Part 1

The first edition, 1963

Perennial Edition, 2000

The cover of a book has the power of making customers purchase something they normally wouldn’t, or it can make them ignore a title they probably would enjoy reading. As a prospect reader walks down the aisle of a bookstore, the cover of a book has normally very limited time to capture someone’s attention. In a sea of different color schemes, materials and shapes, a cover has to have that extra “something” to catch people’s attention. Many books succeed at being picked up by using bright colors and shiny paper, but fail at transmitting the real essence of the title.

Sylvia Plath’s “The Bell Jar” certainly isn’t a book that can easily be summarized with a cover. The novel portrays the journey of a young lady, Esther, who walks down a rather troubled path in her life. Throughout the story, she deals with different types of disillusion, which lead her to acute depression. At first, one may think she has everything going for her: she’s smart, funny; her professional life seems to be going well. As the story develops, it’s clear that Esther’s take on life is a rather tortured one. She doesn’t seem to be able to enjoy her achievements and can’t seem to relate to what is going on around her. Throughout the novel, Esther shares thoughts that support that idea, such as: “The trouble was, I had been inadequate all along, I simply hadn’t thought about it.” (Plath 70) That’s only one example of how the lack of empathy towards the world is a part of her life. She never seems to find a group she truly fits in and she hasn’t been able to acquire long-term friendships either.

“The Bell Jar” was first published in 1963 and, since then, it has featured over 30 different artworks for its cover; and the first edition published has a very interesting one. The cover is composed of a black and white picture of a woman sitting at a desk in what seems to be a bedroom or a home office, as the background. From what can be seen from a lateral view, she rests her elbow on the desk and her hand on the chin. On the foreground, it is possible to see a bell jar, which gives the impression that the woman could be in it. The glass distorts the image of the woman behind it, and it makes her figure look a bit warped. The idea of a bell jar, also present in the title of the novel, is a reference to an analogy that Esther uses several times to describe her feelings: “I would be sitting under the same glass bell jar, stewing in my own sour air.”(185) This “bell jar” symbolizes her struggles in life, which always suffocate her in low self-esteem form and it makes her never feel satisfied with what she achieves. That’s clear when she says, “I was supposed to be having the time of my life.”(2) She acknowledges that she should be happy, but she’s unable to properly feel that way.

In this first edition’s cover it is only possible to see her dark silhouette against a well-lit background, which gives the artwork a sinister feel and supports the subject of the novel. Alongside the dark colors of the photograph, the typography follows that same imagery. Both title of the book and name of the author (“Victoria Lucas”, Plath’s penname) are portrayed in a shade of purple. The title of the book appears with a large point-size, all caps and centered at the bottom; and it takes up almost the entire bottom half of the cover. The other typographic addition is the name of the author, up top, with the same purple, but written in cursive typeface, giving it a more delicate motif. The typographic choices add up to the dramatic atmosphere that the story inspires.

Another cover that succeeds at capturing the essence of “The Bell Jar” is the “Perennial Classics” version, from 2000. It also features a woman in a black and white photograph. This time, the woman is outdoors in what seems to be a backyard. She is wearing a white dress, against a dark background formed by trees. That brings up an element that played an important role in the novel: the fig tree reference.

“I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn’t quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn’t make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”(77)

That is a very important, since it touches a major issue for Esther—the lack of assuredness in her life. She is an intelligent woman who would easily be able to follow a successful career path based on her academic records, but isn’t able to do so due to insecurities and, again, the lack of self-esteem. This “Perennial Classics” cover speaks to that as it has the face of the woman blurred out, as a way of conveying lack of identity, something Esther deals with. She can’t decide what she wants for her future and isn’t able to make crucial life decisions, which frustrates her even further.

This artwork also features purple typeface for the title of the book, but it’s in a lighter tone compared to the first edition, which makes it look more girly and adds to the innocent feel that the white—and somewhat short—dress also suggests. The name of the author (this time her real one) is written in white lower-case letters; also suggesting a soothing and young theme.

The fact that the woman appears in the back of the photo, reading as some distance from the foreground, and the way she’s pictured alone, play with the concept of solitude and indecisiveness once again. Here’s a quote from the novel that supports that thought: “The same thing happened over and over: I would catch sight of some flawless man in the distance, but as soon as he moved closer I immediately saw he wouldn’t do at all.”(83) Just like in this quote, the woman in the picture looks almost lost, looking for something or someone; but at the same time she doesn’t look like she’s about to go anywhere. Esther feels that way in many different moments, such as in this following one: “When they asked me what I wanted to be I said I didn’t know.”(101) She didn’t even know who she was, or what she wanted to be—let alone which direction she wanted her life to take; and this version of the book cover dialogs with that idea.

Both covers here discussed—the first edition and the “Perennial Classics” version—do a great job conveying the main points of the novel. The first one dabbles more deeply with the gloomy aspect of depression, by portraying the woman in a distorted way and in dark colors. This cover also features a more obvious reference to the bell jar, having the actual object as part of the artwork. The “Perennial Classics” cover is subtler in its references, leaving more to be further analyzed. This latter one focuses more on the lack of self-identity Esther struggled with throughout the novel—hence the woman’s blurred face, just standing still in a garden. The imagery of this cover is a more youthful one, as it brings up the notion of Esther’s unpreparedness to deal with life’s challenges.

It’s hard to decide which one has more efficient results. The two covers have similarities: both have black and white photographs, feature a woman, have purple typography, and play with light/dark. It’s interesting to see that they were made 37 years apart and yet have a lot in common. It’s left to be wondered of the first edition had its cover design authorized by the author, since she was still alive when it was published. It summarizes the idea of the novel very well, and so does the “Perennial Classics” version.

Not all of the various cover designs for “The Bell Jar” had such positive outcomes. Many missed the point in portraying the Esther Greenwood’s gloomy personality and her hardships in life. It’s hard to imagine how an artwork featuring bright colors and festive typography can be faithful to a story that narrates the experiences of a woman dealing with depression. With a few exceptions, almost all cover options have, rightfully, dimmed colors and a serious approach.

As mentioned before, “The Bell Jar” isn’t an easy novel to be translated into a book cover, but the two ones here analyzed perform the job really well. Whoever sees these artworks are able to at least have an idea of what the novel is about, and that’s exactly what you want from a book cover.

 Part 2

My cover

For the creation of my own cover, I used two major references in the novel: the bell jar and the fig tree metaphors. The first one appears in various moments of the story and it symbolizes Esther’s fears, frustrations and pain. She feels trapped inside this bell jar that keeps her from enjoying life. “To the person in the bell jar, blank and stopped as a dead baby, the world itself is a bad dream.”(237) She is talking about herself, who suffers from depression and can’t seem to be able to enjoy life.

The other reference, with the figs, is an allusion to the many different goals she wants to achieve, but doesn’t think she will. She says: “I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn’t make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”(77) Esther has so many possible ways to succeed in life, and yet she’s overwhelmed and can’t follow any plan in depth.

The cover was put together with the thought of having the figs trapped inside the bell jar, representing two main ideas:
– The figs, or her dreams, were there within reachable distance and she could get them if she wanted, but something was keeping her from doing so: depression.
– Her goals, or her expectations in life, were also suffocating her, just like the bell jar.

I went with that typographic choice because it’s delicate and dark, just like Esther’s mind. I distorted the figs to give them the same gloomy feel Esther describes in the story. I made them look darker so it seems like they’re going bad and Esther is running out of time to eat them, translating into the nerve-wrecking scenario she’s living in.

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