However, Mrs. Greenwood is a dutiful woman. When Esther comes home from New York City, Mrs. Greenwood sits with Esther in the evenings and tries to teach her shorthand; and after Esther’s suicide attempt, she has Esther transferred out of the ugly state mental hospital by enlisting Mrs. Guinea’s aid. […]
Read more Character Analysis Mrs. GreenwoodCharacter Analysis Joan Gilling
As it turns out, Joan is very much the psychological double of Esther: they are both over-achievers; they are both unconventional young women. They both garner awards and succeed in their fields, and they both believe that they should try to become carbon copies of Mrs. Willard, the epitome of […]
Read more Character Analysis Joan GillingCharacter Analysis Buddy Willard
Esther is only truly happy with Buddy after she finds out that he is taking her to the Yale prom. That coup and her need for a boyfriend seem to be her major attractions to Buddy. Because of Esther’s distaste for Buddy and because he comes to represent hypocrisy in […]
Read more Character Analysis Buddy WillardSummary and Analysis Chapters 19-20
Actually, Esther does go visit Joan, but the visit is not like either of them would have imagined. Esther has met a man named Irwin on the library steps and decides to go to bed with him. He is a professor of mathematics, and thus, Esther reasons, he is intelligent […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 19-20Summary and Analysis Chapters 15-18
As they ride along in the luxurious car, Esther’s mother sits on one side and Esther’s brother sits on the other; thus, Esther is prevented from jumping out of the car. Esther sinks back into her feelings of nothingness and tells us about her “bell jar,” where she is trapped. […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 15-18Summary and Analysis Chapters 11-14
“Suppose you try and tell me what you think is wrong,” Dr. Gordon asks Esther. But Esther cannot even figure out the question, much less answer it. Esther is suffering from extreme depression and has symptoms of a variety of other mentally ill states. She is not sleeping. She has […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 11-14Summary and Analysis Chapters 9-10
At the end of the Ladies’ Day sojourn, all the girls are to have their pictures taken with something that symbolizes their future. Betsy is having her picture taken with corn to represent her plans to marry a farmer. No one can decide what might best represent Esther’s desire to […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 9-10Summary and Analysis Chapters 5-8
For the next chapter and a half, we learn about Esther’s recent relationship with Buddy and how she adored him from a distance for several years. Their mothers were good friends, and their fathers were both university professors. When Buddy visits her at college, she is elated until she finds […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 5-8Summary and Analysis Chapters 1-4
Summer is usually thought of as being a happy, fun time for students. It is a time of vacation from studies, a time to travel and relax, have fun with friends. Sometimes students work, but even that is a short-term commitment, and thus more relaxed. The speaker of The Bell […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 1-4Character List
Doreen The glamorous, sexy, fiction contest winner from the South. She and Esther meet in New York City, where Doreen tries to help Esther with clothes and men. Jay Cee Editor of Ladies’ Day magazine; she is Esther’s boss in New York City. Jay Cee is somewhat dowdy, but a […]
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