How does the author's treatment of relationships effect the characterisation of the heroines in

There is a parallel in the way that both of the writers create central characters whose relationships with others lack warmth and genuine affection, but are brimming with selfish motives and a desire to make an impact on others. Both novels are full of deception, for example Esther lies to herself and others about her happiness and mental health in order to maintain an acceptable social image. Helga is perhaps most successful at deceiving herself, particularly in her passive willingness to embrace religion and marry Reverend Mr. Pleasant Green, which cannot help but strike the reader as an unexpected and rather false turn of events – a cop out for both the writer and the character. Conversely, both novels end with a specific style that alluringly reveals the astutely organised structural harmony of two stories about two seemingly different people, who share the experience of eventfully tumbling through society, only to return to where they began; dealing with discontentment with their lives, accompanied by an acceptance that they are powerless to make this change, because whatever they do, wherever they go, it seems they will never maintain the happiness that others seem to take for granted.

Even the titles of both novels suggest this overwhelming, all-consuming and suffocating inevitability. The powerful imagery of a “bell jar, with its stifling distortions” that pervades the pages of the novel compliments perfectly the poetic mastery of Plath’s voice. For Esther, her personal depression was akin to having a bell jar descend over her, altering her views of the outside world, suffocating her by forcing her to breathe the same contaminated air over and over, making her feel like a spectacle, something untouchable that should be stared at with a dismissive wonder. Larsen’s title of “Quicksand” is not dealt with as directly as this within the novel itself, but it too denotes a feeling of helplessness, of being drawn into something against which it is futile to struggle. In “The Bell Jar”, Esther is remembering the months before her attempted suicide, striving to make sense of her experience, and the relationships she recalls inform the reader about her personality, her mindset and also expose her “doubleness”; the incompatible differences between what she feels inside about circumstances and people and what she actually says and does. This inability to act directly on one’s desires is reflected in “Quicksand”, although the level to which Helga is conscious of this behaviour is diminutive in comparison to Esther who repeatedly examines her own neurotically illusory tendencies. For example there are several accounts of Esther being talked at in a patronising manner, particularly by Buddy Willard. The way he belittles her desire to write poetry is an example of this; he proudly informs Esther that poems are “A piece of dust” and although she disagrees with this, she simply says, “I guess so”. She then goes on to explain that she “spent a lot of time having imaginary conversations with Buddy Willard…with me answering him back quite sharply, instead of just sitting around and saying ‘I guess so’”, an example of her double identity, synonymous with other admissions such as “year after year of doubleness and smiles and compromise”, “but of course I never came right out and said so”, and “but when I hung up I didn’t feel one bit sorry. I only felt a wonderful relief”. This habit of outwardly expressing one thing when feeling the opposite on the inside is easy to denounce in others but is something that many people are guilty of, therefore by exposing this tenuous relationship between the private self and the public self, Plath is encouraging the reader to engage with Esther’s internal dialogue and consider whether this could in fact apply to their own lives. This approach of trying to force the reader to question his or her own lives can be found in “Quicksand”, as although many people may be disappointed with Helga when settles for the Reverend, and may wish for her to have taken the a risk and pursued further her feelings towards Robert Anderson, we are nevertheless able to recognise this tendency to take the easy route in our own lives; to live life regretting having not followed your heart for fear that the consequences may be difficult or socially unacceptable, is arguably not to live at all – yet most people will admit to being guilty of this. By sharing with the reader her own experiences is she inviting them to learn from her mistakes?  

Both characters gain a sense of well-being and elevated power when they do act upon their impulses, although Helga is more willing to object to her situation openly, whereas Esther never truthfully voices her protests, but instead inwardly blames others for her misfortunes, particularly Buddy, who is introduced as the one “responsible” for Esther seeing a cadaver, an image that “floated up” in her mind “For weeks afterwards”, “like some black, noseless balloon stinking of vinegar”, an innovative description that is typical of Plath’s poetic style. Using relationships to seek the admiration of others occurs in both novels. Esther’s excitement at being invited to the prom by Buddy is founded on an aspiration to have an enviable boyfriend so as to earn the approval of her peers, rather than any genuine interest in Buddy. Similarly, when Constantine asks her to go “up to his apartment to hear some balalaika records”, she smiles to herself and says, “I’m very fond of balalaika music”. This verbal irony is funny because the reader knows that she is pretending to like his unusual music tastes so that she can go to his room and lose her virginity to spite Buddy. Helga’s easy dismissal of her fiancé James Vayle at the beginning of the novel is indicative of her general attitude towards men. The novel claims “The fact that they were a ‘first family’ had been one of James’s attractions for the obscure Helga. She had wanted social background”, similarly, when she marries the Reverend, she does not do so out of love, but rather because she seems to believe that it will be the answer to all of her problems, that it will transform her into something acceptable, someone capable of accepting herself and happiness. It is clear from the closing pages of the novel that this is not the case, and indeed the story of Helga Crane’s life as told by Larsen ends quite bleakly, with the sense that Helga had in fact submitted to unhappiness completely, by submitting to a loveless marriage and the everyday regularities of motherhood. There is a parallel to this in “The Bell Jar”, as the reader is told that Esther does have a baby at some point, but the outcome for her does not seem as bleak or contrived, as the reader may feel that Esther’s journey was not completely fruitless, and that she may have made some psychological progress.    

The reader’s personal reaction to a character can depend very much on his or her own background and personality, but there is a great deal that the author can do to try and manipulate the response. What a reader takes away from a piece of literature is determined to a certain extent by whether they feel they can relate to a character, whether they feel they can trust them and whether they like or respect them. The inadequacy that both Helga and Esther feel in their surroundings will encourage some readers to empathise with them, whereas their seeming frailty and willingness to let people down on what may seem like a whim will only serve to annoy other readers who will take an instant dislike to these neurotically erratic women.      

The protagonists in both novels enter unfamiliar worlds; from a humble background Esther enters the “marvellous, elaborate decadence that attracted [her] like a magnet” of New York, and similarly Helga Crane arrives in New York as an escape from “Chicago’s indifferent unkindness”, which had also been a plea for escape, from Naxos, the school that she had taught at in the south. The whole novel is punctuated by Helga’s attempts to escape the present, the place’s she finds herself in, the lives she builds for herself. This perpetual running away is echoed in “The Bell Jar”, most poignantly perhaps by Esther’s attempted suicide. This seemingly inherent need to keep moving, to run away, seems to be fuelled by an underlying feeling of not belonging, of being different from others combined with the inevitability that wherever she is, whatever she is doing, before long she will become restless and dissatisfied. The source of this agitation seems to be their lack of peace with their background. For Helga this is namely her mixed race parentage and unstable childhood, and for Esther a father she can barely remember, and a mother whose love towards her she does not believe is unconditional. An example of this for Helga is in chapter twelve she moves to Copenhagen to live with her mother’s sister. On the journey over there, her excitement at the prospect of a brighter future unmarred by the restrictions of her racial background is evident in the way that, despite the tumultuous weather, she spends a lot of time on deck “revelling like a released bird in her returned feeling of happiness and freedom, that blessed sense of belonging to herself alone and not to a race”.    

In conclusion, although these novels are thematically different, the way in which the author’s deal with relationships can appear rather similar, for example the important role that relationships play in understanding the author’s intentions, and also in expressing their ideas. In “The Bell Jar”, it is Esther’s analytical, introspective approach to relationships that exposes her neurotic character, which the reader is able to fully appreciate due to the personal narrative technique, which is why Plath’s writing is so psychologically captivating. This too can be said of “Quicksand”, although the effect on the reader is perhaps not as definitive, as the character is arguably less rounded, less developed and less realistic as she we do not delve as deeply into her psyche as we do that of Esther Greenwood’s.