Esther Greenwood is a talented and intelligent, just beginning her promising career with a magazine internship in New York City. However, Esther is restless and unhappy, disoriented by life in the big city and finding her job increasingly difficult to deal with. After the completion of her internship, she returns to her family home in Massachusetts where her restlessness only multiplies. Hoping to make her living as an author, Esther feels unsure of her ability to write meaningfully. Over the course of the summer, her mental state declines and she is soon sent to receive psychiatric help in the form of electro-shock therapy.

As a young woman caught somewhere in between her identity as a student and a professional fulfilling her vocation, Esther Greenwood's internal struggles are still enormously relevant to readers today. The Bell Jar was written as a semi-autobiographical work inspired by author Sylvia Plath's own experiences. A long-time sufferer of depression, Plath committed suicide shortly after The Bell Jar was published. However, through the stark and realistic depiction of Esther's declining mental state, the work continues to strongly influence social perspectives on mental health and depression.

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