Character Analysis Of Esther In 'The Medusa'

This statement shows her concern regarding what others think about her. She always imagines what others would say about her and this attitude portrays an imbalanced mental state. Even after she achieves success, we see that she is unable to shake off her depression. Here we see some contrasting images where Esther feels numb and dull despite the tornado and hullabaloo. When this image is likened to a car we see that it emphasizes the lack of control which she feels over her own emotions. It is noticeable that even though she herself is not in control, yet she is more concerned about what others and the society would think she should be doing.

From the onset of the novel, Esther is full of thoughts about cadavers; the execution of the Rosenbergs,

This line brings to my mind Helene Cixous’ “ write yourself. Your body must be heard.” In ‘The Laugh Of The Medusa’ Cixous urges women to reclaim their bodies and by extension their desires and identities and thus create a social change through writing. Once a woman starts celebrating her body, she will never be lacking. A woman who wants to liberate herself should write through her body. We see that Esther was disgusted by the thought of a woman using her body only for work and producing children. She rather wanted to use her female body to assert herself and her identity in life ( even though she eventually fails to have a sense of self).

There may not be any theory to describe l’ Ecriture Feminine, but it does exist, and represents in every word, metaphor, and sound which can be heard in Plath works. She is an iconoclast poet who transgresses the phallocentric system by talking about body, love, and motherhood. Plath is not afraid to talk about female experience and by talking and writing of female experience she shows us that “ the Dark Continent is neither dark nor unemployable” (Cixous