The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath, Struggles between Buddy, Doreen, and Within Herself

In The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath writes about Esther Greenwood, a young woman at a womens college. Esther lived a sheltered life. Her father died while she was still young and her mother tried to protect her as much as possible. Esther went off to the womens college in New York City to lead a new life. There she met Doreen, the wild girl, who drank, smoked cigarettes, slept with different men every night, and danced and acted wild. Doreen is the Southern blonde sex kitten who always knows how to get her man;(Perloff ,CLC Vol. 62 p.392). Doreen was the girl who Esther wanted to be deep inside, yet she could not because she had to be a good girl. Betsy, who is the college good girl, is also a friend of Esthers. She is the girl who is straight from Kansas with her bouncing blonde pony-tail and Sweetheart-of-Sigma-Chi(Plath 6). Old friends, like Buddy Willard visited her at college and unfortunately ended up driving Esther to the point of craziness. …