When the Self Cannot Hold: Cognitive Splitting and Identity Fragmentation in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar

Abstract

The Bell Jar (1963) by Sylvia Plath provides one of the most linguistically accurate representations of fragmented identity in twentieth century literature. While there has been significant critical discussion of the novel’s feminist and autobiographical aspects, the systematic connection between cognitive splitting and its linguistic construction in Esther Greenwood’s narration has not been explored. Using a cognitive stylistic approach, this study investigates the narration of identity fragmentation in the story of Esther Greenwood. Based on the cognitive theory of depression developed by Aaron Beck (dichotomous thinking), Roger Fowler’s mind style theory, and the cognitive stylistic theory of Elena Semino, the study takes a qualitative interpretive approach to analyze selected passages throughout the psychological journey of the novel. The analysis shows that cognitive splitting in the novel is not only a thematic issue but a linguistic one too, which is manifested in the binary syntactic structures, distancing pronouns, self-negating metaphors and absolutist lexical patterns. The results also enrich cognitive stylistics by providing evidence of the construction, maintenance, and performance of the fragmentation of a depressive identity through language in the first-person literary narration.