The Symbolism Behind The Bell Jar's Book Cover - Connor Guarnieri
Literally, a bell jar is a glass casing used for creating a vacuum, usually made for science experiments or gardening. This leads me to the cover of the book. The flower represents Esther, which was trapped in the figurative bell jar. We learn very quickly in the book that Esther is very unwell, and struggling with societal pressures, like marriage and abstinence, as well as loneliness. This leads to a steady decline in her psyche throughout the book. The flower is wilting in this image, showing how Esther herself is wilting, and losing her will to live. “I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked...I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.” The fig tree itself is ]wilting and dying, as she can't figure out her future. You can also see the fig tree metaphor in the flower image, with the dead leaves littered around the flower.
Flowers are a symbol of femininity in literature and myth, and the depiction of the wilting flower shows Esther's refusal of the traditional things expected of women in the 1900s. Another part of Esther's breakdown associated in the cover was her absolute feeling of loneliness. Flowers are usually seen in a bouquet, together in bunches. However, this rose is all alone, representing Esther's utter loneliness.
On the backside of the cover, you can see countless other petals picked off and discarded at the bottom of the page. I see these as all of her suicide attempts, and her time in the psychiatric hospital, each of those things took a lot from her, but they still remain. This is what she describes as her landscape at the end of the book, something she needs to remember. "A bad dream. I remembered everything...Maybe forgetfulness , like a kind snow, should numb and cover them. but they were a part of me. They were my landscape. Overall, this book cover foreshadows Esther's struggle in the book, and offers a poetic metaphor to Sylvia Plath's life.
Hi Connor, even though my copy doesn't share the same cover art as yours, I recognize some of the overarching themes that you mentioned. Femininity is a major theme and I agree with your interpretation of the wilting flowers on your book's cover as Esther's disagreement and struggles with the social expectations of the time. The fig tree and wilting as a metaphor for Esther's indecisiveness is also a sharp observation - it seems that plants quite accurately represent her fragility and the complex struggles she faces.
ReplyDeleteAs Rico mentioned, even though my copy wasn't a mirror image of yours, the connection you provide in the cover symbolism is a strong point. The quote about the fig tree, petals, and individuality all connects to illustrate a dying flower. Though, perhaps even with the falling petals and Esther's hard journey, a flower can regrow over time.
ReplyDeleteHi Connor, Another aspect of the cover that I think symbolizes Esther's journey is the color palette. The cover utilizes desaturated colors to represent the fading away nature of Esther throughout the book. Even though the flower is dying, it's notable that it still has most of its petals even if the leaves are falling off.
ReplyDeleteWow! I agree with your post. The depiction of Esther as a lone, wilting rose is fitting in so many ways. As a rose out of water wilts and inevitably dies, Esther (and Plath)'s radical position in her society probably drove her to wilt, and, ultimately, die. I also wonder if the thorns have to do with anything: maybe they're like a defense mechanism pushing others away, or it just signifies her inability to be bundled together with others. Great post!
ReplyDeleteBook covers are not like record covers--authors don't always have any creative control over how the publisher chooses to market their works, and for older books like _The Bell Jar_, there have been a wide range of covers over the years. (It is odd, when you think about it, that books get a bunch of different covers over the years, while the cover of _Abbey Road_ [for example] has been the same for close to fifty years.)
ReplyDeleteMine isn't too bad--it has a black-and-white out-of-focus image of a girl in a yard, which could be seen to reflect some bell-jar-style distortions. There's a new one that has an overhead shot of a woman carrying an umbrella, which seems like an odd image to associate with this novel. You should cite the designer of your cover, as it's a newer one (I hadn't seen it before), and I agree that its imagery resonates with a lot about the book. We can presume that this cover was designed by someone who has read the book and thought about it deeply. In addition to the connections you make to the novel, I would cite the photo-shoot where Esther is given some roses and told to show how happy it makes her to write a poem; or the bouquets she rearranges when volunteering at the hospital, in the late stages of her breakdown; or the flowers her mother brings her that she throws in the trash. The dried yet preserved imagery of the rose on the cover also suggests that it has been kept inside a bell-jar vacuum, where it both dries out and remains preserved (but broken, a possible metaphor for Esther's recovery).
Connor, the way you connect the wilting flower on the cover to Esther's decline and her internal struggles is insightful. I agree with your point that the flower represents Esther, trapped in her metaphorical bell jar and wilting under the weight of societal expectations, loneliness, and her own confusion about her future. The connection to the fig tree metaphor is very interesting, as both symbols highlight Esther’s inability to make choices and the decay that comes with indecision.
ReplyDeleteThe solitary flower on the cover really emphasizes Esther’s isolation, as you pointed out. The discarded petals at the bottom are an image of the toll her breakdown and suicide attempts took on her, but also of how those experiences continue to shape her.