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.
Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar
Variant: If neurotic is wanting two mutually exclusive things at one and the same time, then I'm neurotic as hell. I'll be flying back and forth between one mutually exclusive thing and another for the rest of my days.
Source: The Bell Jar (1963), Ch. 8
“Only I wasn't steering anything, not even myself.”
Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar
Source: The Bell Jar
“I felt dull and flat and full of shattered visions.”
Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar
Source: The Bell Jar
“When they asked me what I wanted to be I said I didn't know.”
Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar
Source: The Bell Jar
“The more hopeless you were, the further away they hid you.”
Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar
Source: The Bell Jar
