Quotes from book
The Bell Jar

The Bell Jar
Sylvia Plath

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 photo

“I would catch sight of some flawless man off in the distance, but as soon as he moved closer I immediately saw he wouldn’t do at all.”

Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar

Variant: The same thing happened over and over: I would catch sight of some flawless man in the distance, but as soon as he moved closer I immediately saw he wouldn’t do at all.
Source: The Bell Jar

Sylvia Plath photo

“I decided I would put off the novel until I had gone to Europe and had a lover, and that I would never learn a word of shorthand. If I never learned shorthand I would never have to use it.”

Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar

Source: The Bell Jar

Sylvia Plath photo

“I'm never going to get married."
"You're crazy." Buddy brightened. "You'll change your mind."
"No. My mind's made up.”

Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar

Source: The Bell Jar

Sylvia Plath photo

“I woke to the sound of rain.”

Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar

Source: The Bell Jar

Sylvia Plath photo

“Then I decided I would spend the summer writing a novel.

That would fix a lot of people.”

Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar

Source: The Bell Jar

Sylvia Plath photo

“So I began to think maybe it was true that when you were married and had children it was like being brainwashed, and afterward you went about as numb as a slave in some private, totalitarian state.”

Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar

Source: The Bell Jar (1963), Ch. 7

Sylvia Plath photo

“There must be quite a few things a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them.”

Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar

Source: The Bell Jar (1963), Ch. 2

Sylvia Plath photo

“I didn't really see why people should look at me. Plenty of people looked queerer than I did.”

Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar

Source: The Bell Jar

Sylvia Plath photo

“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York.”

Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar

Source: The Bell Jar (1963), Ch. 1, Opening line

Sylvia Plath photo

“I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, "This is what it is to be happy.”

Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar

Source: The Bell Jar

Sylvia Plath photo

“I am I am I am.”

Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar

Source: The Bell Jar

Sylvia Plath photo

“I laid my face to the smooth face of the marble and howled my loss into the cold salt rain.”

Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar

Source: The Bell Jar

Sylvia Plath photo

“I was supposed to be having the time of my life.”

Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar

Source: The Bell Jar

Sylvia Plath photo

“I hated to serve men in any way.”

Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar

Source: The Bell Jar