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Metaphors
Definition of Mood
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect of a piece of writing... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes... read full definition
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis:
The mood of The Bell Jar is primarily listless and apathetic, as Esther Greenwood struggles to develop emotional connections to others as a result of her worsening depressive state. In New York City, Esther lives out what many other young women would consider a “dream,” attending stylish parties and swanky dinners as a writer for a popular fashion magazine. Nevertheless, Esther finds herself unable to enjoy her time in New York, as she struggles to connect emotionally with others and takes little pleasure in her new role and surroundings.
A passage in which she describes the other girls writing for the magazine underscores this general mood of apathy:
These girls looked awfully bored to me. I saw them on the sunroof, yawning and painting their nails and trying to keep up their Bermuda tans, and they seemed bored as hell. I talked with one of them, and she was bored with yachts and bored with flying around in airplanes and bored with skiing in Switzerland at Christmas and bored with the men in Brazil.
Here, as elsewhere in the novel, Esther seems to project her own feelings onto others. The other young women, she notes, seem “awfully bored.” As they paint their nails and tan, they seem, to Esther, “bored as hell,” and a conversation with one of the girls seems to affirm, for Esther, that even seemingly luxurious activities such as riding on yachts or “flying around in airplanes” or “skiing in Switzerland” become boring after a while. Her repetition of the word “bored” six times in this brief paragraph emphasizes the overall mood of apathy and sense of boredom that define her own time in New York, where she slowly loses passion for her writing and schoolwork and suffers a mental health crisis.
