The Bell Jar

Buddy Willard is Esther’s boyfriend, although they are broken up by the end of the novel. Handsome, intelligent, and clean-cut, Buddy initially seems like the ideal man, but his negative qualities are exposed as Esther gets to know him. Buddy is a mama’s boy who subscribes to his mother’s rigid view of gender roles. He leaves Esther feeling cold both emotionally and sexually. He is the sterile counterpart to the men Esther finds sexually exciting, like Constantin, Eric, and Irwin.

Buddy doesn’t understand Esther’s artistic ambitions or her desire for freedom and wants to turn her into a placid housewife. To top it off, he presents himself as virtuous and virginal but sleeps with a waitress while dating Esther and feels no guilt. Buddy’s hypocrisy disgusts Esther and fuels her desire to lose her own virginity. She sees marrying Buddy as giving in to conventional expectations and knows that she will be unhappy if she accepts the limitations of life as Mrs. Willard.

Although Buddy is largely kind to Esther, he can also be vindictive and thoughtless. He takes pleasure in her skiing injury after she talks back to him, and when he visits her at the asylum he wonders out loud who will want to marry her now that she’s been institutionalized.

Buddy’s presence in Esther’s life represents the pressure to conform to traditional expectations. By the end of the novel, however, he too has failed to completely live up to masculine expectations by getting sick with TB and failing to find a future wife in Esther.

Mrs. Greenwood is Esther’s mother and sole surviving parent. Esther’s strained relationship with her mother is not the result of any intentional failing on Mrs. Greenwood’s part. In fact, she is a loving mother who wants the best for her daughter, but her idea of who Esther should be is different from what Esther wants. Mrs. Greenwood fits into the traditional female role of a homemaker and would have been happy to be a housewife forever if the death of Esther’s father hadn’t forced her to get a job. Intensely practical, she wants Esther to get married and take on a sensible, stable, and typically female job as a typist.

Mrs. Greenwood’s traditional views and straightforward practicality prevent her from empathizing with Esther. She sees her daughter’s mental illness as a choice and a sign of weakness—when Esther says she is done with Dr. Gordon and the shock treatments, Mrs. Greenwood praises her “decision” to be okay again.

For her part, Esther views her mother as pathetic and ineffectual. She lacks a strong parental figure and a support system when her mental health breaks down. Mrs. Greenwood’s inability to support Esther leads Esther to seek out alternative female role models like Dr. Nolan and Philomena Guinea. At times she is shown to be cruel to her mother, throwing away a bouquet of flowers Mrs. Greenwood brings for her birthday and telling Dr. Nolan that she hates her mother. Outside of Esther’s perception, Mrs. Greenwood appears to be an overworked and disappointed woman doing the best she can to raise a daughter she cannot understand.

Joan Gilling is a student at Esther’s college, and later her fellow patient at the asylum. A tall, unattractive, and “horsey” girl, Joan is both Esther’s opposite and her double. Like Esther, Joan is academically talented. She dates Buddy before Esther does and her suicide attempt is inspired by Esther’s.

As both women work toward recovery, Esther sees Joan as her mirror. At first, Joan reflects a taunting picture of Esther’s best self. Later, this morphs into a “wry, black image” of Esther’s worst parts (219). For most of their time at the asylum, Joan’s recovery outpaces Esther’s. She is the first of the two to be moved to Belsize and to regain walking and town privileges, which triggers jealousy in Esther.

Joan is romantically interested in women, and it’s implied that Joan has a crush on Esther—she dislikes seeing Esther with men and tells her point-blank that she likes her better than Buddy. Esther is uncomfortable with her affection and is often cruel to Joan out of a combination of envy and repulsion.

At the end of the novel, Joan dies by suicide. The reasoning behind her decision is never explained, leaving the reader to wonder why Esther’s double was unable to recover when Esther herself does. Joan’s death symbolizes the definitive end of Esther’s madness; the person she saw as the mirror of her darkest self is gone. Joan’s death reaffirms Esther’s life and grants her the rebirth she has wanted since the start of the novel.

Doreen is Esther’s closest friend at Ladies’ Day magazine. Witty, adventurous, and sexually liberated, Doreen models a way of living that both intrigues and scares Esther. Esther tries to be like Doreen but ends up taken aback by the sexuality and violence she witnesses.

Betsy is another intern at Ladies’ Day and a character foil to Doreen. Betsy is sweet, naïve, and optimistic, a “Pollyanna Cowgirl,” according to Doreen. Esther likes Betsy and wants to be like her, but ultimately cannot identify with Betsy’s conservative mindset and goals.

Dr. Nolan is Esther’s psychiatrist at the private hospital. She is more attentive and capable than Dr. Gordon. Dr. Nolan listens to and sympathizes with Esther, putting together a treatment plan that helps Esther take her first steps toward recovery. Esther finds an alternative mother figure in the warm and comforting doctor.