The Bell Jar: An Analysis of Esther Greenwood's First-Person Narration

This essay provides an in-depth analysis of Esther Greenwood's character as the first-person narrator in Sylvia Plath's novel, The Bell Jar. It explores how Greenwood's experiences with mental illness and her transformation from a young, promising woman to an unreliable narrator shape the narrative. The essay examines how the plot design and setting contribute to her character's development, highlighting her rebellious attitude, self-critical nature, and modern perspective on societal expectations, particularly regarding women's roles and sexuality. It delves into the complexities of her unreliability, arguing that her mental state and personal experiences make her an unreliable narrator, while also acknowledging her unique voice and perspective on the American society. The essay concludes by emphasizing Greenwood's role as a strong, albeit troubled, character who challenges traditional norms and offers a critical view of the world around her.

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Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Esther Greenwood is the main character of the novel The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and also
she is a clear example of an unreliable narrator. The plot designing and setting of background
plays an important role in furnishing Esther’s character that makes it distinct from the other
characters in the novel. This essay mainly aims at analysing Esther Greenwood’s character as
the first person narrator in the novel The Bell Jar, (Plath). It is identified that Esther
Greenwood is a young girl who is the protagonist and narrator of the novel and all the facts
revolves around her character. In the following pages her character will be analysed in
relation to the novel and also that being a first person narrator how the character played
beautifully in the plot.
The plot shows Esther’s role as the narrator in the novel that follows her character
from decency into depression and again returned back from madness (Plath). The Bell Jar
tells a pathetic kind of story and in place of taking quality education, positive attitude in the
world, Esther is pursuing madness in adulthood, she spent the parts of her life being mad
from a mental institution while her age is to attain education of graduation. Her behaviour
was getting unconventional to the society she lives in because she has darker side and always
melancholic in nature but society expected her to be the girl of her age who would be
cheerful (Plath). She has a rebellion attitude and have a tendency to perform such activities
which was forbidden. Just like, her being rebellious when society wants Esther to be a virgin
till the time she marries to a boy, but she was not contended with this statement and then
decides to break the rule and wanted to loose virginity before marriage. Just because she
wanted it all before marriage and that society will not permit her to go for a healthy
premarital relationship so she got engaged into a loveless sexual encounter for
experimentation. She was casted upon by the madness which is disastrous and will spread
like an epidemic incurable disease. Due to her being mentally ill, Esther behaves odd like a
selfish and does not even have botheration that how badly her suicidal attempts affected her

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mother and her friends (Plath). She is engrossed with her own world of terror and have
preoccupied thoughts. Although Esther is tender aged girl but she is very observant, poetic,
and generous. The narrator in the novel is highly obsessed with the "worst" things of world.
For the society Esther's attempt to suicide would symbolises her selfishness (Plath).
Esther has self-critical character that contrasts often with the other most characters in
The Bell Jar, who seems so self-approving. Her character shows politics and not even curious
to move away the worst from the world. No characters unlike Esther really seems to question
every time to the world surrounds them in the novel. This self-critical attitude of her has now
become her tragic side as it can be merciless to even become the self-disastrous (Plath). In
this phase of life she remains no more in herself as if she has been parted off in two halves
and have a stranger like feeling for herself. Her personality was distorted and have come in
front of the readers when she splits to another personality when she meets up with any men. It
may be feasible for her that by being stranger she can recognise people on the margins of
American Society (Plath). She revolted against the societies so called hypocrisy rule who
takes for granted strangers who are criminals or are mentally ill people that they do not fit to
the society only because they do not follow certain so-called rules as if those rules are the
gateway for allowance to stay in the American society. Her self-secured nature about German
background is also effecting for this or her growing up in a non-orthodox family may have
influenced her behaviour that she thinks like this. This is not her fault nor can be called as a
flaw in her character because she has come from relatively modest family which
differentiates her from other girls in college. Esther has that character which can be shaped
into something that influence her and also changes her personality. She takes stand for what
she likes to do irrespective of what she is allowed to do. This is what give her character a
blend of modernity and traditional at the same time (Plath). She has a modern approach in
exposing her thoughts in front of the society. She wants to reveal the sexism in the modern

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American society, her attempt to take stand for women and to be their spokesperson for their
sexual desires makes her bold enough and different from others. She cannot resist the fact
that a man can be so open about what his desires are and also that what he want but if a
woman does so she will be entitled as something heinous in the contemporary American
society (Plath). She opposes the inhuman psychiatric practices carried as a profession and
also her views on the popular American pop lifestyle. At the same time her traditional side
also is an important phase as in she searches off for self-discovery and to be immaterialistic
inspired by the American writers.
Esther Greenwood is a clear example of an unreliable narrator who cannot be faithful
in telling the true story. Madness and going to mental institutions is an enough reason for a
narrator in the novel to be so unreliable (Plath). The Bell Jar by Plath is written in first person
form illustrating a young girl going mad and attempts suicide. Any book that has a first
person narrator telling the whole story of the novel holds the reader’s interest intact and
allows them to travel the narrator’s mind. It makes a connection between the reader and the
narrator to go deep into her character just like in this novel when Esther gradually going mad
(Plath). The whole novel revolves around Esther who is experiencing any kind of mental
issues always questions about the character of a narrator that she is an unreliable narrator.
Unreliable narrator in a novel can be a young person who lacks maturity and memory and
even while she has been characterised as a mad person therefore Esther sets a clear example
of an unreliable narrator because she cannot be trusted upon for her narration as she has
undergone mental illness at young age. It is quite visible that how Esther’s character has been
transformed from decency into madness (Plath). As Esther is an unreliable narrator in the
novel that does not mean everything is false of her in the story. We cannot judge anything out
of it only what we can do is to read the novel and understand characters to anticipate the
happenings. Unreliable narrators are written to create interests among the readers.

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Esther’s perspective is important in the novel because she has a voice for women’s
desires unlike this society who is biased regarding most of the things that women wishes for
(Plath). Sylvia Plath has designed first person narrative to provoke the tragedy of her
protagonist which allows the reader to know about the pathos and mental condition of a
young girl. It is rather easy to create the image of Esther in first person narration rather using
third person which may not be so intact in feelings and would not make so strong connection
and impression on the readers as it presently does (Plath).
Thereby to conclude at the end, it can be said that Esther plays the role of an
unreliable narrator in the story because of her transformation from descent to depression. She
is not trusted upon for her narration as she is believed to be immature, young and mad so she
cannot do the justice with narration and entitled as the unreliable narrator. Her perspective of
modern approach will take much time to be established in American society. Just because she
stood up for sexual experimentation she was into an ocean of troubles. By this, at least it can
be said that she indeed has a strong character and modest initiator but was so little in age that
she could not give her thoughts a shape. She came out to be both bold and traditional in
nature at times.

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Reference
Plath, Sylvia. The bell jar. Faber & Faber, 2008.
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