Torn Together: An Analysis of Internal Conflict and Feelings of Guilt as Components of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar and Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams

Abstract

My thesis focuses on the aspects of internal conflicts and feelings of guilt as a lens to read Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and selected short stories from the prose anthology Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams. My aim is to give a different perspective on Plath’s works from the point of mental struggle and analyze any new points of view that develop from the topics of inner struggle and guilt. The relationship of the female protagonists with the male figures raises questions about the double standards and differences between the sexes in a patriarchal family-centered society. This is so widespread and rooted that it becomes normality for women. Dissenting reactions are habitually met with exclusion, so control and suppression of real emotions becomes normality for them. The characters know that they cannot freely express themselves, and this lack of autonomy also leads to mental strain. They are constantly torn between the yearning to rebel and to belong to the community at the same time. As a consequence the female characters play a role to hide their uniqueness, which results in problems such as the need of control, the pursuit of perfection and frequent self-sabotage.