Proses Individuasi Esther dalam Novel The Bell Jar Karya Sylvia Plath: Analisis Jungian = Esther's Individuation Process in Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar: A Jungian Analysis

NURUL AINI. Esther’s individuation process in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar: A Jungian analysis. (Supervised by Herawaty Abbas and Rezky Ramadhani). Background. Young adults, particularly women, often experience significant psychological distress from conflicting societal expectations and personal aspirations, contributing to high rates of depression. This struggle is reflected in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar through the character of Esther Greenwood. Aim. This study identifies and analyses the archetypes present in Esther and examines her progress toward self-realization based on Carl Jung's psychoanalytic approach. Method. This qualitative descriptive study employs close textual analysis by applying Jungian concepts of persona, shadow, animus, self, and individuation. Results. Analysis reveals Esther experiences severe identity fragmentation marked by conflicting social roles, repressed psychological tensions, and strong animus projection onto male figure. Her individuation process unfolds through persona disintegration, shadow encounter, and partial animus integration, yet these stages remain incomplete. Conclusion. This study concludes Esther's individuation is still in its early stages and has not yet reached self-realization due to the story's cliffhanger ending, which leaves her development process unfinished.