Women's Struggles with Depression in Edge and Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy

“Edge” and “Barbie Doll” outline the thoughts of women struggling with depression; the poems describe the pressures women face each day in order to fit into society, the eerie feeling of isolation, as well as a feeling of being better off dead.

Each poem has its own character struggling with a different situation, both incorporating background information to give context to the characters depression.

The poem “Edge,” written by Sylvia Plath is about a woman struggling with her will to live; the character feels she will be better off dead. The author attempts to normalize death by making the women feel her death will have no effect on the world around her. The author includes the concluding line, “she is used to this sort of thing” in order to normalize the feelings of depression the woman faces. The poem is written in two-lined stanzas which could represent the loss of hope the author felt at the time of writing the poem, as well as adding to the dark mood of the story.

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My impressions of the poem were that it was difficult to read with the broken-up stanzas, however it added to the eerie mood within the poem. Also, the author did a great job creating an image of a broken woman with no will to live any longer. I feel the authors intentions when writing the poem were to describe the feelings someone has when going through depression, along with painting an image of a women who has completely given up on life.

The author uses words such as “perfected,” which means, “completely free from faults or defects, or as close to such a condition as possible.” The author includes “perfected” to show the main character is free of faults as a dead person. Plath also uses the word “over,” which means, finished. She uses “over” to stress the main characters life has terminated; therefore, she will no longer have to suffer. “Edge” is written mostly in present tense with dark lines such as, “dead body wears the smile of accomplishment,” “Flows in the scrolls of her toga,” “we have come so far,” “staring from her hood of bone.” These lines are used to paint an image of a woman currently suffering with depression, making the audience feel more attached to the main character due to the use of present tense. This poem follows themes of defeat, depression, and hopelessness within the mind of a woman struggling with depression and isolation.

The poem “Barbie Doll,” written by Marge Piercy begins with the birth of a healthy girl who becomes depressed growing up within a judgmental society. The society around her push’s false ideals onto the young girl forcing her to become self-conscious and eventually manipulate her body in order to satisfy the likes of others. The poem is written in multiple-lined stanzas, making it much easier to read compared to “Edge.” My impressions of the poem are that it is a sad story about a girl trying to fit in with societies judgements. I felt the authors intention when writing the poem was to outline the struggle woman go through in order to live up to societies standards and judgments of them. Piercy uses words such as “girlchild,” which means, a young female child. This word is important because it puts emphasis that the woman was once just an innocent child at some point in life, viewed as a healthy girl with no imperfections. Piercy uses “Consummation,” which means, “the action of making a marriage or relationship complete by having sexual intercourse.” The author includes this word to describe the feeling of no longer having to live up to other people standards and finally reaching completion, as well as adding to the loss of hope the woman feels by emphasizing that the woman has reached her limit mentally. Majority of “Barbie Doll” is written in past-tense and the author includes lines such as, “The girl child was born as usual,” “She was healthy,” “possessed strong arms and back,” and “she was advised to play coy.” She uses these lines to show the main character is no longer the same innocent girl she once was and has now manipulated her body in order to satisfy society. Unlike “Edge,” the author includes outside characters who promote the death of the main character. This is shown in the lines, “Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs,” as well as “So she cut off her nose and her legs and offered them up.” These lines show the Main Character manipulates her body to please others, which refers to the title “Barbie Doll” since the Main Character is making changes to her body to perfect it and please society, instead of embracing her flaws and being confident. The Themes portrayed in “Barbie Doll” are the desire to live up to other's standards instead of your own personal ideals, as well as social acceptance.

Both Poems are about women struggling with depression and the feeling of being an outcast, along with feeling hopeless. The moods in each poem are dark and eerie, giving the audience an uneasy feeling by using figurative language to portray a detailed image of depressed and hopeless women. Both the Main Characters from each poem feel better off dead and are relieved by their deaths. Also, both poems seem to normalize death. In “Edge,” the author includes the lines, “The moon has nothing to be sad about”, as well as “she is used to this sort of thing,” both lines make it seem like the death of the Main Character is normal and life will go on. In “Barbie Doll,” the author includes the lines, “dressed in a pink and white nightie. Doesn't she look pretty? everyone said. Consummation at last. To every woman a happy ending,” in order to make it seem like the Main Character is happier dead then she was alive and that all women are striving for the same tragic ending.

The Poems “Edge” and “Barbie Doll” describe the affects society has on the mental state of women attempting to live up to societies standards, rather than embracing one’s flaws. Both stories share common themes of depression, isolation, attempting to fit-in, along with the feeling of being better off dead. Both authors use lines filled of imagery in order to put a picture of the depressed women into the readers head, making them feel more emotionally attached to each character, adding a dark mood to each poem. Each character struggles with depression and feel as though they will be better off dead than alive.