Bell Jar #9

Esther says that she ‘would be sitting under the glass bell jar, stewing in my own sour air’. She saying that she feels trapped wherever she goes, whether it be an asylum or her home. Everywhere she goes and whomever she meets tries to shape her, make her more like them. And Esther is vulnerable to this because throughout the book she has been on a quest to find out who she is. At first she thought she was more like Doreen, only to realize she didn’t quite fit in. Then, it was Jody, but she still didn’t fit in. She feels trapped under a bell jar that’s preventing her from living. There is also pressure to conform to society and start a family. She flip-flops with this to. Everyone around her has been controlling her making her feel trapped under a bell jar.

Bell Jar #8

Esther is transported from the hospital to an asylum quite different from those of her past, a place called Caplan. It was comforting, none like the one Dr. Gordon placed her in. It was like a resort you stay at when you go on vacation. It had a golf course, continuous badminton games, weekly movies and OT- I don't know what that is. It didn't seem like an asylum for the deranged. It was a happy, warm and comforting place even for Esther. She appeared to almost enjoy it there. Even the doctors were kind to her, which is a huge difference for Esther. She was expecting the doctors to be like Dr. Gordon. The whole place seemed like a trap. A trap set in order to keep Esther in; hence, all the nice things available to keep the crazys busy. And this is what would have happened if she had been forced to stay. I think she would have become accustomed to the place and grown old there.

bell Jar #7

• What is wrong with Esther? Why does she try to kill herself?

The problem with Esther is that she hates herself, so much so that she would try and kill herself- which she has attempted to a few times already. According to her, she hasn’t slept in over a month. She can only read scandal sheets and her psychology books that inform her about what is wrong with her. Esther claims that she has no brain, and that by going to the beach with Jody would expose her lack of brains. She doesn’t find joy in anything she does anymore. Everything she does seems to turn out for the worse, such as when she goes to the hospital to help people who are worse off than she. But when Esther attempts to give flowers to the pregnant ladies, they get mad at her for not having the flowers they wanted on account of her throwing away the dead ones.

Bell Jar #6

Esther didnt like Dr. Gordon for a few different reasons. Shortly put, she didnt like him because he was conceited. She prejudged that he would be one of those heart warming doctors that understands what's happening to you and concoct a diagnosis just like that. But he didn't. Through his questions, he made it seem like nothing was seemingly wrong with her. He was also one of those people who are very passionate about tapping with some part of their body as if they were in a band. This greatly annoyed Esther. She really didn't like all the things he did unconsciously. He also did that stereotypical doctor- nod thing whenever she spoke. In her first session with him, nothing quite happened. Not much was said or done. It seemed like he was more interested in whether the station at her college was called WAC or WAVES.

I don't think Dr. Gordon had any good effects on her. Because of all the things that he did which angered her, it seemed like it was making her feel worse inside. Like when he asked he what she thought was wrong with her. To her, it made it seem like he was inferring that nothing was in fact wrong.

Bell Jar #5

When Esther returns to Boston she hears the news of her literature course that she had been awaiting so long to hear about. Her mother tells her first thing that she didn't get accepted. This basically tears her apart making her seem a little depressed. In fact, she begins to lose sleep for days at a time, and becomes unable to read. Her night with Marco made her mad but nothing to intense. She was even kinda proud about breakin' his nose, and kept the blood on her face for the train ride. But, as I said, when she heard of her un-acceptance into the course, she broke down. She became very hermit-like. The night with Marco did put her down a little, but the news of her course was the icing on the cupcake.

Bell Jar #4

Throughout the book we have gotten the notion from Esther that she wants to have sex. This is what she wants to get from Constantin. She wants him for her booty call; although she never comes out and says she wants to have sex with him. She does; however, give him sexual innuendoes. She even lays down on his bed. But, this fail to get his attention to what she really wants. Instead, he just goes and lays down beside her falling asleep. The furthest they go is when he holds her hand. Its not that he didn't quite understand what she was doing, but more so he wanted to be a gentleman. I think his choice to not have sex with her on their first date was a noble one.

Bell Jar #3

Esther had always worshipped Buddy, but now she thinks of him as a hypocrit. When they were dating he revealed that he had cheated on her with a waitress. With that in mind, she broke it off with him. And now that he is recovering from Tuberculosis, he wants to marry her. She found it odd that she had loved him so much from afar, but now that he wants to marry her, she loathes him. She was happy that he had TB, because this way she wouldn’t have to seem him for a while. Esther wanted him to respect her and her work, her writing. She wanted him to be honest to her as well. Because he wanted her to be honest with her and he wasn’t she wanted him to leave her alone.

Bell Jar #2

Esther gets out of chemistry in college by asking the dean if she could take the class without getting a grade, so that she could take a Shakespeare class. This was obviously a complete lie. While she was suppose to be taking notes she was actually writing poems instead. She might find science overwhelming because it is very systematical, which isn't how her brain works. She' a literature person. Science, especially chemistry, can be very confusing and it seems that Esther is confused about herself a lot of the time. She doesn't even know what exactly she's dong in New York. Therefore, it's not a surprise that she would find the sciences so overwhelming.

Bell Jar #1

The that begins the book starts with 'it was queer, sultry summer...' Queer is defined as being strange and odd. This suggests that she felt awkward being in New York away from her natural habitat. Sultry means hot and humid, which shows that Esther feels pressured and suffocated. 'They electrocuted the Rosenbergs.' The key word here is 'they', meaning that she didn't agree with their electrocution. But as it turns out, late concrete evidence was found that proved they were giving away secrets to the communists. The sentence ends with ' I didn't know what I was doing in New York', which means just that. She doesn't know her reasons for being there. She may have a place in mind where she would rather be.

Mona Lisa Smile 2

From the start, it was obvious that Joan Brandwyn highly reflected values of the 1950s. Though Joan wished to go to law school, she wanted to be married. For her, the choice was one or the other. Katherine told her that she could do both, but Joan wasn’t certain in her ability. For a while she was satisfied with just being a housewife, but later she began to think otherwise. Katherine continuously reminded her of her capability to go to law school and get married. Giving her the nudge she needed, Katherine handed Joan an application to Yale’s School of Law. This finally convinced her to really think about law school, and she filled it out completely. Instead of being trapped in an unequal marriage like most of her classmates, she decided to educate herself beyond the normal 4 years. She became independent which was different for the 50s. She wasn’t going to become an unhappy housewife like Betty Warren.

Mona Lisa Smile 1

Mona Lisa Smile portrays the time period of the 1950s as a time of male dominance. There were college courses that informed women on how to be good housewives. They were taught to satisfy the needs of their husbands rather than making a career of their own. The men could basically do whatever they wanted. In the movie, a teacher named Dunbar is able to get away with sleeping with the students. But when a teacher gives out a contraceptive to a student, she is immediately fired. The movie makes it seems as if everyone has significant other-even the anti-social nerds. It also shows that amidst this male dominance there are some that aren't willing to give in to society's pressure. Giselle is one of these rebels that doesn't conform. 

The setting also portrays the 1950s well. The house's and buildings are all very neat and orderly. It's very similar to the way the houses in Pleasantville looked.