The Bell Jar examines a young women's struggle to adjust to society's standards of glamor and success, while trying to conquer her own mental demons. Ester Greenwood's journey celebrates growth through pain and rebirth, and acknowledges the emptiness in traditional expectations. I especially found the evolution of Esther's view on life intriguing: first she experiences the fruits of life (marriage proposal, internship at magazine in NY), then instead of finding reasons to live she wants to die, and after her suicide attempt she simply decides to just survive.
This is a marvelous modern classic all young women should have under their belt. Plath published this roman a clef a month before her suicide in 1963.

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