The Bell Jar

In chapters nineteen and twenty of The Bell Jar the reader follows Esther Greenwood, a college student, during part of her stay in a Boston asylum for the mentally ill. Esther seems like a fairly normal girl, except that she has a strong desire for sex, indicating that something is not quite right. Chapter nineteen details her search for the perfect man to lose her virginity to. She finds Irwin, a twenty-six year old mathematics professor, and proceeds to seduce him. Unfortunately, she begins to bleed profusely afterwards and insists upon leaving. Irwin drives her to her friend Joan's house, another patient at Esther's asylum. Joan drives her friend to the hospital to get checked out. Not long afterwards Joan is found in the woods dead by means of suicide and Esther receives the news that she will soon have her exit interviews. The story ends with Esther being called in to talk to the doctors. The reader does not find out whether Esther is granted permission to leave or not, but it it seems hopeful.