Throughout The Bell Jar, Esther Greenwood has many encounters with sex. Many times she even categorizes people into two groups; virgins and non-virgins. However, according to How to Read Literature Like a Professor, it's not really about sex. Sylvia Plath's use of sex as a theme is similar to that of Edna O'Brien because, "Sex in her books nearly always take on a political cast as characters explore their sexuality while at the same time throwing off the restrictions of a conservative, repressed, religious society" (Foster 157).
For Esther, this restrictive society is 1950's America. During this time. women were expected to remain chaste until marriage and then to use sex as a means for pleasing their husbands and producing children. Esther comes in contact with characters who share these traditional ideas, such as Buddy Willard and her mother. However, Buddy's past affair with an unnamed waitress shows the unfortunate double standard for women at the time. Conversely, women who did not wait until marriage were treated as lesser beings, as evidenced by Marco's calling Esther a slut as he attempts to rape her. To add to her confusion, Eric, one of the only other men in the story, tells her that he would never have sex with someone he loves.
As the novel progresses, Esther tries to defy conventional expectations by loosing her virginity to someone she does not plan to marry. Readers can see Esther's struggle to find her sexual identity at a time when society was no help. She states, "When i was nineteen, pureness was the great issue....
I thought a spectacular change would come over me the day I crossed the boundary line" (Plath 82). When she finally crosses the boundary line, Esther has an unexpectedly horrifying experience. Although she has defied society's expectations, Esther does not receive any pleasure from the act of sex and instead is even more confused about her sexual identity.
For Esther, this restrictive society is 1950's America. During this time. women were expected to remain chaste until marriage and then to use sex as a means for pleasing their husbands and producing children. Esther comes in contact with characters who share these traditional ideas, such as Buddy Willard and her mother. However, Buddy's past affair with an unnamed waitress shows the unfortunate double standard for women at the time. Conversely, women who did not wait until marriage were treated as lesser beings, as evidenced by Marco's calling Esther a slut as he attempts to rape her. To add to her confusion, Eric, one of the only other men in the story, tells her that he would never have sex with someone he loves.
As the novel progresses, Esther tries to defy conventional expectations by loosing her virginity to someone she does not plan to marry. Readers can see Esther's struggle to find her sexual identity at a time when society was no help. She states, "When i was nineteen, pureness was the great issue....
I thought a spectacular change would come over me the day I crossed the boundary line" (Plath 82). When she finally crosses the boundary line, Esther has an unexpectedly horrifying experience. Although she has defied society's expectations, Esther does not receive any pleasure from the act of sex and instead is even more confused about her sexual identity.