... tradition"" (Plath 229). Esther often refers to sex and lack of virginity as a "corruption"." This of course, as referenced before, ties into the idea of Esther being a social deviant. In Stephanie Tsanks, "The Bell Jar: A Psychological Case Study," states the bell jar as a symbol of society's stifling constraints and befuddling mixed messages that trap Sylvia Plath's heroine, Esther Greenwood, within its glass dome (166). In ... Esther unmistakably makes it known that she is not like any other woman and that she has a strict vision of what it means to be a lady. As duly noted in, "The B...

• Word Count: 2257
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

... does," I said." (Plath 26). By answering to the name Esther, the narrator enforces the name of which she was called. Robert Taubman drew this conclusion about the significance of the viewpoint Miss Plath chose to write in: It [The Bell Jar] reads so much like the truth it is hard to disassociate her from Esther Greenwood, the "I" of the story, but she has the gift of being able to feel and yet ... watch herself: she can feel the desolation and yet relate it to everyday life (345 ... was a summer internship in New York City as a guest editor for Mademoiselle magazine." (Lives and Works:...

• Word Count: 994
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School