Doreen in The Bell Jar
In The Bell Jar, one of the most compelling characters to Esther is Doreen. In the novel, I view Doreen as an idea of what Esther aims to be through her rebellious spirit. In The Bell Jar, Esther is repeatedly crushed and confined by overbearing expectations: expectations she has placed on herself, outside pressures to succeed and not mess up her opportunities, and pressures placed upon her by society on what a woman should be.
At the beginning of the novel, we can see that it is Doreen that encourages Esther to neglect her work so she can go out. Despite Esther knowing better, she goes along with Doreen’s idea and momentarily escapes the expectations which weigh down on her by sacrificing her work for a bit of fun. When they do go out, Doreen is beautiful and confident in herself when talking with men, a contrast to Esther. Doreen is bold in her criticisms when they talk, making fun of men who go to Yale in conversation with Esther. Doreen’s behavior makes her feel liberated, and she proudly engages in behavior that would be viewed as less acceptable for women at the time like smoking and drinking (she sort of reminds me of Brett from last semester’s class).
When Esther views the bizarre sexual behavior between Doreen and Lenny in Chapter 2, and eventually sees her in a vulnerable state, vomiting and going unconscious, I think the original admiration she had for Doreen is shattered and she resolves to stay in her shell more by conforming more to expectations around what a woman should be and how she should act. I think that maybe if Doreen didn’t spoil her image to Esther in this way so early on, Esther would have been more comfortable breaking from the expectations that weighed down on her throughout the novel by hanging out with Doreen more.
I totally agree with your characterization of Esther and Doreen's relationship. Doreen is almost like an idol to Esther, who is awed by how easily she does not conform to societal expectations. Esther's biggest struggle in the first part of the novel is her indecision towards what she wants to do in life, and what path she wants to follow, and Doreen symbolizes a path Esther could imagine herself following. However, as you said, Esther finds Doreen's sexual behavior grotesque, which effectively turns her off from following this path and encourages her more towards conforming with societal roles, as represented by her shift towards following Betsy. Great post!
ReplyDeleteIn a way I agree but I also feel like Esther constantly felt out of place with Doreen and I think that shattered image of her only added to her feeling like she needed to stay away from Doreen. I feel like the way Doreen denies societal expectation isn't necessarily the way Esther needed to see them being denied
ReplyDeleteI feel like Esther's confliction surrounding her own future definitely led her to be influenced by Doreen. Esther seems to feel a pull towards her, despite the future also being unclear for Doreen. Their relationship could later be compared to Esther's relationship with Dr. Nolan. Dr. Nolan is a successful and single woman, which serves as a ray of hope for Esther. Whereas Doreen might be a depiction of carelessness, Dr. Nolan shows a more positive future for someone like Esther.
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm not entirely sure how well the two genuinely get along or share interests, I will agree that Doreen is a much more free and happy person than Esther, and I think it could be argued that it comes down to what you describe in this post. Maybe Esther doesn't want to be exactly like Doreen, but there's no doubt in my mind that she admires how she denies societal expectation.
ReplyDeleteEsther definitely idolizes Doreen in some ways, but she doesn't seem to completely "aim" to be her. Really she wants to be something, and the only two options she sees at that point are Betsy and Doreen: neither is particularly appealing, so she flip-flops between them in her search to have some sort of a personality.
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