The Bell Jar
Victoria Lucas (pseudonym for Sylvia Plath)
The Ohio State University Rare Books and Manuscripts Library
PS3566.L27 B4 1964
This first edition novel written by Sylvia Plath under her pen name, Victoria Lucas, is an in-depth look at a woman who persues her own interests. The story follows a woman's descent into mental illness, but first recounts her educational and career paths. The main character is a young woman who goes off to college to pursue and education and constantly worries about getting pregnant. A fear which is still prevelant in women's minds today. The anxiety of pregnancy is daunting for a women during this period in her life. While women may want to explore their sexuality during this stage of life, the repercussions of those decisions could be steep. The societal expectation of this time was for a mother to stay home and raise her children, which could mean the end of her pursuit of an education or a career. This fear is exemplified through Plath's main character and her unwillingness to explore her sexuality due to her overwhelming fear of getting pregnant. She feels that there ability to have children will always make her inferior to men.
This novel is a semi-autobiographical narrative of Plath's life. She changes the names of characters and places, but not all the people mentioned in this novel are painted in a very good light. Plath wrote this novel under a pseudonym for this very reason.