Anorexic: Themes & Linking Poems
Anorexic: Themes & Linking Poems
“Anorexic” Themes
Obsession with Purity
- Purity and its unattainable maintenance become a significant theme in “Anorexic”.
Personal Struggle
- “Anorexic” presents the personal struggle of the speaker, involving mental battles and physical hardships.
Societal Pressures
- The poem reflects on the expectations of society, including conventional standards of beauty, which contributes to the protagonist’s anorexia.
Power and Control
- The speaker’s aspirations to attain control underscores the theme of power and control.
Body as a Battlefield
- Boland uses the metaphor of body as battlefield to emphasize the internal struggle and conflict.
Linking Poems
“A Woman Painted on a Leaf”
- This poem also explores themes of female oppression in society and unrealistic beauty ideals, similar to the themes in “Anorexic”.
“Outside History”
- “Outside History” shares the theme of struggle with “Anorexic” although it approaches the topic through a historical perspective.
“Love”
- “Anorexic” and “Love” both deal with the theme of power and control. However, in “Love” it explores the struggle for power in a relationship, while “Anorexic” tackles the struggle for control over one’s body and mind.
“The Journey”
- Both “The Journey” and “Anorexic” use first-person voices which make the narration intimate and personal. As a result, both poems effectively convey the inner struggles of the speakers.
“Quarantine”
- “Quarantine” and “Anorexic” depict the harsh reality of struggling individuals, exploring the theme of survival in adverse circumstances.