[2] The story follows a young woman's summer in New York working for a women's magazine, her return home to New England and her psychological breakdown within the context of the difficulties of the 1950s, including the Rosenbergs' execution, the disturbing aspects of pop culture, and the distraction of predatory college boys.

[1] Janet Maslin of The New York Times was unimpressed, stating that the film's portrayal of Esther was "disastrous...because it is the character's imaginative life that leads her to a collapse, and the movie barely even goes skin-deep.

"[3] Variety wrote: "Despite some decent performances, 'The Bell Jar,' based on the late poet Sylvia Plath's autobiographical novel, evokes neither understanding or sympathy for the plight of its heroine...As played by Marilyn Hassett, who has a cool, Seventeen magazine kind of prettiness, Esther emerges as a selfish, morbid little prig.

"[4] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film one star out of four and called it "downright laughable, a stormy TV soap opera without that genre's sense of humor.

"[5] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film "would be ideal material for Ingmar Bergman, or more appropriately, since it is an American work, for the Woody Allen of Interiors.

[1] The British Library holds the archive of poetry, diary entries, correspondence and copies of legal documents relating to the lawsuit, information that sheds light on the publication of The Bell Jar in the U.S. and the difficulties surrounding the film adaptation.