I believe it's significant that Thom mentions a "bell jar" in this song, because in Sylvia Plath's famous novel of the same name, the bell jar was symbolic of the main character's sense of alienation.
This woman, "Esther Greenwood" was more or less an alter-ego of the author's - a virginal young writer (an "ingenue" in other words) who suffered from depression and was plagued by feelings of dissociation and an inability to fit into the socially-acceptable roles prescribed for women of her day.
What's more, I think the Bell Jar reference (alienation, insanity) alludes to the breakdown Thom suffered post- OK Computer and his manic-depressive tendencies in general.
In the song Ingenue, the singer blames himself for allowing various distractors and demons to torment him, while simultaneously recognising that he alone has the power to get himself out of the (emotional) mess he's in - a minor revelation of sorts, and one that offers hope that the power to trump his demons rests within his own hands these days.
I believe it's significant that Thom mentions a "bell jar" in this song, because in Sylvia Plath's famous novel of the same name, the bell jar was symbolic of the main character's sense of alienation.
This woman, "Esther Greenwood" was more or less an alter-ego of the author's - a virginal young writer (an "ingenue" in other words) who suffered from depression and was plagued by feelings of dissociation and an inability to fit into the socially-acceptable roles prescribed for women of her day.
What's more, I think the Bell Jar reference (alienation, insanity) alludes to the breakdown Thom suffered post- OK Computer and his manic-depressive tendencies in general.
In the song Ingenue, the singer blames himself for allowing various distractors and demons to torment him, while simultaneously recognising that he alone has the power to get himself out of the (emotional) mess he's in - a minor revelation of sorts, and one that offers hope that the power to trump his demons rests within his own hands these days.