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The Bell Jar
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The Bell Jar Paperback - 2005

by Sylvia Plath


About this book

The Bell Jar is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Sylvia Plath, published in 1963. It tells the story of Esther Greenwood, a talented and ambitious young woman who struggles with mental illness and societal pressures in the 1950s.


The Bell Jar is a powerful and poignant portrayal of mental health and the pressures faced by young women. Plath's use of language and imagery captures the complexities of Esther's inner world, making the novel a powerful exploration of the human condition.


It’s Plath’s only novel, and the book is often regarded as a roman à clef due to its parallelism with the author’s own experiences and her struggle with mental illness. Plath committed suicide a month after The Bell Jar was first published.

Summary

A student from Boston wins a guest editorship on a national magazine, and finds a new world at her feet. Her New York life is crowded with possibilities, so the choice of future is overwhelming. She is faced with the perennial problems of morality, behaviour and identity. Working in New York one hot summer, Esther Greenwood is on the brink of her future. Yet she is also on the edge of a darkness that makes her world both increasingly unreal and more sharply felt. Plath describes Esther’s experience with a searing clarity: the wide-eyed country girls; her sharp-as-nails friend Doreen and her crazed men-friends; hot dinner dances and nights in New York. But it is a vision coloured by breakdown, making this one of the most vivid, troubled novels about the struggle to grow up.

From the publisher

Esther Greenwood is at college and is fighting two battles, one against her own desire for perfection in all things - grades, boyfriend, looks, career - and the other against remorseless mental illness. As her depression deepens she finds herself encased in it, bell-jarred away from the rest of the world. This is the story of her journey back into reality. Highly readable, witty and disturbing, The Bell Jar is Sylvia Plath's only novel and was originally published under a pseudonym in 1963. What it has to say about what women expect of themselves, and what society expects of women, is as sharply relevant today as it has always been.

First line

IT WAS A QUEER, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York.

First Edition Identification



The Bell Jar
by Sylvia Plath first edition was published by William Simmonds; London, 1963. It was bound black cloth-affect boards with spine lettered. Plath originally published it under the pseudonym "Victoria Lucas". The first edition pictorial dust-jacket was designed by Thomas Simmonds.

Details

  • Title The Bell Jar
  • Author Sylvia Plath
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Edition Unstated
  • Pages 234
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher faber and faber, London
  • Date June 2, 2005
  • ISBN 9780571226160
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The Bell Jar: Sylvia Plath

The Bell Jar: Sylvia Plath

by Plath, Sylvia

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ISBN 13
9780571226160
ISBN 10
0571226167
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The Bell Jar: Sylvia Plath

The Bell Jar: Sylvia Plath

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ISBN 13
9780571226160
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The Bell Jar: Sylvia Plath

The Bell Jar: Sylvia Plath

by Plath, Sylvia

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ISBN 13
9780571226160
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0571226167
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Bell Jar
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Bell Jar

by SYLVIA PLATH

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ISBN 13
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0571226167
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Bell Jar
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Bell Jar

by SYLVIA PLATH

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Paperback
ISBN 13
9780571226160
ISBN 10
0571226167
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The Bell Jar

The Bell Jar

by Sylvia Plath

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ISBN 13
9780571226160
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0571226167
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The Bell Jar

The Bell Jar

by Sylvia Plath

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Paperback
ISBN 13
9780571226160
ISBN 10
0571226167
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The Bell Jar
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

The Bell Jar

by Plath, Sylvia

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Paperback
ISBN 13
9780571226160
ISBN 10
0571226167
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The Bell Jar
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

The Bell Jar

by Plath, Sylvia

  • Used
  • Paperback
Condition
Used:Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780571226160
ISBN 10
0571226167
Quantity Available
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Faber & Faber Children’s, 2005-06-02. Mass Market Paperback. Used:Good.
Item Price
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FREE shipping to USA
The Bell Jar

The Bell Jar

by Plath, Sylvia

  • Used
  • Paperback
Condition
Used
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780571226160
ISBN 10
0571226167
Quantity Available
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Description:
Mass Market Paperback. Publisher: Faber & Faber | | Mass Market Paperback | 240 p. | This book is brand new. | Language: Engelska --- Information regarding the book: Esther Greenwood is at college and is fighting two battles, one against her own desire for perfection in all things - grades, boyfriend, looks, career - and the other against remorseless mental illness. As her depression deepens she finds herself encased in it, bell-jarred away from the rest of the world. This is the story of her journey back into reality. Highly readable, witty and disturbing, The Bell Jar is Sylvia Plath's only novel and was originally published under a pseudonym in 1963. What it has to say about what women expect of themselves, and what society expects of women, is as sharply relevant today as it has always been. | We have this book in our store house - please allow for a couple of extra days for delivery.
Item Price
£16.15
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