Eva’s Reviews > The Bell Jar > Status Update

Esther loses her virginity and thinks she is dying. Joan hangs herself, and Esther does not seem too distressed. Buddy visits Esther, and h makes her shovel snow. Esther discusses with the doctors her leaving.

Esther is transferred to a new mental hospital. Joan is there, and all the women seem like they are well. Esther doesn't like it much there, and she doesn't seem to be recovering.

Esther goes to a new mental hospital which seems much more pleasant. The novel's name is referenced, with Esther stating that she feels like she is trapped in a "bell jar." Joan is in Esther's mental hospital.

Esther describes her various suicide attempts. She goes on an outing with Joan and meets a guy named Cal. She escapes him and tries to drown herself. She then sits at the beach and debates suicide.

Esther begins seeing a psychiatrist, and he suggests she receive shock therapy. Before that, she meets a young sailor in Boston and strolls around the city with him. After her first round of shock therapy, Esther refuses to see the psychiatrist again.

Esther explains how she broke things off with Buddy and prevented getting judged by her college classmates. She stated that Buddy had TB, therefore she just told people this and they left her alone. She is enjoying her date with Constantin, and she wants to sleep with him to get even with Buddy.

Esther tells the story of her relationship with Buddy Willard and explains how she grew to not like him. He invited her to the Yale Junior Prom, where they had their first kiss. She went to visit him in medical school and watched a baby being born the day she shadowed him. He appeared to be a nice Christian man, but Esther finds out that he is not a virgin.

We find out that the main character's name is Esther Greenwood. She gets poisoned at a Ladies' Day luncheon from crabmeat salad. This created dramatic irony because she was talking about how she would rather have her grandfather's avocado pear sauce than crabmeat, and then she is later poisoned. Doreen didn't go to the luncheon so she has to care for all of the sick girls. She brings Esther soup.

Doreen is dropped off outside Sylvia's door, and she vomits on the ground. Sylvia decides to distance herself from Doreen, but we later see her regret this. Sylvia goes to a luncheon, and she eats a lot of caviar.

Sylvia goes with Doreen to meet these two guys at a bar, and Doreen grows fond of the guy Lenny, while Sylvia doesn't care for Frankie, she thinks he's too short. Doreen goes back to Lenny's house, and Sylvia follows, going by the name of Elly. Then, Sylvia goes back home and we see her go into a depressive state.