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In Sylvia Plaths novel The Bell Jar, Esther Greenwood seems incapable of healthy relationships with other women. She is trapped in a patriarchal society with rigid expectations of womanhood. The cost of transgressing social norms is isolation, institutionalization and a loss identity as woman. The struggle for an individual identity under this regime is enough to drive a person to the verge of suicide.
Given the oppressive system under which she must operate, Esther Greenwood's problems with women stem from her conflict between individuality and conformity. In formulating my topic, I have relied on Adrienne Rich's book Of Woman Born, as well as Cathy Griggers essay "Lesbian Bodies in the Age of (Post) mechanical Reproduction. " Rich discusses the cultural institutionalization of motherhood, while Griggers brings a Feminist and Marxist perspective to the topic of lesbian body image in a capitalist, market-driven society. Both consider the effects of patriarchy and hetero sexism in their treatment of the experience of lesbians in society. I found these texts to be very helpful in offering an explanation of Esther's harsh negative reaction to Joan, as well as in illustrating the anxieties of women in an andro centric, hetero centric, and conformist society. Esther's fundamental problem with female relationships is best exemplified in her conflict with mothering and mentoring figures. These women defy her desire to be independent and free.
Rich describes the tendency toward matrophobia, the fear of becoming ones mother. She explains that "the mother stands for the victim in ourselves, the unfree woman" (236). This fear of becoming like the mother / mentor figure at the expense of the self is expressed as Esther agonizes over the women in her life: Why did I attract these weird old women? There was the famous poet, and Philomena Guinea, and Jay Cee, and the Christian Scientist lady and lord knows who, and they all wanted to adopt me in some way, and, for the price of their care and influence, have me resemble them (180). Early in the novel, Esther expresses her dissatisfaction with the nature of mentoring, observing that "all the old ladies I ever knew wanted to teach me something, but I suddenly didnt think they had anything to teache" (5).
Added to the list of problematic mentors and mothers could be Mrs. Willard, with all of her negative associations as potential mother-in-law. She, like those mentioned specifically by Esther, represent conformity to others expectations. Esther's problem with mentoring and modeling is not limited to older women.
It extends as well as Doreen and Betsy, who represent conflicting images of Esther. Doreen is referred to by the narrator as "one of my troubles" rather than one of her friends (4). Esther perceives Betsy as an attempted rescuer, saying she behaved "as if she were trying to save me in some way" (5). This resentment toward those women who try to help her can be read as a reflection of Esther's fear of conformity. The fullest expression of matrophobia comes with Esther's vocalization of her underlying feelings towards her mother: "I hate her" (166).
The statement was provoked by an expression of maternal affection, namely bringing flowers for her birthday. The seemingly unprovoked declaration by Esther illustrates the symbolic nature of motherhood, particularly in the pre-feminist culture of the 1950 s. In the culture of the time and in the novel, women are defined in terms of their marital status. Esther is presented with conflicting role models. The first set of models represents the conformist role of wife and mother. Into this category fall Dodo Conway as the ideal embodiment, Esther's widowed mother as the thwarted embodiment and the wealthy girls at the Amazon from Katy Gibbs who were "simply hanging around New York waiting to get married to some career man or other" as the aspirants (3).
This is the culturally acceptable and the culturally normative role in a patriarchal, capitalist society. Griggers explains that capitalism enforces "compulsory heterosexuality and the nuclear family" which are valued for their role "in reproducing the labor force" (184 - 5). This is the destiny for which young women are bred, groomed and educated. Esther rejects this model when she reacts to Dodo Conway's seventh pregnancy by stating that "children made me sick" (96). She likewise rejects the aspiring wives at the Amazon with a similar observation: "girls like that make me sick" (3).
The parallel diction and sentence structures support the pairing of these statements, with the use of the past tense in the comment on children being reflective of Esther's ultimate choice to become a mother. In contrast to this conventional set of role models, Esther is confronted with a set of culturally unacceptable options, specifically, the novels lesbian characters. Esther is either unwilling or unable to deal with issues of homo-emotional desire both on her part and on the part of others. Her response to homosexuality is threefold: nausea, fascination and ultimately silence. She responds to her encounter with Joan and DeeDee by observing that it "made me want to puke" (179). Later, when Joan expresses her affection, Esther repeats this observation aloud saying "I dont like you.
You make me want to puke" (180). Despite her overt expression of disgust, she is nonetheless "fascinated" by Joan and lesbianism (179). Strangely, Joan serves both as a foil and a double to Esther. Their situations are strikingly similar with respect to family background, social standing, and even a shared ex-boyfriend. And yet, Joan serves as a contrast to Esther in the choices she makes with regard to sexuality and ultimately death. Esther expresses this seeming paradox: Her thoughts were not my thoughts, nor her feelings my feelings, but we were close enough so that her thoughts and feelings seemed a wry, black image of my own (179).
She further notes that Joan endures a "separate but similar crisis" (179). In Joan's presence, Esther recalls incidents of lesbian scandal at school and connects female homoerotic relationships with her experience of mentoring and mothering. She acknowledges a "creepy feeling" and an "old, ingrained dislike" toward Joan and by extension toward lesbianism (179). When Dr.
Nolan explains that "tenderness" is a motivation in female homo-emotional relationships, Esther recalls "that shut me up" (179). Esther's silence relates to her own rejection of tenderness on the part of her mentor / mother figures, which she recalls during her encounter with Joan. In some ways, her rejection of homo-emotional affection and her rejection of maternal affection are inseparable. This dynamic is explained by Sue Silvermarie, cited by Rich: I find now, instead of a contradiction between lesbian and mother, there is an overlapping.
What is the same between my lover and me, my mother and me, and my son and me is the motherboard I treasure and trust the drama between two loving women, in which each can become mother and each become child (232). In this way, Esther's rejection of mentor / mother figures can be read not only as a desire for independence, but as a fear of emotional intimacy and therefore dependence on another woman. The problem of dichotomy between mother and lesbian, which as Silvermarie explains is irrelevant at the emotional level, is deeply ingrained as a defense of patriarchy. According to the heteros exist standard, a woman independent of men must renounce motherhood as an option and thus renounce an important aspect of womanhood.
Griggers explains this insane dichotomy in terms of capitalism and the defense of the status quo. She asserts that, particularly for lesbians, "capitalism itself produces schizoid subjectivity as a cultural state of being" (184). This dynamic is clearly in effect in the novel. The unnamed famous lesbian poet at the college confronts Esther with a seemingly mutually exclusive choice between career and marriage. Lesbianism is inherently outside of the mainstream culture of the aforementioned "compulsory heterosexuality" and "nuclear family" (Griggers, 184 - 5). Esther rejects the lesbian construction of womens roles along with the maternal construction.
The lesbian standard is at once too much a rejection of deeply rooted social structures as well as an adoption of another rigid set of expectations. She is unwilling to conform to either the mainstream imperative or the minorities alternative if it means sacrificing her individuality. Esther's inability to function in society is the result of the fear of conformity that the socially imposed dichotomy between mother and lesbian engender in her. One notable exception exists to Esther's conflict with female mentors: Dr.
Nolan. Dr. Nolan represents an alternative to the rigid constructions of Esther's other role models. She is a strong, independent woman. Not only is she a doctor, a position of respect and authority, she is willing to voice her opinions. She is also a feminine woman.
Esther describes her as "slim, young" and "stylish" (152 - 3). Most importantly, she is not defined in terms of her relationship to men or her lack thereof. It is Dr. Nolan who frees Esther from patriarchal constraint by referring her for a diaphragm.
The result of this gift of "freedom from marrying the wrong person" is Esther's ability to assert "I was my own woman" (182). Dr. Nolan and the diaphragm represent self-determination and individuality rather than conformity. With the aid of birth control, Esther can choose not to marry without forswearing the possibility. This bridges the gap between the two extreme constructions of womanhood offered by the other role models.
Esther becomes the subjective arbiter of her own destiny rather than the object of social constructions. Through the successful individuality of Dr. Nolan, Esther Greenwood is able to navigate her struggle against conformity. She is able to reject both the socially constructed model of motherhood as subservient childbearing as well as the marginalized construction of esbianism enforced by society. Her freedom from these rigid systems as symbolized and effected by birth control allow her to become a mother on her own terms rather than those of a patriarchal society. Although not explicitly shown at the end of the novel, we can infer from her willingness to attend Joan's funeral and from her experiences in becoming a mother that she is able to address some of her problems with female affection.
Her attainment of freedom is a victory over conformity and patriarchy. Unfortunately, her rejection of the socially constructed model of lesbianism does not lead to a creative transformation of the role as does her rejection of the patriarchal vision of motherhood, if not for herself then for Joan, whose treatment in the novel was notably harsh.
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Research essay sample on Esther Greenwood Socially Constructed
