"TRAPPED BENEATH THE GLASS: FEMALE IDENTITY AND PATRIARCHAL OPPRESSION IN SYLVIA PLATH’S THE BELL JAR"
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63878/qrjs327Keywords:
Gender oppression, Male dominancy, patriarchy, struggle of early modernist writers, suicide, the bell jar, high morale and an exemplary standard of courage and bravery.Abstract
The aim of this research article is to explore the themes of gender oppression and male dominancy and male subordination, in the path of rising opposite sex as an individual identity to make up their survival for economic crisis. Sylvia Plath the bell jar is a perfect example of it. In her novel she depicts the true representation of crisis through which every woman passes and is still relatable in the present era to some extent. In her novel, she descriptively explains her survival challenges and how the patriarchal standards of 19th century, affected the growing charm and talent of the opposite sex and hinders its way of progression. Although, the life of Sylvia Plath is an example for the women of the present era to relate with. She neither surrender herself against the male dominancy in the society, nor she seemed afraid to put a critique on the patriarchal norms. As, in her poem Lady Lazarus, her way of depicting her courage never fades.
Out of the ash
I rise with my red hair
And I eat men like air.
All her strength lies in her bravery and charm of not surrendering, which sets an example for modernist writers to step into the society.
