Told with strong, corporal imagery, The Bell Jar is the first-person account of Esther Greenwood and her slow transmission
into madness. The largely autobiographical novel begins after Esther has won a trip to New York for the story she submitted to a fashion magazine writing contest. She lives in the city for a month in the summer, works at an editing house and goes to parties and luncheons. Buddy Willard, her sometimes boyfriend from back home, has caught tuberculosis and is living in a sanatorium. Like most of her connections with people, Esther’s relationship with Buddy is an uneasy one.
On her last night in New York, Esther is set up with a man named Marco at a party. Outside, Marco hits her, knocking her down into the mud. Esther fights back and bloodies his nose. Marco wipes some of the blood on Esther’s face with his finger. The next day when her mother picks her up in Boston, Esther still hasn’t washed the blood off her face.
Living in the suburbs with her mom, Esther stops sleeping, eating and bathing. She can’t read or write anything. She attempts suicide by crawling into a hole in the basement and swallowing a bottle of pills. After her mother finds her alive she is shuttled from one mental hospital to the next, sometimes receiving electroshock therapy. Having recovered from TB, Buddy comes to visit Esther at the asylum. This scene suggests something about the different ways in which
society treats those who have suffered from physical
illness and those who have suffered from mental illness. Buddy will go on to be a doctor. Having overcome something, he will be a respected and accepted member of society. Esther, on the other hand, will always be seen as a little bit crazy, will always be treated with a little bit of distance by those who know her past.