Mrs. Willard is the mother of Esther’s childhood friend Buddy. Similarly to Esther’s mom, they both attended college, married their professors and as was the custom of their period, became housewives. As a housewife Mrs Willard main interest seemed focus on the maintenance of the house and rearing of her son Buddy until he can find a wife. To this end she views Esther as a possible suitable wife for her son Buddy and does everything within her power to ensure an eventual union between the two and “had even arranged for me to be given a job as a waitress at the TB sanatorium … so Buddy wouldn’t be lonely” ( Plath p21).
Mrs. Willard is intelligent enough to have worked as teacher and be a major influence on her son Buddy who “was always quoting what she said about the relationship between a man and a woman (Plath 78).” It is in this arena that we See Mrs. Willard embody and espouse the dominant puritanical values of her times; “Mrs. Willard was a real fanatic about virginity for men and women both (Plath p78).”During Esther’s first visit to the Mrs. Willard’s house, Esther felt as though she was appraised, “she gave me a queer, shrewd, searching look” (Plath 78), this all in an attempt to ascertain or divine “whether or not I was a virgin or not (Plath p78).”
Esther does not hold Mrs. Willard in any high regard. Yes Esther “admired the tweedy browns and green and blues patterning the braid (Plath p93),” but completely differs in the eventual use of the mat. Whereas Esther would have hung the rug on the wall obviously as a showpiece, Mrs. Willard instead placed it on the floor (Plath p93). This obviously vexed Esther as “…in a few days it was soiled and indistinguishable from any mat you could buy for under a dollar in the five and ten (plath p93).” Esther’s general disdain for Mrs. Willard is again on display when she accepts a dinner with Constantin. Initially Esther expects Constantin,” Mrs Willard simultaneous interpreter would be short and ugly (Plath p57) “. But as the night progresses and her opinion of Constantin continually improved, she remarks “I’d never have given Mrs. Willard credit for introducing me to a man named Constantin (Plath p56)”. What is even more telling is that she took much pleasure in being critical of Mrs. Willard with her host Constantin, (Plath p81)” both openly raking Mrs. Willard over the coals.
As it is through the eyes of Esther the first person narrator that we view the characters in The Bell Jar, we are acutely aware of and influenced by her representation of the characters. Even though Mrs. Willard in my opinion hopes to be a positive influence, her submission to subjugation, negates the respect Esther and Buddy had for her in some aspect. While most might agree that in general then and now although much less now with Mrs. Willard assertion, “ what a man wants is a mate and what a woman wants is infinite security (Plath p79)”. However when she further explores this statement and continues with the phallic reference, “ …a man is an arrow… and what a woman is is the place the arrow shots off from, to until it makes me tired (Plath p79)”. I as other readers must ask, is Esther tired not only form her constant unappreciated advice, but in some sense of the constant, subconscious, relentless penetration of Mrs. Willard in her life!
