The Bell Jar/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Harsher in Hindsight: Whenever anyone talks about Sylvia Plath's suicide at the age of 30 (only a month after the book's initial publication), you can expect someone to mention this particular quote from the novel: "How did I know that someday--at college, in Europe, somewhere, anywhere--the bell jar, with its stifling distortions, wouldn't descend again?"
  • Tear Jerker: If you can relate to Esther, then you may get teary-eyed as her condition worsens.
  • True Art Is Angsty: Not as soul-crushingly depressing as other examples of the trope as the ending gives the impression that Esther will be okay and the novel can be comforting to some people.
  • Vindicated by History: Initial reviews weren't particularly generous; now it's taught in high schools and colleges.
  • The Woobie: Esther.
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