| dc.contributor.author | Junglas, Gretchen Therese | |
| dc.description.abstract | In Sylvia Plath’s novel The Bell Jar, Esther Greenwood struggles to form a true identity.
She emulates many women as a way to see how various identities work for her. One of these
identities is that of a lesbian. During the novel’s 1953 setting, lesbianism was not a socially
acceptable lifestyle. Esther struggles with own internalized homophobia as well as the control of
her doctors. She undergoes treatment during her hospitalization that is suggestive of sexual
conversion therapy at the time, including the use of electricity as a tool of discipline. Doctors
lead her toward an identity that is not necessarily true or healthy. The novel suggests that
recovery is actually heteronormative conformity. | en_US |
| dc.publisher | North Dakota State University | en_US |
| dc.rights | NDSU Policy 190.6.2 | |
| dc.title | Heteronormative Recovery in the Bell Jar | en_US |
| dc.type | Master's paper | en_US |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2012-07-17T20:07:15Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2012-07-17T20:07:15Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2012 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10365/21654 | |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Women -- Identity | en_US |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Lesbianism in literature | en_US |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Conformity in literature | en_US |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Sex role in literature | en_US |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Cold War -- Social aspects | en_US |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Electroconvulsive therapy | en_US |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Plath, Sylvia. Bell jar | en_US |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Plath, Sylvia -- Criticism and interpretation | en_US |
| dc.rights.uri | https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf | en_US |
| ndsu.degree | Master of Arts (MA) | en_US |
| ndsu.college | Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences | en_US |
| ndsu.department | English | en_US |
| ndsu.program | English | en_US |
| ndsu.advisor | Mara, Miriam | |
