Apocryphally defined as a novel confined to the voracious appetite of mental illness, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath truly explores the ills of society in the role of young women in the 1950s. Despite the inevitable and universal recognition of internal conflict, the protagonist of The Bell Jar, Esther Greenwood, also faces peremptory and crucial physical violence. A bright young woman in the 1950s, Esther is distressed when she encounters the possibility of being raped. The near-rape scene, though violent, poses several devices in Plath's semi-autobiographical novel; furthermore, it works to represent a deeper issue rather than simply showing the specific violence of Esther's predicament. Plath carefully designed the scene's details, diction, and narration to reveal thematic relevance and social issues through the characters' violence. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In the first part of The Bell Jar, the character of Esther is portrayed indirectly through her narration as slightly cynical and sad, but at the same time caring. Perpetuating character development, Esther is apprehensive before meeting a boy her friend Doreen knows; this guy will accompany her as his date to dance, drink and behave at night. However, the night goes astray and falls into discomfort, fear and misogyny, and violence ensues. The violence of the near-rape scene is used by Plath to generate thematic relevance, especially in her antagonist, Marco, as a typical misogynistic male archetype. He's kind, rich somehow, but dark. This lethal blend of male character traits is repeated throughout 18th, 20th, and 21st century literature in characters such as Richard Lovelace in the famous epistolary novel Clarissa; Andy in the bestselling children's novel Speak; and even Christian Gray in the infamous erotic novel 50 Shades of Grey. In all of these literary texts, the kind, rich, dark male is often used to present a problem to a young, naive, impressionable female character, usually a conflict of a sexual nature. However, for the purposes of Plath's thematic development, an example of Mark's violent and suave nature is encountered with Esther's fist rather than her heart. This almost automatic attack on Esther's part after being called a "slut" by Mark can easily be juxtaposed with Esther's feelings of dissatisfaction in her world, despite her ability to fight back (Plath 57-58). Esther's tired nature is consolidated in this violent scene as she had previously foreshadowed Marco's attack and expressed fear of a superficial and sexually perverse tryst, allowing a theme of rebellion against convention to be evoked. Instead of falling into the state of confusion often characteristic of rape scenes, Esther thinks, “It's happening. If I stay here and do nothing, it will happen." (Table 57). Esther's sense of observation combined with her intuition construct the thematic transformation of the text from the story of a young woman to the story of her death. The near-rape scene is essential in revealing the thematic development, as it shows Esther's character remaining perpetually clouded and slightly sad despite her situation. Rape in the 1950s was rarely reported, often misunderstood, and socially underdefined ("Female Center"). The term “rape culture” emerged in the late 1970s; however, its principles existed in American culture long before (“Women's Center”). The almost 2014.