Sylvia Plath's adult life consisted of her marriage to Ted Hughes, also a famous poet, on June 16, 1956 at the Church of St. George the Martyr. Plath became a freshman English teacher at Smith College and described the work as exhausting. She gave birth to her first daughter, Frieda Rebecca Plath, on April 1, 1960. In February 1961, Plath suffered a miscarriage. A year later, she gave birth to her last child, Nicholas Farrar, on January 17, 1962. Her Hughes marriage was becoming difficult to maintain after the birth of both children and she was often left alone with the children. In late September 1962, Plath discovered that Hughes had been unfaithful and the couple legally separated. Sylvia Plath died on February 11, 1963, at the age of thirty-one. She took her own life by putting her head in the oven while the gas was on (SOURCE). Plath posthumously received the Pulitzer Prize for her poetry. She was also awarded the IMPAC Dublin International Literary Award and the Book of the Month Club Selection. The Bell Jar contains many autobiographical elements such as Esther's intelligence trait and her Mademoiselle scholarship. Sylvia Plath's personal experiences are also reflected in The Bell Jar such as her rejection from the Harvard summer writing program, her breakdown after the rejection, her attempted suicide, and her institutionalization (SOURCE). Sylvia Plath uses theme, symbolism, and structure productively in The Bell Jar. There are many important themes evident in the novel. One of the dominant themes is the social pressure on young women to get married. Esther's relationship with Buddy Willard suggests that she must modify herself through mating, marriage, and motherhood. The novel indirectly on...... middle of paper ......ances. Plath's narration of the novel is told by Esther Greenwood's first-person narration. Esther is an intelligent young woman who shares her thoughts about her life experiences throughout the novel. The narrative is chronological, although it occasionally shifts back and forth. Overall, it's very simple and well implemented. CRITICISM Sylvia Plath's works were greatly influenced by her personal life experiences and her struggle with extreme depression. His novel The Bell Jar reveals raw emotion and a delicate understanding of mental illness that parallels its onset. Sylvia Plath's use of personal experiences helps give the book a sense of reality. The novel's exquisite use of symbolism, theme, and structure helped The Bell Jar receive outstanding reviews. The Bell Jar is a critically acclaimed classic and holds a prominent place in American fiction.