Idea Post #2: Self Image

"I didn't want my picture taken because I was going to cry. I didn't know why I was going to cry, but I knew that if anybody spoke to me or looked at me too closely the tears would fly out of my eyes and the sobs would fly out of my throat and I'd cry for a week. I could feel the tears brimming and sloshing in me like water in a glass that is unsteady and too full."

~Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

"Almost four out of 10 girls in a poll of more than 500 teenagers said their mother had the biggest influence on how they perceived themselves."

-Dara Chadwick

Anno bib:

Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar. New York:HarperPerennial, 2006. Print.

This book is about a fictional character, Ester Greenwood, and her descent into mental illness. It is autobiographical about Plath's actual life. She gets great opportunities like going to New York for a whole month to write for a magazine and a marriage proposal and yet she cannot function sanely with these accomplishments. She finds herself constantly thinking about death and eventually ends up living in a hospital after a suicide attempt. Plath describes the fall she has into mental illness but also explains her recovery.

Relation to my work:

In no way am I relating my life or work to Sylvia Plath but the driving force behind my work is about my insecurity of my own life and body. Plath's book deals a lot with negative view of her own self. The beginning is about the character Greenwood's internship in New York and how it should be the best time of her life but she can't get past the materiality and shallowness of her life there. She is left feeling empty and alone about her self. Her insecurity towards the end of this time is something I feel that most people can relate to. A low self image is the subtle part of my work and my life. I never really want to share this part of me. I think the challenge will make my work stronger. If Plath can write a book about her descent into insanity I can make work on my feelings about my self.

Works Cited:

Chadwick, Dara. "Do Mothers Cause Eating Disorders?" Psychology Today 22 Dec. 2010. Web. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/youd-be-so-pretty-if/201012/do-mothers-cause-eating-disorders.

Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar. New York: HarperPerennial, 2006. Print.