mental health problems are. I will remember the importance of this in my performance.

The Bell Jar

During her career, she only wrote one book- this was ‘The Bell-Jar.’ I researched the book in order to find out the plot and summary of the play. The story is about Esther Greenwood- a college student from Massachusetts, travels to New York to work on a magazine for a month as a guest editor. Esther knows she should be having the time of her life, but she feels depressed and dead inside. During the play, she is nearly raped which traumatises her. Esther has a huge ambition to write poetry. She finds the feelings of unreality she experienced in New York taking over her life. She is unable to read, write, or sleep, and she stops bathing. Her mother takes her to a psychiatrist who prescribes electric shock therapy for Esther. Esther becomes more unstable than ever after this terrifying treatment, and decides to kill herself. Esther awakens to find herself in the mental hospital. She has survived her suicide attempt with no permanent physical injuries. Esther will leave the mental hospital in time to start winter semester at college. She believes that she has regained a tenuous grasp on sanity, but knows that the bell jar of her madness could descend again at any time. The Bell Jar is an autobiographical novel closely relates to the events of the author’s life. This book clearly relates to the life of Sylvia Plath. Both Plath and Esther loved poetry and felt overwhelmed in society. They both had big dreams and aspirations, yet they were unable to fulfil this due to suffering from depression. Moreover, they both had unsuccessful suicide attempts which would have made them frustrated and confused, however it would also allow them to contemplate their own lives. The Bell Jar recounts, in slightly fictionalized form, the events of the summer and autumn after Plath’s junior year. Just like the protagonist of The Bell Jar, Plath was invited to serve as guest editor for a woman’s magazine in New York. After returning to Wellesley for the remainder of the summer, she had a nervous breakdown and attempted suicide. Sylvia Plath killed herself a month after writing the book. This demonstrated how the book was a cry for help and was a way to express her true emotions and feelings. Moreover, this was written to express the seriousness and importance of depression and how it affects people’s lives. Esther and Sylvia Plath both had breakdowns which symbolises the pressure on the youth of society and their behaviour and appearance. Their stress is a symbol for how teenagers feel today. I feel likes researching the book and author has given me a greater knowledge and understanding o depression as well s giving me a more detailed understanding of the context of the monologues within the play.