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A great deal of the novel concerns with the expectations that others have for Esther with regards to behaviour and her future, as well as the expectations Esther has for other. This is most explicit in the societal expectations that Esther feels concerning decisions about a possible career and family. Sylvias surface perfection was however underlain by grave personal disco A great deal of the novel concerns with the expectations that others have for Esther with regards to behaviour and her future, as well as the expectations Esther has for other. This is most explicit in the societal expectations that Esther feels concerning decisions about a possible career and family. Sylvias surface perfection was however underlain by grave personal discontinuities, some of which doubtless had their origin in the death of her father (he was a college professor and an expert on bees) when she was eight. During the summer following her junior year at Smith, having returned from a stay in New York City where she had been a student guest editor at Mademoiselle Magazine, Sylvia nearly succeeded in killing herself by swallowing sleeping pills. She later described this experience in an autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar, published in 1963. After a period of recovery involving electroshock and psychotherapy Sylvia resumed her pursuit of academic and literary success, graduating from Smith summa cum laude in 1955 and winning a Fulbright scholarship to study at Cambridge, England.

A great deal of the novel concerns with the expectations that others have for Esther with regards to behaviour and her future, as well as the expectations Esther has for other. This is most explicit in the societal expectations that Esther feels concerning decisions about a possible career and family. Sylvias surface perfection was however underlain by grave personal disco A great deal of the novel concerns with the expectations that others have for Esther with regards to behaviour and her future, as well as the expectations Esther has for other. This is most explicit in the societal expectations that...  Read More