The Analysis of Plath’s The Bell Jar Based on Friedan’s Views

This study is an attempt to use the feminist approach in order to study how the boundaries and restrictions of the society are depicted in The Bell Jar, and also in the lives of its key characters. The feminist approach has been selected, because the time when the novel was written coincided with women s sufferings due to their inability to adjust themselves to a patriarchal society s traditions. For example, they had to stay virgins until marriage, whereas men were expected to be experienced with sex (Lamb, 2011, p. 30). Also, the feminist approach is useful in this study, because its main character is a young girl whose breakdown is due to her inability to come to terms with such traditions. So, the main critic whose theory has been selected to be applied in this study is Betty Friedan (1921–2006) in order to shed light on the dilemma and identity crisis of the American woman during the 1950s and 1960s due to a flawless image of domestic womanhood which was spread through different forms of media.

Keywords:

Betty Friedan , Second wave feminism , Sylvia Plath , The Bell Jar