To what extent is society to blame for the mental decline of Nicole Dive in Tender is the Night and Esther Greenwood in The Bell Jar

The mental decline of the two protagonists is ostensible at heart some(prenominal) Tender is the Night and The Bell Jar whereby Scott Fitzgerald and Sylvia Plath respectively explore the stifling nature of high society and the matter this has on an individuals mental health. An ingrained expectation of culture places certain constraints, most pertinently on the female intention, as both authors openly explore the issues face up by those with a basic inability to cope with such pressures ultimately leading to their mental downfall.Neither Nicole nor Esther fit the social order required of them causation others to label them as insane, but it is the negative influence of society upon them which is the overwhelming ca call. Within TisN the reader witnesses Nicole Divers fundamental need for a male presence in which contrasts with the strong feminist beliefs of Esther Greenwood. Both novels clearly demonstrate how the masculine world dictates that women are to be regarded as pos sessions and constantly manipulated by a male likeness be it their incur or husband.The lack of a father in Nicoles life allowed arctic Diver to become both a replacement father figure and husband giving him escalated dominance which ultimately caused the pressure on Nicole as an individual to increase significantly. Nicoles world had shattered, but it was only a flimsy and scarcely created world due to the incestuous affinity she was a part of. These flaws in Nicoles up kick ining resulted in her inability to create a life for herself as the past tense still troubled her.Nicole and Esther mutually place men on a pedestal not only due to their reliance on them but besides the ideals society forces upon them in regards to male superiority until they realise that not only can Dick and Buddy not live up to these expectations, but similarly that they are unrealistic for the society that they live in. Living in a patriarchal society ferments Nicole dependent on a controlling fi gure to make ethical judgements for her.She waits for Dick to make a moral comment, rather than continuing to develop the individuality she was free to express in her private letters to Dick when explaining the mental health problems she was experiencing at that time. Similarly, when Buddy, who has never skied himself, instructs Esther in the sport, she mindlessly obeys. TisN Book 1 shows a complete contrast as Nicole is described as beaming to exist in a mans world referring to her allowing a husband or lover to take charge, portrayed with both Dick and Tommy.Nicole is trapped in her feminine role in the 1930s as, although she feels that Tommy opens up whole new worlds for her, he is simply a new domineering character in her life who waited five years for her spousals to be over. Contrastingly, Esther is able to find power on the slopes which then allows her to see through the hypocrisy of society in making men appear to be the superior gender mirroring the counter culture revolu tion emerging in America at the time.This also challenges the mentality of women regarding sexual equality and control as Esthers disgust mounts over Buddy having an affair with that tarty waitress term continuing to expect a virgin bride. The limited sexual choices available to Esther cause her to view the world as divided into people who had slept with somebody and people who hadnt, thus making us aware of the importance of sex significantly a lack of for women, within this community. Nicole also has a breakthrough in exerting her independence and forcing Dick to take responsibility, when she realises that he is a coward who tries to blame his failures on her. This disappointment in realising that Dick is not what she had anticipated allows Nicole to see past the disillusionment. This independence is strengthened as the book ends from Nicoles viewpoint as Dick became a dot in her life. This allows her to become a predominant character which was a great accomplishment before the feminist movements of the 1960s. Society isnt the only trigger however and the disillusionment of the protagonists is an underlying cause of their mental decline.Nicole uses her relationship with Dick as an escape from her illness but when family life becomes mundane it resurfaces. She consciously uses her marriage to evade problems however she was soon proven wrong as her marriage only instigated more demands on her character due to the expectations of a wife, apparent not only in terms of the society the book was exercise set in, but also that of the writers reality. Scott Fitzgerald according to Horace Gregory of the New York Herald Tribune, was said to be sharing the failure of his protagonists as the life of Nicole closely mirrored that of his wife Zelda.This allowed him to use his experiences regarding the effect of societys pressures, and reflect them in Nicole Divers life. Her dreams of love and accomplishment are quickly distorted by the possession of property which causes emptiness in her life of fundamental things despite many viewing her life as perfect. Similarly, Esther primarily idolises Buddy as superficially he appears to be perfect a handsome Yale disciple with an interest in her despite being older, though soon she finds that he had fooled her all these years with hypocritical actions that society had allowed. 930s American Society had one expectation of women to adopt and have children. Nicole initially gives the impression that she has easily fallen into this position however the role is forced upon her as she struggles to establish autonomy. Despite having few choices Nicole subtly asserts her freedom through finances. Money and materialism are not instinctive to man but imposed by society for comfort and this shows itself through Nicoles extravagant obtain sprees when she is able to find comfort in her materialistic ways, demonstrating the excessiveness of the Jazz Age.Nicole buys enough to fill a great list that ran two pages in an attempt to buy herself happy since she had few other options, unlike Esther whos ripening choices are presented on the Fig Tree. Yet she finds herself unable to make a decision as she mat that choosing one meant losing all the rest suppressing her choices due to the stark contrasts between the writer she wants to become and the house-wife she is pushed towards unlike the male characters around her who can have everything.The American Dream runs jibe throughout the two novels as the ideology forms the national ethos and both writers attack the fundamental values it teaches. The disappointment is too much for the female protagonists to cope with as reality fails to live up to the grand promise such principles make. Wealth forms an integral part of this philosophy as many believe that materialistic items bring about happiness.Early on, Esthers life seems perfect despite being so poor she cant afford a magazine as she manages to earn a scholarship to college embodying the primary (prenominal) principles of the ethos, though this soon crumbles as the pressure to succeed becomes too great. The demands on Nicoles character similarly build up as she is pushed into becoming wife and mother, while keeping to the traditions of the Warren family. From afar, Nicole appears to have the perfect life, the grand-daughter of a horse trader with white crooks eyes, nevertheless all the riches of the world could not stop her breakdowns.It is apparent that Nicole wants nothing more than to lead a happy life with her family, however being part of the idle American expatriate community, a worldly positioning towards life easily takes over since Nicole has too much notes. This money-orientated outlook on life even goes as far as to drive her to use money as an advantage in her relationship with Dick even though he did not want to be owned, showing that despite the facade of having everything, she was uncomplete happy nor would she ever be under such pretences.Equally Esthers inability to earn her desired place at university is an example of Sylvia Plath attacking the philosophy which gives specious hopes to many especially the youth. These values also feature in Esthers move to New York as despite any outsider believing she was having the time of her life the equity of the situation couldnt differ more. She was supposed to be the envy of thousands of college girls however she found the materialistic flaws in society too much to deal with and conventional expectations to be cold after such anticipation.Nicoles anticipation for love and accomplishment mirrors this. In conclusion, society is seen to be the contributing factor towards both Nicole and Esthers mental declines as they both strive to accomplish all that they can. It is once reaching these aims that they realise its irrelevance and it is this disappointment which ultimately becomes too much for each protagonist to deal with. The illusions of society are difficult for these individuals to deci pher, and they are both respectively tangled in its complexities.