Esther's Road to Recovery

While I was reading the chapters in The Bell Jar that focus on Esther's time at the private hospital, I had some mixed emotions. At first I was kind of upset that Esther was being forced to be there. I sympathized with her and I didn't think that it was fair that her family was dragging her to a mental institution because some random lady decided that this place was what was best for her. I was also upset with the hospital and with society in general. There is no doubt about it that the second hospital is a much better fit for Esther-- she likes her psychiatrist, she isn't forced into painful shock therapy, and she feels more at ease-- but I still felt that she was unhappy and didn't want to be there. Esther's mother is more harsh than I would deem appropriate when it comes to Esther's move,
"My mother told me I should be grateful. She said I had used up almost all her money, and if it weren't for Mrs. Guinea she didn't know where I'd be."
Esther is shamed for having tried to kill herself, which seems to reflect on the attitude of not only her mother, but also the majority of society. When news of Esther's suicide attempt gets out, the media eats it up and publishes it in the newspapers, giving Joan the motivation to also try killing herself. Esther encounters blame for Joan's suicide attempts, as well as hostility from her family and others. 

However, once I started to think about it and continued reading the novel, I realized that most of the issues that I had with the second hospital were not actually with the institution, but rather with outside forces that could have happened anywhere, and my opinion of the place changed. I think that the second hospital was a beneficial stepping stone for Esther. She encountered love and support from Dr. Nolan and the nurses, as well as the permission to take her life into her own hands. One part that really stuck out to me was when the nurse told Esther that she was being moved up to the next level of recovery:

"'I'm not ready. I'm not well enough.' 'Of course, you're well enough. Don't worry, they wouldn't be moving you if you weren't well enough.' After the nurse left, I tried to puzzle out this new move on Doctor Nolan's part. What was she trying to prove? I hadn't changed. Nothing had changed.

Esther is wary of Dr. Nolan because she doesn't believe in herself, which is one of the factors that contributed to her downward spiral earlier in the novel, but the nurse does. She gives Esther the confidence that is necessary to continue down the road to recovery. Despite my initial wariness, I've realized that the second hospital was indeed salutary and that without it, Esther may never have reached the point where her future would be full of optimistic question marks.