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Characters

 * Doctor Nolan is Esther’s doctor at the countryside hospital. She is a slim young woman who manages to connect with Esther more than any other doctor. She also administers shock therapy to Esther and does it correctly, which leads to positive results.
 * Buddy Willard is Esther’s former boyfriend from her hometown. Esther adored him until he slept with a waitress who worked at a restaurant with him. He proposes to her at one point, and Esther laughs it off and then argues with him about how unrealistic and hypocritical he is.
 * Mrs. Willard is Buddy Willard’s mother, a dedicated homemaker, who is determined to set up Buddy and Esther.
 * Jay Cee is Esther’s strict boss who is very intelligent, so “Her plug-ugly look don’t seem to matter” (Plath 6). She is responsible for editing Esther’s work.

Major Themes
The Bell Jar deals with the dilemma of having a socially acceptable identity. The Bell Jar addresses Esther’s “quest to forge her own identity, to be herself rather than what others expect her to be” (Being Born Twice). In the case of Esther, the expectation of her is to become a housewife. Esther has to deal with a society that “encourage[s] women to be self-sufficient while also offering them limited options for achieving [self-sufficience]” . Esther feels uncomfortable with the idea of being a prisoner to domestic duties. To Esther, her greatest fear is the loss of inner self. The Bell Jar also highlights the problems with the patriarchal society in mid-20th Century America. “The oppressive atmosphere of the 1950’s” that women face breaks down their stability. The men in Esther’s life are all oppressive, whether it is in a physical manner or an emotional one. Men in the novel make the women feel like there are no uses for their talents, which are not traditional female talents like cooking, cleaning, and writing in shorthand. The Bell Jar also confronts the issue of having a mentor or a person to emulate. Throughout the course of the novel, Esther is searching for a role model. The problem with this is that all the characters “represent someone in caricature” who she was acquainted with. These people are all doubles of a little part of her personality. For example, the character Joan is said to be the lesbian part of Esther, lesbian meaning “challenging patriarchal society rather than actual sexuality” . Upon examining all possible role models, she realizes that they have some flaw. She struggles to find her ideal woman to emanate the whole novel.

Style
The novel is written using a series of flashbacks that show up parts of Esther’s past. The flashbacks primarily deal with Esther’s relationship with Buddy Willard. The reader also learns more about her early college years. They help the reader to understand where her fear of men and her hatred of her mother comes from.