Barriers to the Self
This article explores Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar (1967) and Elizabeth Wurtzel’s Prozac Nation (1994) through the effects that depression has on the creation and perception of self in young women. Depression is explored in terms of the barriers it erects around young women’s attempts to conceptualis...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Edinburgh
2019-06-01
|
| Series: | Forum |
| Online Access: | http://journals.ed.ac.uk/forum/article/view/3048 |
| _version_ | 1797979037430185984 |
|---|---|
| author | Natalie Wall |
| author_facet | Natalie Wall |
| author_sort | Natalie Wall |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article explores Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar (1967) and Elizabeth Wurtzel’s Prozac Nation (1994) through the effects that depression has on the creation and perception of self in young women. Depression is explored in terms of the barriers it erects around young women’s attempts to conceptualise selfhood as it forms in adolescence. This article particularly focuses on the problem of productivity in both texts as protagonists Esther Greenwood and Elizabeth Wurtzel appear to view productivity, particularly academic and literary, as the means through which they will create and establish a coherent self. This fetishised productivity is halted by their depressions, illustrating a further tension between the wider capitalist society which demands productivity and the destabilising nature of depression. Whilst Esther and Elizabeth have different experiences, due to the periods of composition, both characters and texts have striking similarities which suggest that there is a common thread which unites the experiences of female depression in the late twentieth century. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T05:33:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6fdfb086a0b342eaac03bd94d0642e1a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1749-9771 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T05:33:44Z |
| publishDate | 2019-06-01 |
| publisher | University of Edinburgh |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Forum |
| spelling | doaj.art-6fdfb086a0b342eaac03bd94d0642e1a2022-12-22T16:20:00ZengUniversity of EdinburghForum1749-97712019-06-012810.2218/forum.28.30483048Barriers to the SelfNatalie Wall0University of EdinburghThis article explores Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar (1967) and Elizabeth Wurtzel’s Prozac Nation (1994) through the effects that depression has on the creation and perception of self in young women. Depression is explored in terms of the barriers it erects around young women’s attempts to conceptualise selfhood as it forms in adolescence. This article particularly focuses on the problem of productivity in both texts as protagonists Esther Greenwood and Elizabeth Wurtzel appear to view productivity, particularly academic and literary, as the means through which they will create and establish a coherent self. This fetishised productivity is halted by their depressions, illustrating a further tension between the wider capitalist society which demands productivity and the destabilising nature of depression. Whilst Esther and Elizabeth have different experiences, due to the periods of composition, both characters and texts have striking similarities which suggest that there is a common thread which unites the experiences of female depression in the late twentieth century.http://journals.ed.ac.uk/forum/article/view/3048 |
| spellingShingle | Natalie Wall Barriers to the Self Forum |
| title | Barriers to the Self |
| title_full | Barriers to the Self |
| title_fullStr | Barriers to the Self |
| title_full_unstemmed | Barriers to the Self |
| title_short | Barriers to the Self |
| title_sort | barriers to the self |
| url | http://journals.ed.ac.uk/forum/article/view/3048 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nataliewall barrierstotheself |