Probably the most recognizable example would be Buddy: the fact that Buddy might be delivering babies and giving out doses of the medicine in the future scares Esther, as she scarred by seeing the birth. Buddy also says in a very "sinister, knowing way" that maybe when Esther is married she will not want to write poems anymore. This causes Esther to think about marriage and childbirth as equivalent to being "brainwashed" and becoming "numb as a slave in some private totalitarian state".
Another person who is very similar to Buddy is Dr. Gordon. Esther describes him as having "nearly perfect" features but immediately distrusts him. Esther's instincts about Dr. Gordon turns out to be fairly accurate. He makes her go through shock therapy, something Esther describes as a horrible "punishment".
Besides being similar in profession, both men attempt to (or believe in) make their patients forget pain, rather than help them work through it. The woman during childbirth was "given a drug that would make her forget". To Esther, it is "just like the sort of drug a man would invent". Although the drug would make her forget how bad the pain had been, a "windowless corridor of pain was waiting to open up and shut her in again".
This scene is almost mirrored during Esther's shock treatment, in which Dr. Gordon attempts to make Esther forget about her pain through electrotherapy. The woman giving birth was on some sort of "awful torture table, with these metal stirrups sticking up in mid-air at one end and all sorts of instruments and wires and tubes". The bed that Esther lays on is creepily similar, a "table on wheels with a machine on it" and is given wires to bite. The woman, despite having been given 'treatment' or medicine, was "in terrible pain, obviously feeling every bit of it". Esther also feels every bit of the shock treatment, thinking that with each jolt, her "bones would break".
In addition, I think the quote about the woman waiting for a "corridor of pain" to "shut her in again" is very similar to how Esther feels as if she is trapped in a bell jar. Although many people, including even her mother, try to make Esther numb towards her pain, she is trapped underneath a fog of pain that constantly returns.
After thought: The fact that Esther trusts Doctor Nolan is also telling about Esther's attitudes towards different genders. ALSO Esther's thoughts on double standards concerning chastity further hints at that.
I think that going along with this is the fact that the people in control of the pain are always men. I'm sure that Esther saw this as part of the oppression because she was a lot more comfortable when she moved hospitals and had a female doctor.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how much I agree with your interpretation that the shock therapy is supposed to make Esther forget about her pain. Generally the purpose of shock therapy is to cause a brain seizure that "causes changes in brain chemistry that can quickly reverse symptoms of certain mental illnesses." After the shock therapy with Dr. Gordon Esther still very much remembers her pain and the experience of being shocked. I would even argue that shock therapy with Dr. Nolan sort of causes her to forget her pain since it doesn't really get rid of any of her life problems. However, I think you're right to point out that Esther doesn't feel like men understand her or can help her. The birthing doctor and aides seem oblivious to the pain that the woman is in during birth, and similarly, Buddy and Dr. Gordon don't really seem to understand or care about what the cause of her depression is.
ReplyDeleteI think that this method of preventing (albeit temporarily), instead of resolving the issue through smokescreens and lies is very prevalent in Esther's life under the Bell Jar. While it can be lifted, allowing fresh air to circulate around her, it will always be looming ominously overhead, like a dark cloud.
ReplyDeleteReally nice connection with Buddy and Dr. Gordon. As you pointed out, both men seem to embody the power of men. I do although agree with Anna. I'm not sure if the shock treatment effectively makes the patient forget like how the women giving birth forget their pain. I think your connecting with the setting of both scenes, The medical beds which Esther and the pregnant woman are on are described similarly.
ReplyDeleteThe scene where Esther talks about her father's death reminded me of the birth scene in a way. Esther says she wasn't allowed to attend the funeral or see the body and so his death had never seemed real to her. The way that her mother and adults in her life tried to protect Esther from the pain (trying to keep her from grieving rather then being honest with her) actually made it worse once she reached adulthood.
ReplyDeleteI think that your post is spot on in its depiction of the parallels between Esther's distrust of medicine and Esther's distrust of men. Medicine is supposed to help you with your health and men are "supposed to" be by your side. Esther discovers the holes in both of them.
ReplyDeleteGoing along with what you are saying I think the fact that Esther *remembers* the shock treatment and feels that pain is extremely important -- she is in the position of the women giving birth on the table but takes us compeltely through the experience.
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