Kirjasieppo
asked:
What was the reason for Esther's bleeding and why wasn't the reader explained this?
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The Bell Jar,
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Kerri Davis
So here's my theory- it's largely indicative of the inherent misogyny and misdiagnosis of women within the medical fields at the time, but also still arguably relevant today. It also ties into the themes of men having control over women's bodies that you see throughout the book.
This is shown a lot through Buddy and his med student antics and his med school friends. He jokes with Esther that "You oughtn't to see this. You'll never want to have a baby if you do. They oughtn't to let women watch. It'll be the end of the human race" when he takes her to witness a birth. The ambiguity of the doctor's diagnosis at the ER suggests that women's health at this time, what was wrong with them, was never fully explained to them thereby removing autonomy over their own body. This can be seen throughout Esther's stay at the asylum because she seemed to just be shunted around without being positively affirmed or explained to that she was making a progression or a regression. Deliberately not explaining any of this to the reader leaves you with a sense of confusion and helplessness, connecting us with Esther and what she was going through.
This is shown a lot through Buddy and his med student antics and his med school friends. He jokes with Esther that "You oughtn't to see this. You'll never want to have a baby if you do. They oughtn't to let women watch. It'll be the end of the human race" when he takes her to witness a birth. The ambiguity of the doctor's diagnosis at the ER suggests that women's health at this time, what was wrong with them, was never fully explained to them thereby removing autonomy over their own body. This can be seen throughout Esther's stay at the asylum because she seemed to just be shunted around without being positively affirmed or explained to that she was making a progression or a regression. Deliberately not explaining any of this to the reader leaves you with a sense of confusion and helplessness, connecting us with Esther and what she was going through.
Lauren Miertschin
My assumption was this, and I may be way, way off: but Esther was fitted for something, and that something was probably a diaphragm. And something went wrong with that -- possibly was not fitted correctly, or whatever else can go wrong with this device (don't know, but I do recall learning that there were some dangers with this birth control method). Right away, the doctor saw what the problem was, and he said that he could fix it. I just envisioned he was looking at a crooked or misplaced diaphragm -- however, I am really uneducated about this device, so maybe I'm way off.
Sarah
She was in fact hemorrhaging. She does mention it very very briefly that that is what she thinks it is, when she shows up at joans but they never talk about it again.
Jaime
I'm fairly certain she was hemorrhaging. I'm not sure why this wasn't made clear to the reader. Maybe Plath didn't think it was important to focus on the medical aspect of the bleeding, and instead wanted the reader to focus more on the symbolism-- the destruction and difficulty that came with all of Esther's romantic relationships.
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