Even before Esther is officially deemed fit to be released from the asylum, she knows that the bell jar that had been suffocating her before had lifted. Although she doesn't know for certain whether it will ever return, she feels newly empowered to continue with life. The reason for this is that she no longer has the looming pressure of people expecting her to be great in the future. These expectations that people had before of Esther were a major part of why she attempted to commit suicide.
Esther was a high-achieving, straight-A student who was able to go to college through the many scholarships that she earned. She is able to skip being graded on a required class because of everyone's belief that she would have aced the course anyway. As a result of her previous achievements, she begins feeling pressure to be great even after graduating college, which she's not sure how to do in the absence of grades and papers. During her New York internship, when Esther realizes for the first time that she doesn't know what she wants to be, Jay Cee tells her that "You could learn a lot in this month on the magazine, you know, if you just roll up your shirtsleeves The girl who was before you...went straight from this office on to Time" (pg. 32). This statement sums up the expectations that people have for Esther's career, which are that Esther will accomplish great things. Esther feels suffocated by these expectations, because she doesn't think that she can live up to them.
Once Esther returns, to her home, the expectations on her are doubled. Additionally, being rejected from the writing course acts as a confirmation to Esther's fears that she will fail, and it makes her wonder why she continues living. After she makes a suicide attempt and ends up in the asylum, however, things begin to change. The first person that Esther confides in about her struggles is Doctor Nolan, who not only understands, but can do something to reduce Esther's fears. In fact, just being sent to the asylum lessens the expectations put on her, surrounded by people that don't know about her scholarships, and with the knowledge
When Esther's mother makes an offhand remark about [how hard it was to have a daughter in an asylum], Esther begins to understand that this experience is part of her. All the people she was afraid of watching her fail (neighbors, fellow college students) will have drawn assumptions about her based on this experience. On page 236, Esther says that "Everyone [at college] would know me, of course". She is no longer known for how smart she is. If she asked the dean again for permission to take the course without a grade, the dean would probably now refuse. No one expects her to excel anymore. No one even expects her to marry anymore; "And of course I didn't know who would marry me now that I'd been where I'd been" (pg. 241).
The expectations that Esther has escaped no longer close around her like a bell jar; although they could come back, Esther knows that she survived them once, and how easy they are to shed.
Hi Ankita, You do a really good job of expanding on how Esther's environment that puts this pressure on her is the bell jar. I was a bit in awe (or I don't know the right word here, sorry) about how shock therapy can do so much and while it may have made a difference, I think the pressure being lifted off from Esther to constantly achieve and the acknowledgement that she's struggled frees her for the first time from the expectations of everyone. I was thinking about that one headline in a newspaper clip - "Scholarship Girl Missing." - Esther has lived her whole life being the "scholarship girl", meritorious enough to pay her way through school and get an array of accolades but this incident almost taints this impression but that taintedness frees her. Nice post :)
ReplyDeleteThe contrast between pre-treatment Esther and post-treatment Esther is really significant and I think that while Esther could have been the "girl who had it all", she casts it aside as more of a burden than a benefit. It's also important just to realize how heavily all the burdens weigh on her... her mother, someone who one would expect to support her has also internalized the cruel expectations on Esther. Thus, I think that the theme of "coming of age" really shows in this context- the fact that Esther is able to break free of the societal bondage that has held her under the bell jar gives her a newfound intellectual and sexual freedom and she is really able to BE herself more.
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting how over the course of her long recovery, Esther eventually finds someone who seems to understand her and can help her shake off the expectations and uncertainty that had got her there. Once the extreme pressure to succeed was gone Esther could actually recover and come back from the asylum knowing how to deal with it.
ReplyDeleteGreat Post! It is interesting that Esther always thought about what other people would think of her and that was one of the things that were in the way during her recovery. I would agree with you that she always experienced a lot of pressure from the people around her and after she admitted that she can't live up to everybody's expectations her recovery in the asylum started. She was finally able to pursue what she wanted without the pressure of other people.
ReplyDeleteNice post! I agree that in the asylum Esther is able to kind of start on a blank slate and escape from some of the expectations people put on her. Although, they do end up finding a picture of her in the newspaper which causes her to react uncomfortably. Her reaction is much more in control than earlier in the novel though. She is also able to escape societies expectations of women that are placed on her when she is given birth control. At the end of the novel after she is freed from her relationships with men she is given a chance to reenter society without the pressures of her old life.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how, as you claim, Esther is freer once people think less of her and stop presenting her with all the "opportunities" she was looking at previously. Expectations often come from people thinking highly of you, rather than a need for improvement.
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