Joan as Esther’s Reflection
Throughout the novel, Joan and Esther share eerily similar trajectories. Both young women are intelligent, ambitious, and face societal pressure to conform to traditional female roles. Both also struggle with mental illness and undergo treatment at the same psychiatric institution. I think that Joan’s presence in the novel forces Esther to confront the reality of her own mental illness.
I see Joan as an externalized version of Esther’s inner turmoil. She experiences similar feelings of alienation and disillusionment, but unlike Esther, Joan seems more willing to embrace alternative identities and relationships. Her presence challenges Esther to see another version of herself—one that has also rejected societal norms but expresses it differently. This mirroring is emphasized by Plath when Esther observes: "Joan's room, with its closet and bureau and table and chair and white blanket with the big blue C on it, was a mirror image of my own" (Plath 195). I read this physical similarity between their spaces as a symbol of their parallel struggles.
Despite their similarities, Joan and Esther diverge in critical ways. While Esther internalizes her struggles and keeps much of her pain private, Joan appears more outwardly experimental with her identity. Joan’s lesbian relationships, for example, stand in contrast to Esther’s conflicted feelings. Joan embodies an alternative path, one that Esther cannot or will not follow, which makes her both intriguing and unsettling to Esther.
Additionally, Joan’s fate—her suicide—shakes Esther profoundly. While both women battle mental illness, Joan’s death acts as a warning of what could happen to Esther. Her suicide shows some of the novel’s existential questions: Is full recovery truly possible? Does Esther have control over her fate, or is she simply delaying an inevitable descent? This becomes even more evident considering the autobiographical nature of the novel and the ultimate fate of Sylvia Plath. This uncertainty is captured when Esther reflects: "Joan, marking the gulf between me and the nearly well ones. Ever since Joan left Caplan I'd followed her progress through the asylum grapevine" (Plath 205). Joan's status serves as a reminder of how fragile recovery can be, drawing a line between those who might get better and those who may not.
Joan’s presence in The Bell Jar pushes Esther toward self-discovery. Her death marks a turning point for Esther, forcing her to reckon with the seriousness of her illness and her desire to live. By the end of the novel, Esther remains uncertain about her future but is more determined to reclaim her agency. Joan, in this way, serves as a tragic yet necessary figure in Esther’s evolution.
- Rishabh
Hi Rishabh, I totally see what you mean with Joan as a reflection of Esther, and you've made it so clear that I'm surprised I didn't notice it earlier. Joan and Esther are certainly quite similar and with Joan being a far more externalized person, she demonstrates to Esther the reality of her thoughts, as demonstrated in the case of her suicide. Indeed, their differences in outspokenness serve to guide Esther as quite vehement and real reminders of her dangerous current trajectory. Joan comes into the picture at a time when Esther's condition is starting to improve and your description of her presence as "tragic yet necessary" captures her role in the story very well.
ReplyDeleteReally great post, Shabi! I definitely agree that Joan acts as a sort of reflection of Esther, with Esther even noting at one point that they have remarkably similar thoughts. I think it's important that when Esther was in trouble and needed help, she went to Joan. I think that they relied on each other for a while (even if they didn't realize it), and that's why Joan's death hit Esther so hard. Not only did she see herself in Joan, but she also lost someone who became a part of her support system.
ReplyDeleteThe point that Joan is a reflection of Esther provides a deeper insight into the relationship between the two disillusioned individuals. While one embraces the challenges that society provides with action, the other stews in her own demise. Ultimately, although Esther is the one to reach the final chapters of the story, Joan's death engraved fear and a sense of mental clarity in what would have become of her if she followed her original suicidal plan.
ReplyDeleteHi Shabi, I also thought that Joan seemed like an alternate universe version of Esther. They share many characteristics such as the ones listed, and they even both dated Buddy. I agree that the death of Joan served as a warning to Esther just how dangerous her depression is and the possible consequences for not having it treated.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that Esther and Joan are like parallels of each other. I think its interesting that throughout the end of the book, Esther uses Joan as her measure of how bad things could be going or how much she doesn't want to do certain things. I agree with you that this leads to a sort of turning point in the story. It also creates a really clear ending where Esther survives and moves forward while Joan doesn't, exactly parallel while being very similar with life experiences. It's also telling that Joan's death marks a point where Esther is curious again, wondering why it happened, whether she caused it, eventually moving forward curious about the future too. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThere is a significant moment, very late in the novel, when Esther reflects on the idea that even the "girls at college" are "under bell jars of a sort"--which seems like a recognition of the ways in which her struggles with depression have been produced in part by her increasing struggle with the pressures of maintaining her image as a hard-working exceptional student. But for most of the novel she is NOT interested in thinking of her experiences as in any way common or a reflection of the constraints of her society--we see this in her almost "competitive" attitude toward the other patients she encounters during her stays in these hospitals. And Joan is the MAIN "competition" Esther feels--when she first hears about Joan's experience, she is put off by the idea that she might have something in common with this person, and she depicts Joan as a "wannabe" who is merely imitating her. Her relentless put-downs of Joan and her appearance throughout the novel might be read in part as her wanting the reader to see HERSELF as the "real" sufferer, while Joan is no one we need to take seriously.
ReplyDeleteBut I agree with you that Joan's sudden and unexpected death shakes Esther and her sense of superiority to the core. She talks about Joan quite differently after her death, and it does serve as a chilling reflection of what *could have* happened to her. She's no longer interested in portraying Joan as a "poseur" or "wannabe." (And yet she doesn't show any compassion for DeeDee, who must be reeling after Joan's death.)
Hi! I agree with your observations about Joan's role of being a reflection of Esther! Its really interesting reading about a character that has a loss of self, but then having another character that seems to be just the same as her lack of self. This book is insanely complicated and both Plath and Esther as characters/people are like reflections of eachother, so its interesting to me that there is a third character that is also similar to the two.
ReplyDeleteHi Shabi! I completely agree with you that Joan and Esther mirror each other. I never really thought about how much Joan pushed Esther towards self-discovery, and how her death caused Esther to almost wake up in ways and face reality more harshly. I wonder if Joan was named Joan to relate to Joan of Arc who is often used as a symbol of courage as she pushed Esther to find more courage.
ReplyDelete