Embracing True Self, Alienation, and Freedom: An Existential Analysis of Adrienne Rich's "Diving into the Wreck"
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Adrienne Rich's poem "Diving into the Wreck" displays a symbolic journey towards self-discovery, identity, and history. The poem is usually interpreted through the feminist or poststructuralist approaches, nevertheless, this study claims that the poem's existential aspects have not been taken into consideration. By the application of Sartrean concepts of freedom, alienation, and the search for meaning to the text, the critical gap will be filled by this research. A qualitative methodology based on the textual analysis of language, form, and imagery is used, and the analysis sees the dive as an intense journey of self-discovery. The narrator’s striving to investigate the wreck corresponds with Sartre’s dictum that “existence precedes essence” and manifests the need to create one's own meaning in a neutral universe. This research further supports the scholarly readings of Rich's works by bringing to the fore its existential aspect.
Source: Global Social Sciences Review
Authors: Sawaira Hakim, Yousra Urooj, Warda Fareed
Institution: COMSATS University Islamabad
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4415536959
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