Death Wish in Poems of Anne Sexton and Stevie Smith
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21679051 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nazila Heidarzadegan (0000-0003-1238-7903, Karabük University), Sheyma SHAREEF (0000-0002-5457-6043, Karabük University) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1626-1640 |
| Publication date | 2021-12-28 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Atatürk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1304-4990 • E-ISSN: 2717-6568 |
| Publisher | Ataturk Universitesi (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.53487/ataunisosbil.945378 |
| OpenAlex | W4200112238 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 6 |
This study aims at analyzing Anne Sexton and Stevie Smith’s obsession with death as established in their poetry, concentrating mainly on Freud’s psychoanalysis of the death drive. Examining the writers’ personal life and psychological state of mind, revealing the main reason behind their desire to die, and describing the way they reflected this death wish in their poems are the major concerns of this study. The first part presents a brief introduction to the concept of death, explaining Freud’s theory of death drive and presenting the main reasons for wishing to die and how the unconscious mind develops this desire. The second part discusses the American confessional poetess Anne Sexton and how she confesses her death wish in her poems. Evidently, revealing her personal experience enables the reader to discover the inner reason behind this lust for death. The third part deals with the English Poet Stevie Smith who successfully admits her death wish in her poems. She reveals her struggles in life and views death as a god who can save her. In short, it could be asserted that death became Sexton and Smith’s greatest muse; they depict death as a welcome release and a gift for man which provides a peaceful end to life. The psychoanalysis acts as a mean of self-analysis, where both writers confess their desire to ‘return to an earlier state’, thus presenting death as a kinder and desired friend to be with. Finally, the study concludes that both poets desire death because they want peace and relief from their miserable life
Algorithm · Art · Confessional · Literature · Lust · Poetry · Politics · Psychoanalysis · Unconscious mind · Wish · Contemporary Literature and Criticism · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Law · Mathematics · Philosophy · Philosophy, Ethics, and Existentialism · Psychology
| Highly cited | No |
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