This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at NYU chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.
Glimmers of pretentious academics, internship obligations, and societal expectations surround Esther Greenwood in The Bell Jar. In the midst of it all lies the lingering Fig Tree. The Fig Tree in The Bell Jar does not function as a solution but rather as an imaginary escape, a representation of a potential path that leads to never-ending misery or fleeting bliss.
Esther, a straight-A student, first encounters failure when she is rejected from a prestigious writing course. The aching pain and silent numbness that follow are feelings many people experience at some point in their lives, whether in the personal, professional, or academic sector. Society often conditions us to believe that experiencing failure is something we are only allowed once. Like a cat, our nine lives are limited to one. The societal pressure subsequently causes Esther to spiral into depression, undergo electroshock therapy, rejection, loss, and disillusionment.
The Fig Tree: To pick from one Fig Tree means having a family; another Fig Tree symbolizes living out ambitious dreams as a successful, published poet; another symbolizes a life of travel and freedom. These choices of the “fat purple” Fig Tree” are not merely choices an individual makes, but Plath reiterates the feminine struggles of choice. Gender plays a vital role in the book, as women were previously advised to choose their youth wisely, one that would dictate a decision and affect the rest of their lives. However, women today are encouraged to pick it all: motherhood, education, careers, hobbies. Sylvia Plath was a pioneer, one of the most influential writers of the feminist movement, as she introduced a beacon of hope in The Bell Jar.
The Bell Jar is considered a classic; it is far from an emotionally simple read. Its power lies in its ability to articulate a reality that many young women continue to face more than sixty years later. If you have not already read the novel, prepare to be fully encapsulated by Plath’s whirlwind of emotional transformation and her profound poetic language.