The Electric Nature of the Belljar: Why The Rosenbergs Serve As Foreboding Foreshadowing
"The Belljar" is distinctly divided into two sections: Before Esther leaves New York, and afterwards. Before she leaves New York, the story is relatively tame in comparison to when she returns to the suburbs and her life completely crumbles. However, in the first half of the book, there are foreshadowing moments that serve as landmarks of what's to come. The biggest example of foreshadowing can be found through the electrocution of the Rosenbergs. The very first line of the book reads "It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs" (Plath 1). The idea of electrocution hangs over the whole story, and Esther's time in New York. She narrates how uneasy the concept makes her, "The idea of being electrocuted makes me sick" (Plath 1). To the reader, it makes sense to be put off by a public execution, but Esther's opinion of the Rosenbergs is shut down by others. At a notable time much later in the book, right before Est...
