A Note on The Bell Jar (1963). (December 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Behrens, Susan J
• Is Part Of: Names. Volume 61:Number 4(2013:Dec.)
• Page Start: 239
• Page End: 243
• Publication Date: 2013-12
• Subjects: The Bell Jar -- Sylvia Plath -- autobiographical novel -- naming -- pseudonym -- identity; Onomastics -- Periodicals; Names -- Periodicals; 929.9705
• DOI: 10.1179/0027773813Z.00000000064
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0027-7738

Abstract

Abstract : Sylvia Plath's novel The Bell Jar, which first appeared in print fifty years ago, is a thinly veiled depiction of a particular time in the author's life, the summer of 1953. The protagonist and stand-in for Plath, Esther Greenwood, comes of age on the cusp of societal changes in the role of women in the US. Naming plays a central role in the development of Esther, a more pivotal one than has previously been recognized. Throughout the novel, Esther's journey toward mental breakdown and inability to find her true identity is paralleled by a failed struggle to accurately name herself.