In the fifties, when the novel takes place, women were also expected to be virgins until marriage, whereas men, on the other hand, were expected to be experienced with sex. In The Bell Jar Esther thinks that Buddy should alsohave been a virgin since he acts innocent as if he was, and she got very angry when she found out he was not.
When Esther is in the private hospital she does not fit in with the other women there either. The other women,have already been pushed into the roles as housewives, which for many were dysfuncional. The women do no ‘fit’ into these roles, where they are at home, alone, and do not og out much, and they live only to serve their husbands. The other women at the hospital are still concerned with their cheating husbands, while as an intellectual, Esther is concerned with learning to practice birthcontrol so she can have sex without the burden of worry over pregnancy. Esther is lucky getting the feminist psychiatrist, Doctor Nolan. She nurtures Esther, gives her time away from her mother, is honest and helps her get birth control.
Esther’s mom is a picture of the weight society places on women. She has a very difficult life, with little money and two children for whom she wants the best opportunities.
Women being placed in a constricted role in society live as if in a bell jar, able to see the outside world of exciting work and self-determined men, but unable to live in it.
This is the situation Esther is in.
It sums up a lot of women’s situation in the fifties and even today in many societies, and that is what makes the novel universal.
