Quotes from bookThe Bell Jar
The Bell Jar is the only novel written by the American writer and poet Sylvia Plath. Originally published under the pseudonym "Victoria Lucas" in 1963, the novel is semi-autobiographical, with the names of places and people changed. The book is often regarded as a roman à clef because the protagonist's descent into mental illness parallels Plath's own experiences with what may have been clinical depression or bipolar II disorder. Plath died by suicide a month after its first UK publication. The novel was published under Plath's name for the first time in 1967 and was not published in the United States until 1971, in accordance with the wishes of both Plath's husband, Ted Hughes, and her mother. The novel has been translated into nearly a dozen languages.
“If you expect nothing from somebody you are never disappointed.”
Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar
Source: The Bell Jar (1963), Ch. 5
Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar
Variant: It was comforting to know I had fallen and could fall no farther.
Source: The Bell Jar
“I could feel the winter shaking my bones and banging my teeth together.”
Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar
Source: The Bell Jar
Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar
Variant: The trouble was, I had been inadequate all along, I simply hadn't thought about it.
Source: The Bell Jar
“Everything people did seemed so silly, because they only died in the end.”
Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar
Source: The Bell Jar
“I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;
I lift my lids and all is born again.”
Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar
"Mad Girl's Love Song" http://www.angelfire.com/tn/plath/madgirl.html (1953) from Collected Poems (1981) <br class="br">Variant: I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead; I lift my eyes and all is born again. <br class="br">Source: The Bell Jar
“There is nothing like puking with somebody to make you into old friends.”
Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar
Source: The Bell Jar
“I never feel so much myself as when I'm in a hot bath.”
Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar
Source: The Bell Jar (1963), Ch. 2
“I wanted to be where nobody I knew could ever come.”
Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar
Source: The Bell Jar
“I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart: I am, I am, I am.”
Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar
Variant: I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart: I am, I am, I am.
Source: The Bell Jar (1963), Ch. 20
“I couldn’t see the point of getting up. I had nothing to look forward to.”
Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar
Source: The Bell Jar
