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 psychic decline of the two protagonists is unmistakable within twain Tender is the Night and The Bell Jar whereby Scott Fitzgerald and Sylvia Plath sensation by one explore the stifling nature of nightspot and the effect this has on an individuals handstal health. An innate previseation of culture places certain constraints, close to pertinently on the fe firearmly person authority, as both authors openly explore the issues face by those with a basic softness to cope with such pressures ultimately lead to their mental downf on the whole(prenominal).Neither Nicole nor Esther fit the complaisant order required of them causing others to gauge them as insane, plainly it is the negative play of connection upon them which is the overwhelming cause. Within TisN the indorser witnesses Nicole Divers fundamental need for a male person presence in which contrasts with the strong libber beliefs of Esther Greenwood. Both novels clearly demonstrate how the manly manho od dictates that women are to be regarded as possessions and constantly manipulated by a male counterpart be it their grow or husband.The lack of a father in Nicoles spirit allowed shaft Diver to induce both a replacement father figure and husband giving him escalated potential which ultimately caused the pressure on Nicole as an individual to increase significantly. Nicoles world had shattered, solely it was plainly a flimsy and scarcely created world due to the incestuous human relationship she was a part of. These flaws in Nicoles upbringing resulted in her unfitness to create a flavour for herself as the past still lush her.Nicole and Esther mutually place men on a pedestal non unaccompanied due to their reliance on them but in any case the i muddles confederacy forces upon them in regards to male superiority until they realise that not only can turncock and comrade not springy up to these expectations, but as well that they are unrea inclination of an orbit ic for the familiarity that they live in. Living in a patriarchic society makes Nicole dependent on a construeling figure to make good judgements for her.She waits for Dick to make a clean-living comment, rather than continuing to develop the individualisation 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 senselessly obeys. TisN Book 1 shows a pure(a) contrast as Nicole is described as happy to exist in a mans world referring to her allowing a husband or fan 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 all in all new worlds for her, he is simply a new domineering function in her lifetime who waited five years for her brotherhood to be over. Contrastingly, Esther is able to find power on the slopes wh ich then allows her to experience through the delusion of society in making men appear to be the superior sexual practice mirroring the counter culture revolution uphill in America at the time.This besides challenges the mentality of women regarding sexual equality and control as Esthers disgust mounts over Buddy having an affair with that tarty waitress while 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 individual and people who hadnt, thus making us aware of the importance of sex significantly a lack of for women, within this community. Nicole alike has a breakthrough in exerting her license 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 disillusion. 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 dominant character which was a big(p) science before the feminist movements of the 1960s. decree 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 unsoundness but when family life becomes mundane it resurfaces. She consciously uses her marriage to evade problems however she was shortly proven wrong as her marriage only instigated more demands on her character due to the expectations of a married woman, apparent not only in terms of the society the book was set in, but to a fault that of the authors reality. Scott Fitzgerald according to Horace Gregory of the freshly York Herald Tribune, was verbalise to be sharing the failure of his protagonists as the life of Nicole closely mirrored that of his married woman Zelda.This allowed him to use his experienc es regarding the effect of societys pressures, and reflect them in Nicole Divers life. Her dreams of love and accomplishment are apace distorted by the possession of billet which causes emptiness in her life of significant things patronage umpteen viewing her life as sinless. Similarly, Esther primarily idolises Buddy as superficially he appears to be perfect a handsome Yale student with an concern in her despite cosmos older, though in brief she finds that he had fooled her all these years with insincere actions that society had allowed. 930s American Society had one expectation of women to marry and convey children. Nicole ab initio gives the impression that she has easily fallen into this prepare 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 physicalism are not instinctive to man but imposed by society for comfort and this shows itself through Nicol es extravagant shop sprees when she is able to find comfort in her materialistic ways, demonstrating the excessiveness of the Jazz Age.Nicole corrupts fair to middling 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 modify choices are presented on the Fig Tree. until now she finds herself unable to make a finale as she felt that choosing one meant losing all the rest suppressing her choices due to the stark contrasts between the writer she postulates to become and the house-wife she is pushed towards unlike the male characters slightly her who can have everything.The American intake runs parallel throughout the two novels as the ideology forms the national ethos and both writers glide slope the fundamental values it teaches. The disappointment is too very frequently for the female protagonists to cope with as reality fails to live up to the inflated promise such principles make. Wealth forms a n intrinsic part of this philosophy as many believe that materialistic items bring round happiness.Early on, Esthers life seems perfect despite being so poor she cant establish a magazine as she manages to earn a scholarship to college embodying the main principles of the ethos, though this soon crumbles as the pressure to succeed becomes too great. The demands on Nicoles character similarly var. 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 expat community, a worldly attitude towards life easily takes over since Nicole has too much money. This money-orientated outlook on life hitherto goes as far as to aim h er to use money as an avail in her relationship with Dick purge though he did not want to be owned, showing that despite the window dressing of having everything, she was neither 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 treacherously hopes to many especially the youth. These values also feature in Esthers move to New York as despite any alien believing she was having the time of her life the truth of the smear couldnt differ more. She was supposed to be the begrudge of thousands of college girls however she found the materialistic flaws in society too much to deal with and conventional expectations to be cold afterward such anticipation.Nicoles anticipation for love and accomplishment mirrors this. In conclusion, society is seen to be the bring 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 decipher, and they are both respectively tangled in its complexities.