The Bell Jar MCQs

Author's Photo
Have a specific topic you'd like me to cover? Feel free to contact me with your suggestions.
Author: Nasir Iqbal | Assistant Professor of English Literature


Updated on: November 21, 2025
Estimated Reading Time: 17 min

The Bell Jar MCQs

1. What national event shadows the summer?

A. Manhattan Project
B. Rosenberg execution
C. Presidential election
D. Korean War truce

B. Rosenberg execution.
The narrator starts the chapter preoccupied and nauseated by the execution of the Rosenbergs by electrocution.

2. How did the narrator feel in New York City?

A. Excited and eager
B. Lonely and depressed
C. Still and empty
D. Busy and thriving

C. Still and empty.
She felt “very still and very empty, the way the eye of a tornado must feel” amid the surrounding noise.

3. What is the name of the women-only hotel?

A. The Beekman
B. The Plaza
C. The Amazon
D. The Starlight

C. The Amazon.
The hotel was named the Amazon, specifically catering to women with wealthy parents seeking protection.

4. How did the girls win their magazine prize?

A. Academic scores
B. Writing essays
C. Fashion modelling
D. Social connections

B. Writing essays.
They won the contest by writing “essays and stories and poems and fashion blurbs”.
5. What distinguished Doreen’s physical appearance?

A. Bright red hair
B. Perpetual sneer
C. Tiny blue eyes
D. Tall, muscular build

B. Perpetual sneer.
Doreen had bright white hair and a mouth set in an “amused, mysterious sneer”.

6. How did the narrator view her boss, Jay Cee?

A. Ugly but wise
B. A fake gusher
C. Overly fashionable
D. Cruel and jealous

A. Ugly but wise.
The narrator liked Jay Cee because she “had brains, so her plug-ugly looks didn’t seem to matter”.

7. What was Betsy’s private nickname, according to Doreen?

A. Dùmb Cowgirl
B. Silly Starlet
C. Pollyanna Cowgirl
D. Sweetheart Sigma-Chi

C. Pollyanna Cowgirl.
Doreen privately referred to the sweet and innocent Betsy as “Pollyanna Cowgirl”.

8. What did the narrator realize was wrong with Buddy Willard?

A. He was poor
B. He lacked intuition
C. He was cheating
D. He hated poetry

B. He lacked intuition.
She realized he was “stùpid” because “he didn’t have one speck of intuition,” unlike Doreen.

9. What was Lenny Shepherd’s profession in New York?

A. A ranch owner
B. A disc jockey
C. A police officer
D. A club owner

B. A disc jockey.
Lenny Shepherd introduced himself, stating, “I’m a disc jockey. You prob’ly must have heard of me”.
10. What fake name did the narrator give Lenny and Frankie?

A. Doreen Smith
B. Esther Willard
C. Elly Higginbottom
D. Pollyanna Betsy

C. Elly Higginbottom.
She chose Elly Higginbottom because she “didn’t want anything I said or did that night to be associated with me”.

11. What drink did the narrator order plain at the bar?

A. Old-Fashioned
B. Glass of gin
C. Pure vodka
D. Sweet Dubonnet

C. Pure vodka.
She ordered vodka plain, wanting it to look “clear and pure as water,” based on an advertisement.

12. What strange animal trophies decorated Lenny Shepherd’s apartment?

A. Stuffed bear cub
B. Antlers and buffalo horns
C. Deer heads
D. Live macaw

B. Antlers and buffalo horns.
Instead of pictures, Lenny’s ranch-like apartment had antlers, buffalo horns, and a stuffed rabbit head.

13. What food caused the mass poisoning at Ladies’ Day?

A. Rare roast beef
B. Black caviar
C. Crabmeat salad
D. Meringue ice-cream

C. Crabmeat salad.
Doreen later confirmed that the crabmeat was “chock-full of ptomaine,” causing everyone to become sick.

14. How did the narrator handle feeling sick in the cab?

A. Yelled at the driver
B. Held Betsy’s head
C. Asked to be let out
D. Hummed and looked out

D. Hummed and looked out.
She and Betsy pretended to look away or hummed to conceal the fact that they were vomiting in the cab.
15. Where was Buddy Willard taking a cure for TB?

A. Upstate New York
B. A Boston hospital
C. The Cape Cod coast
D. His mother’s house

A. Upstate New York.
Buddy was “taking the cure for TB somewhere in upper New York State,” which was in the Adirondacks.

16. How did Esther wish Jay Cee was related to her?

A. Sister or friend
B. Editor or mentor
C. Mother or guide
D. Aunt or cousin

C. Mother or guide.
Esther wished she “had a mother like Jay Cee. Then I’d know what to do” with her life.

17. What career made Philomena Guinea wealthy?

A. Silent film acting
B. Novel writing
C. Magazine editing
D. Philanthropy

B. Novel writing.
Philomena Guinea was described as a “wealthy novelist” whose first novel was made into a film and radio serial.

18. What mistake did Esther make with the finger-bowl?

A. Used it for soup
B. Drank the water
C. Ate the flowers
D. Used it for washing

B. Drank the water.
She thought the water with cherry blossoms was “some clear sort of Japanese after-dinner soup” and ate everything.

19. Why does the narrator dislike Technicolor films?

A. Too dark and drab
B. Too loud and fast
C. Too lurid and fake
D. Too long and boring

C. Too lurid and fake.
She hated how people in Technicolour seemed obliged to wear lurid costumes and stand like clothes-horses.
20. Why did Jay Cee call Esther that morning?

A. To check on her
B. To give her work
C. To praise her poems
D. To discuss the fur show

B. To give her work.
Jay Cee called to demand if she was planning to come into the office, wanting “a little talk” and some work done.

21. What did physics classes feel like to the narrator?

A. Like an experiment
B. A painful effort
C. Absolutely like death
D. An interesting puzzle

C. Absolutely like death.
She explicitly states, “The day I went into physics class, it was death,” despite achieving a straight A.

22. How did Esther get out of her chemistry final?

A. Claimed sickness
B. Threatened to fail
C. Negotiated a waiver
D. Switched majors

C. Negotiated a waiver.
She presented a “clever plan” to her Class Dean to audit the course for honour rather than credit/marks.

23. What job did Jay Cee mention as a successful trajectory?

A. Writing poems
B. Editor at Time
C. Fashion designer
D. University professor

B. Editor at Time.
Jay Cee noted that the previous girl in Esther’s position “went straight from this office on to Time” magazine.

24. What did Buddy Willard define a poem as?

A. A piece of dust
B. A work of art
C. An eternal truth
D. A scientific error

A. A piece of dust.
Buddy famously asked, “Do you know what a poem is, Esther?” and answered, “A piece of dust”.
25. What did Esther believe lasted longer than people?

A. A good poem
B. Scientific truth
C. The human spirit
D. Doctoring efforts

A. A good poem.
Esther realized that a “good poem lasts a whole lot longer than a hundred of those people put together”.

26. Buddy Willard lost his virginity to whom?

A. A Yale co-ed
B. A wealthy friend
C. A sluttish waitress
D. Joan Gilling

C. A sluttish waitress.
Buddy confessed he lost his virginity to a waitress named Gladys at a hotel he worked at on Cape Cod.

27. What job did Buddy’s mother want Esther to take?

A. TB sanatorium waitress
B. Shorthand typist
C. College professor
D. Medical student

A. TB sanatorium waitress.
Mrs Willard arranged for Esther to work as a waitress at the TB sanatorium so Buddy wouldn’t be lonely.

28. What was Constantin’s job and dominant physical trait?

A. Doctor, strong build
B. Mathematician, ugly
C. Simultaneous interpreter, tan
D. Disc jockey, white teeth

C. Simultaneous interpreter, tan.
Constantin was a simultaneous interpreter who was handsome, with a prominent tan from playing tennis.

29. What age did Esther remember being purely happy until?

A. Age thirteen
B. Age sixteen
C. Age nine
D. Age twenty

C. Age nine.
Sitting at the UN, she thought it strange that she was “only purely happy until I was nine years old”.
30. What did the fig tree symbolize for the narrator?

A. Potential careers
B. Family life dreams
C. Unreachable men
D. Dying ambitions

A. Potential careers.
The figs represented many possibilities—husband, poet, professor, editor, lovers—all potentially lost by indecision.

31. How did Eric, the Southerner, view sleeping with a loved woman?

A. As pure joy
B. Too spoiled by animalism
C. An intellectual challenge
D. A necessary ritual

B. Too spoiled by animalism.
Eric believed loving someone meant avoiding sex, as it would be “spoiled by thinking this woman too was just an animal”.

32. Why did Esther decide to sleep with Constantin?

A. Buddy was ahead
B. She loved him
C. To annoy Mrs Willard
D. She felt drunk

A. Buddy was ahead.
Since Buddy had slept with the waitress, she felt she “ought to go out and sleep with somebody myself” to even the score.

33. What did Esther realize a man secretly wanted after marriage?

A. A co-pilot
B. Kitchen mat
C. A loving partner
D. An intelligent wife

B. Kitchen mat.
Esther felt that a man wanted a woman to “flatten out underneath his feet like Mrs Willard’s kitchen mat”.

34. How did Esther feel after failing to be seduced by Constantin?

A. Angry and tired
B. Full of excitement
C. Relieved and free
D. Wanting change and excitement

D. Wanting change and excitement.
She realized she did not want security but wanted “change and excitement and to shoot off in all directions”.
35. What physical change had TB caused in Buddy Willard?

A. He was thinner
B. He was pale
C. He was fat
D. He was muscular

C. He was fat.
Contrary to Esther’s expectations, Buddy had a “pot belly” and cheeks “round and ruddy as marzipan fruit”.

36. What did Buddy suggest when Esther refused marriage due to her neùrotic nature?

A. She would change
B. They live between city
C. He would fix her
D. He would fly alone

B. They live between city/country.
When Esther cited her neurosis as wanting mutually exclusive things, Buddy suggested they live between them.

37. What was the result of Esther’s terrifying ski run?

A. She quit skiing
B. A minor sprain
C. A broken leg
D. She felt happy

C. A broken leg.
Buddy confirms, “Your leg’s broken in two places. You’ll be stuck in a cast for months”.

38. What was Hilda’s shocking opinion regarding the Rosenbergs’ fate?

A. That they suffered
B. She was glad they would die
C. That they were innocent
D. It was politically motivated

B. She was glad they would die.
Esther heard Hilda whisper, “I’m so glad they’re going to die,” reflecting her shocking lack of sympathy.

39. What did Esther toss from the hotel roof on her last night?

A. Letters from Buddy
B. Her expensive clothes
C. Free magazine gifts
D. Her writing thesis

B. Her expensive clothes.
She fed her entire wardrobe “piece by piece… to the night wind,” discarding her material identity.
40. What did Esther prefer to have wrong with her, rather than her mind?

A. Her career
B. Her body
C. Her relationships
D. Her finances

B. Her body.
She wished something was wrong with her body, because that would be preferable to something wrong with her head.

41. What trait of Dodo Conway did Esther feel unable to emulate?

A. Her Catholicism
B. Her intellectual drive
C. Her large, cowy family
D. Her social status

C. Her large, cowy family.
Dodo Conway represented the stereotypical suburban mother with six children, something Esther found repulsive.

42. What action did Doctor Gordon recommend after Esther’s second visit?

A. Immediate hospitalization
B. Shock treatments
C. Learning German
D. Finding a job

B. Shock treatments.
Doctor Gordon advised her mother that Esther should have “some shock treatments at his private hospital in Walton”.

43. Which tree did Esther find symbolic of self-sacrifice in the Public Garden?

A. Weeping Scholar Tree
B. Copper Beech
C. American Elm
D. Mock Orange Bush

A. Weeping Scholar Tree.
She liked this tree because she thought it suggested Japan, where they “disembowelled themselves when anything went wrong”.

44. What object did Esther use for her first, non-fatal suicide attempt?

A. Sleeping pills
B. Razor blade
C. Silk bathrobe cord
D. Father’s shotgun

B. Razor blade.
She attempted to open her veins with a Gillette blade in a warm bath, resulting only in a cut calf.
45. What sight reassured the nurse that the woman in blue could not jump?

A. Police nearby
B. Locked doors
C. Window bars
D. High walls

C. Window bars.
The wall-eyed nurse hissed that the patient “can’t jump out the window because they’re all barred!”.

46. What did Doctor Nolan promise about future shock treatments?

A. They would be effective
B. They would be like sleep
C. They would cure her
D. They would be painless

B. They would be like sleep.
Doctor Nolan assured Esther that if done properly, the shock treatment would feel “like going to sleep”.

47. How did Joan feel about the Willards?

A. She disliked them
B. She admired Mrs Willard
C. They were too normal
D. They were hypocrites

B. She admired Mrs Willard.
Joan loved Buddy’s parents, saying they were wonderful and that Mrs Willard “had been a real mother to me”.

48. What was Joan Gilling’s eventual fate at the asylum?

A. She became a doctor
B. She left the asylum
C. She commìtted suicide
D. She got married

C. She commìtted suicide.
Doctor Quinn informed Esther that Joan was found dead in the woods, having “hanged herself”.

49. What did Buddy Willard worry about after Joan’s death?

A. His health status
B. Esther marrying him
C. Driving women cràzy
D. Being a hypocrite

C. Driving women cràzy.
Buddy asked, “Do you think there’s something in me that drives women cràzy?” after dating both Esther and Joan.
50. What prospect did Esther face upon her departure from the asylum?

A. Certain happiness
B. Potential relapse
C. Total freedom
D. Immediate marriage

B. Potential relapse.
Esther worried that the “bell jar, with its stifling distortions, wouldn’t descend again” upon leaving.

Brief Overview

The Bell Jar is a novel by Sylvia Plath, first published in January 1963. It is a powerful semi-autobiographical work. The novel documents the protagonist’s descent into mental health crisis, exploring themes of identity, societal expectations, and the struggle against female confinement.

The novel opens with Esther Greenwood, a bright college girl, winning a prize to work in New York City for a month. She stays at a women’s hotel but feels empty and unhappy. She is mentally disturbed by news of the Rosenbergs’ execution. She feels jealous of other girls and suffers a physical setback after being poisoned by crabmeat at a luncheon.

Esther returns home and feels intensely trapped. She cannot sleep or read. She sees her future as having too many options, describing them as withering like figs on a tree because she feels unable to choose just one. She attempts suicide by taking many pills in the cellar of her house. She is found alive.

Her mother tells her that Doctor Gordon recommends shock treatments. Esther immediately distrusts and hates Dr. Gordon. The wealthy writer Philomena Guinea pays for Esther’s care at a private asylum. There, she meets Doctor Nolan, who promises the shock treatments will be better managed.

After receiving the treatments, Esther feels quiet and “surprisingly at peace.” She is disturbed when another patient, Joan, hangs herself. Esther prepares for an interview to be released from the asylum. She accepts her struggles as a fundamental part of her own life’s emotional “landscape.”

Related Posts

Leave a comment

SpunkNotes

Typically replies within few hours

Hello, Welcome to the site. If you have any inquiries, please do not hesitate to contact.