short synopsis
The Bell Jar is the story of Esther Greenwood who grapples with severe depression and struggles to understand her own sexuality and tame the madness which at times traps her. The novel, first published in London in 1963 under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas, is a semi-autobiographical account of a young woman's mental breakdown in response to the constrictions on her life in the United States in the 1950's, and many of the events therein - Esther's suicide attempt, her institutionalization and her experience interning at the magazine all parallel events in Plath's own life.thank you, Sean :)
about Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath (1932 - 1963) was born in Boston, Massachusetts as the daughter of German immigrant parents. Her father was a professor of biology at Boston University, and had specialized in bees. He has been characterized as authoritarian and died of diabetes in 1940 when Plath was eight years old. Her mother, Aurelia, worked at two jobs to support Sylvia and her brother Warren, but in her diary Plath reveals her hatred for her mother. Plath was educated at Smith College and at the University of Cambridge, where she was a Fulbright scholar. She married English poet Ted Hughes with whom she had 2 children. Plath died in London on February 11, 1963, she committed suicide by gas after being abandoned by her husband for another woman.amazon link
The link opens in a new window.The Bell Jar : A Novel