The bell jar

An autobiographical novel about a young girl-brilliant, beautiful, and successful, but slowly breaking down-written by a poet who later committed suicide.

In this classic coming-of-age novel set in post-World War II America, Esther Greenwood emerges as a double for author Sylvia Plath. A summer internship at a fashion magazine in New York City reveals only the lack of beauty in the young woman's inner life, as Esther succumbs to a pervasive depression that she likens to being trapped beneath the title object, a bell jar, struggling for her next breath. Noted literary scholar Harold Bloom introduces this new title in theBloom's Guidesseries, which also features an annotated bibliography and a listing of other works by the author. Excerpted from Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.