The Limitations of Language in Sylvia Path's the Bell
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lilfiitafions i{ilEtfifffi Wh e n The BelI Jar was published in January 1963, Sylvia Plath had less than a month to live. The struggle of those last few weeks has been immortalized and perpetuated in biographies, literary criticism, and the zoor film Syluia. The harsh winter that shut down lnndon, the stmggle of caring for two young children, concerns for money, estrangement from Ted Hughes, her suicide-all of these images color our perceptions of The BeII Jar. Some would even argue that this story has eclipsed the plot of The BeII Jar. The French liter- ary theorist Gerard Genette contends narrators are frames for larger cultural contexts, and ia net sta lla rd isanassistantprofessorof it seems the ultimate narrator of The Bell Jar could be the legend of the last few weeks of plath, her research in- english .on.'poiaion in washington, dc. in addition to sylvia a desperate and depressed Plath. Therefore, it is naive to think we can discuss Sylvia Plath also writes poetry and without referencing her biography. Yet, it is unreasonable to imagine there is nothing else terlests include modern literature and cultural rhetoric. she to say without this context. The BeII Jar is rich with social commentary, particularly in its fiction. discussion of the roles of language and identity formation. This is obscured when we do not consider the larger implications of Plath's work. Biography is a piece ofthe puzzle, but it is by no means the ultimate piece or perhaps even the largest. The BeII Jar can be read as a cautionary tale for women. After all, if every little boy can grow up to be president, what can every little girl be? How does she reconcile this conversation in modern culture? How does this discourse relate to the choices available to her? One particular reason Plath's protagonist struggles with this d1'namic is her choice to see identity as being defined through language. A wife, a professional, an artist-all are exclusive tasks to Esther Greenwood. She sees these words as tightly contained nouns with strict denotations. There seems to be no conversation for reconciling multiple options. Language, therefore, becomes an instrument of constric- tion, translating the limitations of expressing and understanding our own experiences. the limitations of language for her. Indeed, the first line of ?he BelI Jar, "I didn't knowwhat I was doing in NewYork"'is psychotherapist Mary Pipher explores these connections in Reviving ophelia' and author (r). to tell Esther what to say or how to act, she is adrift, tomm-for stable identities by first describing Ameri- not coincidental Without a narrator iiir,". not", tire clifficulty .ruuli"g'u Kate Baldwin contends that "f for nurturing their inner selves not able to "do." To further indicate Esther's misplaced compass, can culture as one that demani. gi.f. .i.k being isolated She Plath's decision to use a first-person narrator "is also present as a warning" (24). The vast- to a"itft"t strict intetpt"tution of what it means to be female' or limiting themr"lu", ,..o.iirrg and constructs. Plath 'f.*J"-iilp".ron"to..'*ho fit-th"it *hole selves into small' crowded ness ofthe city foreshadows the deconstruction offormerly clear signals contends "girls b""o-" with "fake, country-wet freshness that . (rr). a way of successfully expressing carefully notes how the city mirrors this eventuality .p"""J""[,fr"iiri, u "proft"rn *iih no nam"" Without victims of America's . evaporated . [m]irage-gray. the hot streets waverling]" (r); it cannot be pinned down experience n. .ignifrrrg it with a name,_girls are left frustrated, this to a certainty, which is also supported by Esther's effusiveness. Choosing the right words is .,girl-poisoning. ".ro"n ."rutt is that '{mlost girls choose to_be socially.accepted culture trzj]ftl (26)' when to buckle under this tension, she notes "something was is authentic and one that is culturally scripted" In a struggle, and Esther begins and split into two."luu., o*ih"t wrong with me that summer . all the little successes I'd totted up so happily at college *rtoirt"v toppot"d to be (27)' It is compelling that Pipher chooses ;;blilthtbe;o-u-since the role that fizzled to nothing outside the slick marble and plate-glass fronts along Madison Avenue" (z). rstt er's"r" prediciment centers-on the inabifity to reconcile i;;i;;;;".tpf want to edit this script' Language, the mode that has defined every inch of her identity, has begun to fail her. been written for frer with ihe inner thoughts that desperately has builds To compound this void, New York City serves as a microcosm of America's confusing in ianguos" exprissions oflanguage, a troubling tension When identitv is tangl"d ""a and competing identities. In her zoo6 study of Plath's relationship to the Cold War, Sally between desire and exPectation. girl who has it Bayley sees America as "a culture that defamiliarizes and depersonalizes, a culture in which trr. .t*ggiu or Esther Greenwood. she appearsto-be the Herein lies the protective boundaries ofthe private realm are persistently opened up to a direct encoun- enviable, and successful-all neatly defined terms'-However' all*she is seen as intelligefi (rS8). supports, America's national rhetoric defines are exclusive, and this limitation of language ter with the rhetoric of nation" As Bayley ;t l. orrfy n.tfru.t p"r""pio' it at these terms practice. is,reinforced since "[w]e how language molds and changes our perceptions of reality, both in theory and in the scripts ,lr"'.p"of.. and ferforms. This slipperiness destabilizes who it is possible In the novel's 1953 setting, the impending execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg domi- problems socially sustained dft.o.t.tu" about face of recognition'b"cause nates the news; this exposure represents the danger inherent in unclear identity boundaries, or appropriate o. rratu"lt. io t" inet'itaUtv strape the wav we lo"Yl,ll9,t::-tltluteourselves' r95os culture, there and Plath reinforces how this is expressed in language. Plath consciously chooses to focus on of and tenslo"" icalhounz4). In Esther's with varying deg."", ogoil.- the many newspaper articles covering the event to emphasize the relationship between sto- isnocliscourseontto**o*"tcanbemultiplydefined'and'therefore'.nolanguagetode- "Eth- inadequacy rising out ofher, she rytelling and identity. Actual newspapers from that time painstakingly mythologized it. So when Esther a""r t.V io *tfralize the feelings of scribe outside el Rosenberg's status as a bad mother" (Baldwin z5). The reworking of a public, maternal is either silencea ny unottt". Jna"Jer or in her own seli-rapproch:T-ll l:t-t-Ltl]tingto guide their social identity is compelling because it indicates culture mandating the exposure and persecution of what she beli"u". to U" tt not*. Storytelling is a *ay foiittdit'iduals. guide action; that ofthose who fall out oftraditional storylines. Additionally, the Rosenbergs'execution rep- n. " and iloria i. Gibson contend: "stories performances. uurgrr"t so-"., the sense public theatre that drives identity performance. The couple appeared multiple and changing) by locating-themselves or being resents of people construct identities dr"owever be spies who were hemorrhaging (gz). Esther perpetually.faces individuals as a "normal" American family, but they were revealed to located within a r"pertoi.e'li stories" how Esther is co- security secrets. This haunts Esther as it represents how her identity's thin veneer is peeling i-*iror" tt n.r.iatives"*piott"a on her psyche, and this indicates ;;;;";r;n through nar- away and the horrible tmths that can be exposed through language. Just as she is working to "l. u n".."tirru.or.. Siince"experience is co-nstituted ;il;-* ;;;;;"of .o*pfuiinf perform the role of perfect daughter, perfect student, perfect worker, the Rosenbergs point g"iauJtJact in certain ways and not others, on the basis of projections, ;;rt*;-. ;".p1. public, to the danger of such connotations. The dread of their execution rests on Esther's conscience i"a "r"*.-o;". a"rived from a . .limited repertoire of-available social' to conform to these as a reminder of this. ".p".i"ti.ir,cultural narratives" (so-utr and Gibson 98-39). Estier's inability and can- Likewise, work is a profound example of how public and private rhetoric shape iden- e"iomers and Gibson noie, stories prompt action, but if Esther scripts is seen as failure. is a scholarship winner, a successful writer, an excellent student and conform- ,t *hreat of altering, even failing, the story. Plath's deci- tity. Esther not keep up, l.rer in-actio, Gii". ing to the expectations of these terms is painfully rewarding. Esther and her fellow guest inai"rtes" how invest-ed she is in cultural story"telling' This sion to use a first-person nuilnlo. positions, and they are compensated not only socially, but pf"trrt having Esther tell her story instead of delivering it editors all won a contest for their diegesis indicates i-p"t"tive.in since working on an extra-diegetic level monetarily. Plath writes that the girls are rewarded for their manipulation oflanguage a third-person, i,"i-"ioaiug"tic narratiie system. through to make "writing essays and stories and poems and fashion blurbs" gave birth to jobs (g). The terms priuot. fo*ii like letters or diaries express€s Esther's desire that is not based in u 'gave" and 'Job" rweal how truly disparate Esther's language is. This rhetoric indicates that ianluage. Building on Gerard Genette's work in narratolory' Su- sense of the wor1l througtr herself an by impllng she was rewarded for her hard work with "c-an be equated with a publi-c readership" (6zr)' she expresses in oxymoron san S.