The Bell Jar

Joan tells Esther that she is going to be released from Belsize on the first of next month. Esther is jealous; she too has been scheduled for release when winter term begins at her college but is peeved that Joan has beat her to the asylum gates. She promises to visit Joan but privately thinks it’s unlikely.

One day after Joan’s discharge, Esther meets a tall, ugly, but intelligent-looking man named Irwin at the library. Irwin invites her out for coffee and then takes her back to his apartment for a beer. As they drink together a woman named Olga appears at the door. Esther tells Irwin to bring her in, but he says Esther’s presence would upset her.

Esther calls Dr. Nolan and secures permission to spend the night away from the asylum by saying that she’s sleeping over at Joan’s in Cambridge. She thinks Irwin is the perfect man to lose her virginity to: he’s smart and experienced enough to make up for her own naivete, and he is a stranger she will never have to see again. Her virginity has felt like a ball and chain ever since she found out about Buddy and Gladys.

Irwin takes Esther out to dinner and brings her to his apartment.