A Realistic Depiction of Mental Illness



Esther’s experiences with her mental health felt real, despite being extreme. In many coming-of-age narratives, the main character struggles with their mental health. For example, at the beginning of the semester I wrote my essay about The Perks of Being a Wallflower. In this book, Charlie struggles with anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Similarly, in Catcher in the Rye, Holden is definitely also struggling with his mental health in some way. However, reading The Bell Jar was a different experience for me because her pain is more intense and real than many other coming-of-age novels that I have read. In many coming-of-age novels, movies, and shows, mental illness is often glorified, possibly for the sake of entertainment. But while reading The Bell Jar, it showed the darkest parts of her mental illness, which made it feel more real. In many coming-of-age stories, there is usually a lesson to be learned, or a message that they are trying to get across. However, this novel is simply about Esther Greenwood and her experiences.

A lot of Esther’s emotions and pain is similar to Sylvia Plath’s experiences, which adds to the realness of the story. Since she is describing real pain, real experiences, and real emotions, Esther’s story feels authentic and relatable. It is clear that Esther isn’t telling her story to relate to others, or for entertainment, or for any reason other than that she is telling her life how and pain exactly how it is and in the way she is experiencing it. This take on mental illness was refreshing in some ways. After seeing shows like 13 Reasons Why glorify and romanticize depression and suicide, I enjoyed reading something where mental illness is showed more realistically.

Esther’s experiences are not omnipresent, but her story remains relatable, and connected to the reader. The Bell Jar did not feel like another cliche, coming-of-age novel that was trying a little too hard to be relatable to teenagers. The relatableness of this novel came naturally because of Esther’s vulnerability and realness. Despite the discussion of suicide, depression, and mental institutions, the tone is light and makes it hard to put the book down. I really enjoyed this reading, and anyone who wants to see a realistic representation of some of the worst parts of mental illness should definitely read this book.

Comments

  1. Raneem SaadahApril 3, 2021 at 8:09 PM

    I agree with you--I feel like shows especially glorify mental illness and almost make it seem like a side piece of someone's life. The Bell Jar shows that it can really take over someone's life and it's not just a side piece that affects the person every once in a while. I personally have never experienced depression and after reading about Esther, I saw a snippet about how it really affects a person and how hard someone works to "overcome" it and constantly work to not let it take over.

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  2. Eliza D. TerzievApril 3, 2021 at 8:30 PM

    This was such an interesting idea. I think that while reading it we all sort of thought along these lines regarding the accuracy of the description of mental illness (at least I know I did!). I think that one of the main important things was that she and everyone in the novel was aware that Esther was mentally ill. It's very unlike Catcher in the Rye, where we all sort of assumed he was struggling with something but neither we nor Holden could really put a finger on it. I thought that the descriptions were phenomenally done as well, and I completely agree Plath's own experiences made all the difference. Well Done!

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  3. Joanna's BlogApril 10, 2021 at 11:24 AM

    I absolutely agree. In my opinion, mental illness is almost aestheticized in today's society and in media. This needs to end, as the glorification and profitability of mental illness can be detrimental to teenagers-- you mentioned 13 Reasons Why and I remember reading about how that show created a positive correlation with teen s*icide rates right after it came out. I think The Bell Jar's depiction of mental illness was so authentic because while readers could potentially relate to Esther's experiences, Esther's struggles were purely her own. Even with Joan, there was no sense of solidarity or congeniality.

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  4. SerenityMay 4, 2021 at 4:45 PM

    I agree with this, especially where you talk about the glorification in modern media. Esther's mental health struggle wasn't particularly interesting, or attention grabbing, which is why it felt real. A lot of depression is foggy and sedentary, not the traditional portrayal of angst and anguish (although it totally can be). Anyways, I totally agree with your analysis, and I think Esther's story was so different from other stories out there.

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