Please post a question of your own to consider from tonight's reading.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Discussion Questions for Day Two of _The Bell Jar_
Let's keep Max's question in mind as we discuss Cold War womanhood in tomorrow's class. Consider the life paths open to a young (white) woman in early-1950s America. What adult examples are available to Esther as she envisions (or is forced to envision) a future for herself? How do gendered expectations shape not just her personal plans but also her relationships with men (like Lenny, Buddy, her father, et al.)?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
In chapter 7 Esther talks about Eric and how he tells her about his first sexual experience. Eric goes to a whorehouse and says that having sex is boring. Esther says that maybe having sex with someone you love wouldn't make it seem boring. Eric responded by saying that "it would be spoiled by thinking this woman too was just an animal like the rest, so if he loved her he would never go to bed with her." What is the significance of Eric's statement that having sex with a woman would make her an animal? Why are women being desexualized?
ReplyDelete"Instead of the world being divided up into Catholics and Protestants...I saw the world divided into people who had slept with somebody and people who hadn't..."(82)--Why does Esther see it this way, and how is the issue of staying pure an issue with Esther's feelings toward traditional values?
ReplyDeleteFrom the skiing incident (along with her annoyance at her windows being locked to prevent someone from leaning out [pg 18]), why does it seem that Esther views death as something to be embraced rather than feared?
ReplyDeleteI have feeling that Esther is in the relationship with Buddy because her parents always talked about buddy nicely! For example the scene when she saw him naked, it looked like she didn't care, she was not even thinking about him at that point. So how do we see their relationship? Is there something weird about her, and her descripions?
ReplyDeleteEsther's identity revolved around her academic achievements. How might her leaving college affect her state of mind?
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter 7, Esther's mum mails her a Reader's Digest article, which is written by a "married woman lawyer with children and called 'In Defense of Chastity.'" (p. 81) What does this tell us about societal perspectives on women? How should we see her mum's appeal to an authority to educate her daughter?
ReplyDeleteThe societal conventions of the time seem to dictate that women be divided into two mutually-exclusive categories: virgins and whores. How does Esther reject this categorization? How does she reject other forms of categorization, and why does she feel that being two mutually-exclusive things at the same time is a reasonable option?
ReplyDeleteAs the story continues, Esther starts to prolong the idea of sex. How does it contribute to Esther's personality and identity crisis as the story progresses?
ReplyDeleteEsther also notes that mothers become brainwashed and be slaves to an authoritative state. How does authority and roles of women relate?
ReplyDeleteone of the scenes that caught my attentiion the most was when esther and buddy were watching a baby being delivered, and buddy brought up a drug that makes women feel no pain esther says "i thought it sounded just like the sort of drug a man would invent. Here was a woman in terrible pain,obviously feeling every bit of it or she woudlnt groan like that and she would go straight home and start another baby because the drug would make her forget.." how indicative of common thought is this of the sentiment of women or particularly young women in the time? and to what extent if any are men oppressors or instigators in her mind?
ReplyDeleteAt the point where Buddy has to be sent of because he had caught TB, Esther actually becomes happy in a way. She also thinks that Buddy having TB is a punishment for him for living a double life. Why would Esther be content or even happy about Buddy's health situation? How does it tie back into the issue of sex?
ReplyDeleteHow do Esther's interactions with other women, and her often cynically imagined, perhaps exaggerated, descriptions of her interactions with them influence our opinions of Esther's situation, and more importantly demonstrate Esther's point of view?
ReplyDeleteIn one scene, buddy proposed to esther and his only concern is whether she is seeing other men. When esther confronts and challenges buddy, blatantly pointing out the fallacy in men's reasoning, buddy simply responds with a romantic but irrelevant remark "let me fly with you," as if he does not sense her scorn.How does it show what men perceive of women at that time?
ReplyDeleteEsther comments on the fact that her grandmother and her mother repeatedly tried to teach her how to cook, but she refused. Is this representative of Plath rebuking society's conformist ideals?
ReplyDelete"...I felt happier than i had been since I was about nine and running along the hot white beaches with my father the summer before he died."
ReplyDelete"...I thought how strange it had never occurred to me before that I was only purely happy until I was nine years old."
"After that...I had never been really happy again."
On page 86, these quotations come one after another depicting Esther's take on happiness. What does Esther find that makes her happy? How might her experiences with her father influence her view towards the men she dates (i.e. Constantin)?
In Chapter 9, Marco clearly presents himself as a woman-hater from the start of the date by bruising her arm. Why do you think Ester stays with him for the rest of the night?
ReplyDelete