This novel primarily establishes connections to itself. For instance, prior to "seducing" the shrewd Irwin, Esther asks him if "it[s] supposed to hurt," and early into that particular chapter, Plath includes the same short dialogue, almost as a hook and transition into the next part of the story. She then subtly embeds it into the dialogue following her "affair," and conclusively foreshadows into the rest of her evening. Another very important reoccurring connection throughout the novel were the references to the bell jar, which is the title of the book. Esther speaks constantly of her own personal bell jar hovering over her and "sitting under the same glass bell jar, stewing in [her] own stubborn hair. (185)
At one point in the story, Esther attempts to write a novel, and therefore she named the main character Elaine. She is amused that she would be the protagonist, and that that the length of the person's name matches herself. Also, when I counted, Sylvia's name matches the same length as the above stated. Thoughts of suicide are connectable to even today's society, if not more.
The correlations that can be drawn from Sylvia Plath's personal life and that of Esther Greenwood, which Plath details in The Bell Jar are numerous. Some people consider the novel to be somewhat of a narrative of Plath's own life; however, the obvious discrepancy is Plath's successful suicide in relation to Esther's unsuccessful attempt. Esther's attempt to write a novel in which she is finds amusement that she would be the protagonist symbolizes Plath's uncertainty about the outcome of her own novel in which the reader sympathizes with the distraught character of Esther Greenwood.
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