Esther Greenwood is the protagonist and narrator of The Bell Jar. Esther is a 19-year-old high achiever who has a mental breakdown due to her brain chemistry and environment. Esther is intelligent, perceptive, and a skilled writer, but her melancholy and turbulent temperament clashes with the 1950s’ archetype of the cheerful and domestic woman.

As she prepares to start her career, Esther feels both overwhelmed by choices and restricted by the narrow expectations of those who want her to follow a typically domestic path. She wants the freedom to pursue her artistic goals and believes that marriage to her boyfriend Buddy Willard will take away her autonomy. After learning that Buddy is not a virgin, she becomes obsessed with losing her own virginity to free herself from the misogynistic double standard which shames women for enjoying sex.

As the novel progresses, Esther’s mental health worsens. She feels hopeless and disconnected from herself and the wider world. Her condition is exacerbated by a close escape from sexual assault and a return home to the suburbs, where she has a breakdown and attempts suicide. Esther is admitted to the mental healthcare system. She suffers mistreatment and botched electroshock therapy before being transferred to a private hospital, where superior care enables her to begin recovery.