Depression and Mental Disorder in Female Literary Works: Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar (1963)

Abstract

Depression and mental disorder as themes in female novels have gained ground as a number of women writers have shed light on the issue. This study delves in the reality of mental illness and depression in female experiences and lives. It tries to deliver both a theoretical background on mental health, mental illness and depression, and an analytical one which is considered as continuation to the Review of Literature. This study investigates, in three chapters, how mental illness and depression could be more prone to women than men; by mentioning the difference between them. The discussed literary works in this dissertation are Victorian-like works; since they depicted social conditions and circumstances of women who lived in the Victorian era through shedding light on the side effects of getting mentally ill for a woman at that time. Besides, it focuses on the social norms and patriarchal gender roles that could deeply affect women’s health in both physical and mental.