![]() When she arrives, Esther's mother asks what happens to her face, but she merely says that she cut herself. On the train returning home from New York, looks at herself in the mirror and notices lines of blood leftover from her assault by Marco. For Esther, the proposal' by Marco is a more violent extension of the one offered by Buddy. Plath even parallels the earlier proposal by Buddy Willard in this chapter Marco offers Esther a diamond, a symbol of marriage, in exchange for her independence, sexual and otherwise. Marco is simply a more violent extension of Buddy Willard, aggressive in his contempt for Esther and her gender where Buddy Willard is more subtle and passive. He is, as Esther describes him, "invulnerable," using his financial power and sexuality against her, attempting to rape her but still branding her a slut. However, it is more important to note that Marco is a threat to Esther because he holds power over her. Marco is physically threatening toward Esther his actions toward her definitely constitute a rape attempt. Once again, Sylvia Plath equates sexuality with violence during the encounter between Esther and Marco in this chapter. Jay Cee echoes Esther's defined neuroses' through her answer that Esther wants to be "everything," and thus once again defines her primary problem. Faced with making a concrete decision about what she wants to do after graduating from college, Esther becomes unstable and breaks into tears. The first true breakdown that Esther has occurs primarily because of her established indecision concerning her career. The recurrence of the Rosenbergs as details of the plot establishing the setting of the novel is evidence of foreshadowing on the part of Sylvia Plath Esther's horror concerning their imminent electrocution foreshadows the more personalized horror that will come when Esther receives electroshock treatment, while the lack of sympathy Esther receives will parallel that which the Rosenbergs receive from Hilda. Marco demands to have his diamond back, and threatens her when she does not give it back to him immediately. Marco flings Esther back and attempts to rape her while calling her a slut, but Esther pushes him away. Esther tells Marco that if he loves this woman, he'll love someone else someday. She begins to realize why she hates woman-haters: they were "like gods: invulnerable and chock-full of power." Marco admits to Esther that he is in love with his first cousin, but it is impossible to marry her, for she is going to be a nun. Esther immediately deigns Marco a "woman-hater," and refuses to dance with him when they go out to a country club. Esther meets the man, Marco, who gives her a diamond stickpin and says that perhaps he "shall perform some small service worthy of a diamond" as he tightens her hand around Esther. When Jay Cee returns, she gives Esther an armful of manuscripts to amuse her.ĭoreen tries to set up Esther with a man from Peru during her final days in New York. She buries her head into Jay Cee's couch, and when she lifts her head again the photographer and Jay Cee are gone. The photographer notices how Esther seems about to cry, and she finally breaks into tears. Esther does not know what she wants to be, but Jay Cee says Esther wants "to be everything." Esther claims she wants to be a poet, and Jay Cee gives her a long-stemmed paper rose with which to be photographed. During this round of photographs, the girls are photographed with props showing what they wanted to be. Hilda discusses the Rosenbergs with Esther, claiming that she is "so glad they're going to die." Esther says that the Rosenberg situation is awful, but Hilda says that "it's awful such people should be alive." Esther has her picture taken in Jay Cee's office, but feels as if she is going to cry.
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