Esther’S Madness Is Presented As A Consequence Of Her...

Esther’s madness is presented as a consequence of her rebellion against the archetypes of gender roles, which she is surrounded by in the novel. Chodorow argues that, in our subjective understanding of gender relations, individuals ‘create new meanings in terms of their own unique biographies.’ Chodorow’s argument is evident in how Esther understands gender relations through her experience with Buddy Willard. His mother believes that ‘what a man is is an arrow into the future and what a woman is is the place the arrow shoots off from’ (Plath, 67). In the juxtaposition of a place and an arrow, the woman is presented as a constant and a base which enables the man to progress. Esther’s awareness of this outlook and her rejection of it allows†¦show more content†¦Therefore, madness is presented as the only rebellion Esther can take, by allowing her distance from the gender binary which runs through the novel, leading to the romantic isation of suicide as the only way to escape the archetypal female role. In the romanticisation of Tony, and Natalie’s rejection of reality, madness is portrayed as a successful rebellion against society. Rubenstein acknowledges the ambiguous nature of Tony, to argue that Natalie ‘fantasizes a secret female companion named Tony, who may be understood as her braver, more self-sufficient alter ego.’ This interpretation of Tony allows for the claim that she encompasses Natalie’s madness and assists in further fragmenting her psyche from reality. In Tony’s company, Natalie portrays herself as ‘running not from fear, but because it was early morning and they were together’ (Jackson, 182). This romanticises Natalie and Tony’s alienation from their peers as providing companionship through their shared sense of consciousness, rather than worsening mental health being an isolating experience. This allows for Natalie’s madness to worsen, as Tony’s presence encourages her to resist normality. Tonyâ €™s functioning as a resistance against reality is further evident in the depiction that, ‘irresistibly Natalie found herself moving toward the lake, with a human impulse to get to the edge of the world and stop, but Tony took her arm and said, â€Å"This way†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Jackson, 207). This depiction can be interpreted as Tony,