A Study of Domestic Aspects of the Confessional Poetry in Robert Lowell's Life Studies

AbstractRobert Lowell, the iconic American Poet, moves with his Confessional poetry, notably the poetic volume Life Studies (۱۹۵۹) from the “raw” to the “cooked”. Confessional poetry is a literary genre of the expression of personality. It is where the art of poetry is similar to the art of confession and the inclination of poetry to move toward the too personal. The personal life of the poet under the dilemma of psychological crisis, sex, family life, humiliation and mental and psychological state of mind moves to the forefront of the poem. Personal pain, experiences, trauma, depression, psychological break-down and the private relationships articulated through a new kind of free verse and mode of expression. Humanistic Psychology as a therapeutic and a person-centered theory acts both as a means of self-analysis and as a literacy device. It enables consideration of the poet’s self and how this self feels irritated for being only an actual self, try to move from the actual to the ideal self until it successfully reaches self-assertion and self-actualization in relation to his/her poetic language and the process of creativity. Hence, in order to study the confessional poetry, domestic aspects and the consequences of their psychoanalytic literary approach objectively play a significant role.

Keywords:

Confessional poetry , Robert Lowell , Humanistic Psychology , Domestic Aspects , self-actualization