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Exploring Identity and Mental Illness in Robert Lowell's "Waking in the Blue"

Robert Lowell’s poem "Waking in the Blue," written during his time at McLean Hospital, delves into themes of mental illness and identity loss. The title suggests a state of awareness and consideration of his condition, symbolized by the color blue, which connotes feelings of confinement, confusion, and emotional depth. Through vivid imagery and clever motifs, Lowell addresses societal expectations, personal reputation, and the struggle for authenticity, ultimately reflecting on the complex interplay between mental health and self-perception.

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Exploring Identity and Mental Illness in Robert Lowell's "Waking in the Blue"

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Presentation Transcript

  1. Waking in the Blue

  2.  McLean Hospital in Belmont  • The place where Lowell wrote his poem to a lady called Ann Adden who was a girl he had met and fallen in love with during a brief stay • Original draft is 25 lines shorter than the actual poem • Stay at the psychiatric hospital indicate the confinement in the hospital

  3. Waking in the Blue as a title could indicate • Awareness and recognition of his condition by him being in the psychiatric hospital and him finding himself - A state of mind or a place symbolised by blue as he could be somewhere imaginary or in a place of nothingness

  4. First stanza • Mere’s nest- symbolising confusion and disorientation as it talks about “his drowsy head” • use of vague adjectives such as “maunder” and “blue” • “absence” - idea of not knowing how to feel, consumed and the losing of ones identity. Combined with title idea that you feel like you are drowning in the blue.

  5. 2nd stanza • Talking about sports and stereotypical nature of males • “Harvard all-American fullback” ideal success story, academic and sporting recognition • “ramrod” – talking about the fact that football players are stupid and only live for contact. • motif of the confused words describing his moods – “vaguely”

  6. 3rd stanza • Only cares about appearance and reputation • How he seen by others are his main thoughts • “more cut off from words “ describing that he cant find himself if he only thinks of his status - Loss of identity

  7. 5th stanza • Talk of Louis the XVI as a rich and an arrogant king • Only cared about his image • Talking about how tries to fit in where his finest clothes – “birthday suit”

  8. 6th stanza • Again the motif of changing and styling your hair to get the fashionable look. • Relating to title as it consumes you and you are then not your self as you are trying to make yourself look different than you are. – loss of identity • “screwballs” in the catholic church – reference to the churches image in today's society?

  9. 7th stanza • Waking up to realisation of what you have become • Or looking in the mirror and seeing that you are greater than you actually are. – sense of arrogance • “cock of the walk” – arrogance and fleeting confidence. • “twice my age and half my weight.” – arrogance and the irony as you are looking at someone bigger than you are

  10. conclusion • Lowell’s own representation of the feelings he has or had of himself • Questioned the morals and attributes of a person • Mental illness that lead to depression

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