FEMALE SUBJECTIVITY AND SOCIAL CONFINEMENT: ANALYZING GENDER CONSTRUCTS IN SYLVIA PLATH’S NOVEL ‘‘THE BELL JAR (1963)’’
Keywords:
Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar, female subjectivity, social confinement, gender constructs, identity crisis, feminist literary criticism, patriarchal oppression, mental health, societal expectations, female agency, gender identity, alienation, psychological trauma, coming-of-age, 1950s American society, cultural norms, women’s oppression, existential struggle, selfhood, autonomy, confinement and freedom, identity formation.Abstract
Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar offers a compelling narrative of a young woman’s struggle with identity, mental illness, and societal expectations. This paper explores how Plath’s portrayal of Esther Greenwood, the novel’s protagonist, reflects the intricate relationship between female subjectivity and the oppressive societal structures that confine women in the mid-20th century. Drawing on feminist theory, the paper examines how Esther’s internal turmoil and eventual breakdown are products of both personal and social forces, specifically the rigid gender roles that dictate women’s lives during the 1950s and 1960s. In The Bell Jar, Esther is trapped between the idealized images of femininity — as a domestic mother, the perfect housewife, or the sexually liberated woman — and her own desires for intellectual and emotional autonomy.
The metaphor of the bell jar serves as a central image in the novel, symbolizing both the psychological and physical entrapment that women like Esther experience under patriarchal norms. The paper analyzes how this imagery is used to depict the claustrophobia of societal expectations and the internalization of these pressures, leading to Esther’s mental and emotional breakdown. By examining Esther’s experiences — from her rejection of the traditional female roles to her eventual suicide attempt — this paper argues that The Bell Jar critiques the damaging effects of gendered confinement on women’s psychological health and personal agency.
Ultimately, this research highlights how Plath’s novel illuminates the stifling effect of gendered expectations on female subjectivity. Through a feminist lens, The Bell Jar is revealed not only as an autobiographical narrative but also as a broader critique of the limitations placed on women in a patriarchal society, which restrict their growth, independence, and self-definition.
