Introducing "The Bell Jar"

Why I chose such a dark and intriguing story.

The Bell Jar was published in 1963 as a semi-autobiographical novel by author “Victoria Lucas”, better known as poet Sylvia Plath. Referred to as a roman à clef (a novel about real life overlaid with fiction), this was Plath’s only novel. It talks of a women’s descent into mental illness that parallels Plath’s experiences, but unfortunately the book has a happier ending than Plath did.

The books I select to read in any case are ones that I see myself enjoying. Sometimes it’s based on the description on the back of the book or a recommendation from someone I know, and other times it’s simply based on a title. In this case, I selected the book because of the author and the writing style. I love the way Sylvia Plath talks and writes- and given that The Bell Jar is her only novel, it had to be on my bucket list. There was something very mysterious about it that I had to explore. The description reminded me of one of my favourite books, She’s Come Undone, so I hoped it would be similar.

I found out about The Bell Jar when I was looking for writing about mental illness. I don’t think any of my friends know about Sylvia Plath, and it was too dark to be found on any reading list encouraged by teachers, but when I was looking up a series of poetry books that addressed mental illness, The Bell Jar came up as a similar theme. I also researched her poetry for a project, so I was aware of her writing style and wanted to learn more about her work. For me, I want to learn more about Sylvia Plath’s personal struggles and learn more about what she went through. She has been the source of many interesting poems and quotes that speak to me, and her story is one that I want to read from her own words. I’m always looking to read more literature about mental illness and how the mind works. As someone who personally struggles with mental health, reading stories that show how others have coped and overcome their adversities help me understand the conditions better, as well as work on dealing with my own. I know that she committed suicide shortly after the book’s release, which makes this book even more important to me.

Plath is most well known for her confessional style of poetry, and being very real and open with her work. I think this is what draws me to her, is knowing that her work was very true and real and wasn’t for anyone but herself. Her work is often dark and reflects her death-obsessed state of mind. I feel as though she is typecast as the “depressed, suicidal poet” but despite her struggles with her mental health she was able to accomplish establishing a name for herself and earn a number of opportunities that only come with hard work and determination.

I really wanted an excuse to read a full novel again, because I haven’t had the opportunity to read a book start to finish in a few weeks since school started. I read enough poetry on my own time that I wanted a full novel to enjoy this time. The types of note taking I’ve used in the past that make the most sense for this assignment are the Cornell method (so I can organize by page number) or the outlining method (so I can organize by idea). I decided to use the Cornell method so I can write as I go and see the notes organized by chapter and page, so I can later collect ideas and be able to go back and find what I was looking for.

I’m really excited to explore her symbolism and use of literary devices to add more depth. There's something about her writing that I really want to analyse. I'm hoping to write about all the aspects of the novel, even if I don't like them. Whatever it takes to do this iconic novel some justice.