PSYCHIATRIC REHABILITATION AND EMOTIONAL HEALING: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SYLVIA PLATH’S THE BELL JAR AND KĀLIDĀSA’S ABHIJÑĀNAŚĀKUNTALAM

Abstract

Psychiatric rehabilitation and emotional healing have long been central themes across world literature, often expressed through varying cultural frameworks. This paper undertakes a comparative study of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and Kālidāsa’s Abhijñānaśākuntalam, analysing how each text portrays psychological breakdown and recovery within its socio-cultural milieu. Plath’s semi-autobiographical novel reflects the mid-twentieth century’s clinical understanding of mental illness and rehabilitation, while Kālidāsa’s classical Sanskrit drama embeds emotional healing within cosmic justice and dharma. Despite temporal and cultural distances, both texts converge on the portrayal of emotional suffering, alienation, and eventual reintegration into the world. By examining the protagonists’ psychological journeys—Esther Greenwood’s descent into and emergence from depression, and Śakuntalā’s emotional turmoil and reunion—the study reveals how literature functions as a site for negotiating trauma and restoration. Drawing on primary texts and scholarly interpretations, this paper argues that psychiatric rehabilitation, though differently framed, remains an enduring literary concern transcending epochal and civilisational boundaries.