Sylvia Plath is the author of The Bell Jar and was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer (JRSM. June, 2003). The book Bell Jar was published in London a month before Plath's death in January 1963. The book was first published under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas, and then published under Plath's name. Esther Greenwood is the protagonist of The Bell Jar. Esther suffered from mental illness and struggled with a depressive environment and continually worsening madness that led to her suicide and death (JRSM. June, 2003). I think Esther's mental illness was exacerbated by the internal pressure and depressive environment in which she lived. The first internal pressure that helped trigger Esther's madness was the death of her father and hatred for her mother. Esther lost her father when she was 8 years old and was raised by her mother. According to the book, Esther never came to terms with her father's death and continued to grieve. Therefore, Esther was affected mentally by her loss, as seen in her poem “Daddy,” “I Prayed to Make You Well.” She continued to yearn for a male figure who could replace her father. Furthermore, the poor relationship between Esther and her mother contributed to her madness. Esther hated her mother and asked not to visit her when she was hospitalized for mental illness. Furthermore, he complained that his mother questioned the progress of his illness. For example, “she never scolded me, but continued to beg me, with a pained expression, to tell her what she had done wrong” (Plath, p.202). However, Mrs. Greenwood loved Esther even though she was aware of her request not to visit her. Esther showed mental instability when Mrs. Greenwood delivered roses for her birthday. ...... half of the paper ...... which he experienced as society, identity crisis, sex, the female role and so on. Esther's role in the book was clearly written and can be imagined and felt as well as Plath herself. Her being in the bell jar was her way of expressing how she felt trapped and the feeling of being isolated in her mental illness. Reading this book was a challenge for me because it seems too depressing and difficult to relate to. Works Cited Plath, Sylvia. The bell jar. New York: Harper Perennial, 2005. Print.Jay, Meg. The defining decade: Why your twenties matter and how to make the most of them now. New York: The Grand Central Publishing, Hachette Book Group, April 2013. Print.Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine (JRSM). Sylvia Plath and the Depression Continuum, JR Soc Med. June 2003; 96(6): 296–301. PMC ID: PMC539515. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC539515/