How do the authors of 'The Bell Jar' and 'Surfacing' depict madness?

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Alexandra Gaunt                English Literature Coursework

How do the authors of “The Bell Jar” and “Surfacing”

depict madness?

In Sylvia Plath’s ‘The Bell Jar’ and Margaret Atwood’s ‘Surfacing’, the concept of madness is an essential component for the exploration of the novels main characters. However, the two protagonists are shown to be affected, and react, in very different ways, making a considerable difference to the ways these two characters are dealt with. On the one hand there is Plath’s Esther, who is shown to be a source of interest to the public, as shown by the articles Joan shows her.  Yet the unnamed narrator of ‘Surfacing’ feels alienated by her friends, who don’t understand her at all, and she is left alone to deal with her state of mind.  The two novels go very far in their exploration of mental instability, yet the extent of both characters illnesses is debatable; is Esther really ill, or does she feel she needs to suffer in order to gain recognition? In addition to this, the character in Surfacing loses grip on her sanity only momentarily, so how far can it be described as madness? It could just as easily be interpreted as an exploration of herself, a reaction to either her father’s death, or the return to her childhood home. The most integral part of both novels is how both protagonists see themselves, their lack of responsibility for themselves, as well as their interpretation of other characters.

The notion of superiority and gods plays a significant part in both novels, for as Atwood depicts her character as creating gods and boundaries, Esther is shown to be much more flippant with her mortality, taking it as her own, even going so far as to attempt suicide. As a means of responding to her psychological issues, Esther repeatedly experiments with different methods of suicide; hanging- “That morning I had tried to hang myself.”, drowning- “I thought I would swim out until I was too tired to swim back.”, overdose- “I unscrewed the bottle of pills and started taking them swiftly”  and slashing her wrists- “I had locked myself in the bathroom, and run a tub full of warm water, and taken out a Gillette blade.”, though admittedly the majority of these attempts come across as half-hearted. The variation in her choices implies she is simply testing the water, to see where her limits lie, and that she is not altogether serious in her endeavours.  Yet on the other hand, the range of methods could suggest an attempt by Esther to make the right choice, a theme that can be seen throughout the novel, represented by the fig tree. This is strengthened by the fact that Esther does not even attempt to kill herself with a gun, for she feels “the risks of a gun seemed great.” Is she commenting on the chances she might not kill herself properly with it, or is it more the fact she could become horribly disabled or disfigured? Looking at Esther’s calm, and somewhat impressed reaction to her repulsive appearance after her overdose, it seems much more likely that it is the former. Not only that, but shortly after stating that “drowning must be the kindest way to die”, she attempts to drown herself, showing, in contrast to her opinions of suicide with a gun, her preference to calmer, more romantic methods of suicide. By choosing to kill herself, Esther is, in a way, playing God- a stark contrast to the protagonist of ‘Surfacing’, who instead creates gods. The gods she creates are closely linked with “the power” she so often mentions, which she actively seeks. ‘The power’ is sometimes shown in herself, yet on the other hand it is also often depicted to be beings over which she has no control, which could indicate the protagonists disorder in her life; she appears to have no goals, she doesn’t conform to society, which compels her to observe “being socially retarded is like being mentally retarded, it arouses in others disgust and pity and the desire to torment and reform.” Her use of comparison to mental backwardness is significant in that she uses language to display her feelings of powerlessness throughout the novel, as she often finds herself with an inability to use language appropriately. When talking to David, she finds she “had to concentrate in order to talk to him, the English words seemed imported, foreign; it was like trying to listen to two separate conversations, each interrupting the other.”

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 In Chapter 4 she refers to some beans that she used to believe “if I could get some of them and keep them for myself I would be all powerful”. This shows how the narrator viewed herself as a person without power, reflecting her isolation during her youth, and her reaction to the unsuitable religious and gender roles pressed upon her. These factors also contribute to her deciding that when she has a child, she “will never teach it any words.” an indication that she believes the sophistication of others who have mastered language and society have “turned [them] against ...

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