Esther is given electroshock therapy, which, along with therapy helps to her to regain her sanity and cure her depression, which she describes in a most beautifully sad way, as being 'trapped under a bell jar, stewing in her own sour air' (Spoilers end.) The book's portrayal of coping with and overcoming depression has made it a classic that many women can relate to. She eventually is put into a mental institution. Instead of undergoing a progressive education in the ways of the world, culminating in an entrance into adulthood, Esther regresses into madness. (Spoilers ahead.)The book follows Esther Greenwood (The main charachter who Plath based herself on) who although is a striving young writer, finds herself spiraling downward into depression and eventually a suicide attempt. The Bell Jar tells the story of a young woman’s coming-of-age, but it does not follow the usual trajectory of adolescent development into adulthood.

It wasn't published under her real name until 1971, 9 years after Plath's suicide in 1963. To protect herself and the charachters based on real people, she first published the book under the name Victoria Lucas. The book was semi-autobiographical of Plath's life.

Plath is able to capture perfectly what it is like to be stuck in a pit of depression, and how it hard it is to dig yourself out, if you even can. The film includes an exclusive testimony from Sylvia Plaths daughter Frieda Hughes about her mother. The story of Sylvia Plaths seminal novel The Bell Jar as well as the parallels between her life and the book. With Maggie Gyllenhaal, Tristine Skyler, Frieda Hughes, Perry Norton. The Bell Jar is the only novel ever written by poet Sylvia Plath. Sylvia Plath: Inside the Bell Jar: Directed by Teresa Griffiths.

The bell jar plath