Changing Covers
Throughout the decades that The Bell Jar has been in publication, its cover has changed many times. With each cover change, the perception of the novel for a possible reader is altered. It's important for the cover art to depict an accurate snapshot of the novel and in some versions, there was no glimpse into what the novel about at all. In a perfect world the cover art to any novel would be intriguing and captivating while also giving a preview of the story. Even though the world has told us to never judge a book by its cover, we all do. Judging has kept the human race alive for all its years and in this case, kept us interested. Picking up a novel with mysterious cover art is not always beneficial. While in some cases this will boost sales, inaccurate cover art can cause commotion and in-turn some buyers' remorse.
The Bell Jar's art has changed several times during the 50+ years its been in production. Not all covers have the same effect on the possible readers.
Changing the Chick-lit
One of the biggest controversies with The Bell Jar's cover art came with the 50th anniversary edition. Readers felt like the new cover had rid the initial sight of the book of its mystery and depth. The new cover art transformed the novel into chick-lit, or a novel most commonly read by women. The new cover makes The Bell Jar seem like a classic book about a woman in the 1940's or 1950's, that was targeted for other women.
Readers were angry by the change. Reader and fan Naomi McAuliffe said that by making the new cover, the publisher showed a "real lack of ambition, creativity and imagination in the way marketing tries to target women," She also voiced another opinion among fans. They thought that by transforming the cover into a "dated stereotype" it was "condescending" to not only women but also "condescending to men." McAuliffe felt that by making the cover so feminine it was telling men "that this isn't a book for them." Topping, Alexandra. "The Bell Jar's New Cover Derided for Branding Sylvia Plath Novel as Chick Lit." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 01 Feb. 2013. Web. 05 Dec. 2016. <https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/feb/01/the-bell-jar-new-cover-derided>.
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In order to rebrand the current cover, a few additions needed to be made. With the help of Photoshop and a little time, this chick-lit got its mystery back.
A little research had to be done in order to be accurate for the 1950's. The scenes of shock therapy are so powerful and important to Ester's journey but are never portrayed in the cover art. Common ways to administer electric shock to the temples involved either had band like device that resembled a belt or a hand held device that resembled salad tongs. For the belt like method, black cords would plug into the device on the patients head and attach to the machine. In order to capture Ester's feeling of being trapped, the cord needed to have some type of grip on her. What better way to be reminded of you depression when it's wrapped around your arm while you get ready. To add to the realism of a shock treatment, the cover-girl needed to show some type of distress. Ester described the initial experience as she thought her "bones would break and the sap fly out of me like a split plant." This physically taxing event called for some smuggled makeup and overall redness. Adding redness to the nose adds a sense of irritation on sorrow. By making the skid around the band red and irritated, the feeling of pain is conveyed. The original image was perfect in the sense that even with these changes, it kept I 1950's gender normalities, and in-turn, added a new level of sadness to the image. Our cover-girl, our Ester, just wants to be pretty again but has these ever-present things that is keeping her from her idea of beauty. |