Anorexic: Structure & Language Techniques
Anorexic: Structure & Language Techniques
“Anorexic” Structural Elements
Use of Sonnet Form
- Boland crafts “Anorexic” as a modernized Petrarchan sonnet.
- It consists of an octave (which asks a question or poses a problem) and a sestet (which resolves the problem or answers the question).
Innovative Usage of Sonnet Structure
- Unlike traditional sonnets, “Anorexic” doesn’t adhere strictly to the common conventions of sonnets.
- Boland uses the form to create a dialogue with the past, but also challenge its traditions.
Language Techniques in “Anorexic”
Use of Imagery
- “Anorexic” is rich in religious imagery and metaphor, drawn from Catholic theology.
- Boland uses this to convey the destructive nature of the speaker’s obsession with self-control and purity.
Use of Alliteration and Assonance
- Boland employs alliteration and assonance throughout the poem, forming a musicality that emphasizes the speaker’s obsession and mental torment.
Use of Personification
- Boland personifies hunger, turning it into a male entity whose control the speaker seeks to escape.
Use of Symbolism
- The envisioned body is a symbol of the perfect, lean ‘model’ standard preferred in society. This symbol showcases the dangers of aspiring to unachievable standards.
Metaphorical Language in “Anorexic”
Body as Battleground
- Boland represents the body as a site of struggle, reinforcing the tension the speaker feels between personal desires versus societal expectations, resembling Ireland’s history with colonizers.
The Flesh Versus the Spirit
- The poem can also be read as a metaphorical exploration of the age-old conflict between the flesh and the spirit, underscoring the power dynamic present in the speaker’s relationship with eating.
Silver Versus Rust
- The speaker aspires to the purity of silver, juxtaposed against the corrosive rust, demonstrating the obsession with purity in “Anorexic”.
Usage of Voice
First-Person Voice
- The poem adopts a first-person voice, establishing an intimate relationship between the speaker and the reader.
Command and Interrogative Voice
- The command and interrogative voice that Boland uses reinforces the internal struggle within the speaker, thus making the reader privy to the speaker’s mental and physical battle with anorexia.