In 'The Bell Jar,' Plath successfully portrays a very vivid image of a 1950s society where women were limited, people were shown to have very strong morals, and the idea of an 'American Dream,' which was only for show to cover up reality.
             Firstly, the role of women in society as a whole has to be considered. There is a very apt contrast of the stereotypical role of a woman to the unconventional role. These roles are shown in the characters Doreen and Betsy, who are opposites. Betsy is described as having a 'sweetheart-of- sigma-chi smile' and has modelled for a magazine ad saying 'P.Q's wife wears B.H Wragge.' For that reason she is associated with the traditional innocent role woman were expected to play in society to become wives and mothers. Doreen, on the other hand is a complete opposite and an example is when Lenny starts flirting with her in chapter one and she responds easily, which is shown to shock Esther;
             'What surprised me was that Doreen didn't let on she noticed what he was doing...'
             The film that Esther views in chapter four also shows society's views on women's roles at the time. The good, innocent girl ends up with the nice guy but the 'sexy' girl ends up with no one. Society is shown not to challenge what happens to the sexy girl because they disapprove and the majority of the audience seem to be accepting how women should act, which in turn annoys Esther because she obviously doesn't agree with society's conventions so she is critical of their non-existent reactions;
             'I looked round at all the rows of rapt little heads...they looked nothing more or less than a lot of stupid moon-brains.'
             Plath also describes the role woman were expected to have before marriage in her description of the hotel and the rich girls in chapter one;
             'This hotel – the Amazon was for women only, and they were mo...