ATLANTIS 28.1 (June 2006): 89–100
ISSN 0210-6124
Female Iconog aphy and Subjec i i y in Ea an
Boland’s In He Own Image
Lau a Mª Lojo Rod íguez
Uni e sidade de San iago de Compos ela
[email p o ec ed]
In 1980 he I ish poe Ea an Boland published In He Own Image a olume o poe y
which s ands as a landma k in he ca ee as a w i e o i s sub e si e po en ial o e ise
c ea ional my hs ha ha e con ibu ed o he adi ional cons uc ion o emale
subjec i i y. The aim o his pape is o discuss Boland’s ex ual s a egies in In He Own
Image and see how she sub e s he adi ional emale iconog aphy ha cons ains he
emale psyche and disempowe s women. Ra he han a se o o namen al emale igu es,
Boland’s olume p oduces mo e au hen ic ep esen a ions o women ha mo e away
om man’s own image and om his icons, which ha e o en been aken as “na u al”
wi hin he cons uc ion o emale subjec i i y. Resis ance o such gende ings p o ides, as
he olume illus a es, emancipa o y possibili ies o he woman w i e who egains
con ol o e he own body image wi hin he e y e ms o a cul u e and o a pa icula
poe ic adi ion.
Key wo ds: Ea an Boland, In He Own Image, I eland, women’s poe y, emale iconici y,
subjec i i y
Awa eness o a gende ed cul u al con ex o en enhances ou unde s anding o a poem,
especially when a woman poe challenges adi ional images ha ha e long been aken
as “na u al” wi hin he cons uc ion o emale subjec i i y.Socialised o be passi e and
silen o o a oid aboo subjec s such as he emale ana omy and sexuali y o de alued
opics such as ma e ni y o child en, women poe s mus con on and esis such
gende ings in o de o examine and w i e abou hei own expe ience. Bu as
Habe s oh (2001: 6) sugges s, adop ing a subjec posi ion, o c ea ing a emale oice,
has addi ional complica ions because women ha e o en se ed as objec s o he male
poe .1
The I ish poe Ea an Boland desc ibes he g adual inc ease o emale au ho ship as a
e olu ion, o i implies he assump ion o a emale oice as a conscious subjec
1 The p esen pape appea s insc ibed wi hin he amewo k o a esea ch p ojec inanced by
he Spanish Minis y o Educa ion, en i led “Poesía y géne o: Poe as i landesas y gallegas
con empo áneas (1980-2004)” (HUM2005-04897/FILO). I would like o exp ess my g a i ude o
he p ojec ’s supe iso , D Manuela Palacios González, o he endless suppo and
encou agemen . I mus also acknowledge my deb o D Jo ge Sacido Rome o, who con ibu ed
o his pape wi h his enligh ening commen s and c i ical eye.
90 Lau a Mª Lojo Rod íguez
posi ion away om silence as a o me objec o he male poe : “[Women] ha e gone
om being he objec s o I ish poems o be he au ho s o i ” (2001: 96). E en so, such a
e olu iona y shi i s equi es exo cising hose emale icons embedded in I eland’s
poli ical oubles o , in Boland’s own wo ds, he “en enched and e en dange ous
ela ion be ween he I ish na ional assump ions and he I ish poem” (2001: 97). Gende
ela ions a e a he hea o cul u al cons uc ions o social iden i ies and collec i i ies.
The ques ion o adop ing a subjec posi ion becomes u he complica ed i he emale
oice is loca ed in a pos colonial e i o y, as is he case o I eland.
The p esen pape aims o discuss Ea an Boland’s hi d olume o poe y In He
Own Image (1980, epublished in he Collec ed Poems 1995a) o i s sub e si e po en ial,
as i s e y i le sugges s, o bo h e ise and ea icula e c ea ional and ounda ional
my hs unde pinning adi ional emale iconog aphy, which o en appea associa ed
wi h he cons uc ion o emale subjec i i y. The ea lie olume s ands as a landma k in
Boland’s c ea i e wo k, illus a ing a shi in poe ic language om a gene alised pe sona
o a pa icula , speci ic subjec posi ion ha se s ou o disman le hose aspec s o
eminini y which place cons ain s on he emale psyche and disempowe women.
Depa ing om man’s pa icula image o ind one’s own equi es a p ocess o
econs uc ion o women: i is p ecisely wi hin ha liminal place, which becomes he
scena io o hese poems, ha in e p e a ion may occu , whe e ideas o “shame and
powe and ein e p e a ion, which a e a he hea o he pos colonial discou se, can be
eco e ed as aw da a” (Boland 1997: 13).
Fo women w i e s, esis ance u gen ly demands econs uc ion (Boland 1995b: 65)
by means o a coun e -na a i e able o des abilise he male con olling gaze. The i le
o he olume –In He Own Image– de ian ly sub e s he e y i s example o emale
iconog aphy subse ien o he Law o he Fa he , bo h li e ally and me apho ically
speaking, as ende ed in Genesis: “So God c ea ed man in his own image, in he image
o God he c ea ed him; male and emale he c ea ed hem” (Gen 1.27). Thus dep i ed o
singula i y, emale subjec i i y is only de ined in e ms o he objec i ying gaze as man’s
dependan , and women’s own biological capaci y o ep oduc ion is ac ually annulled.
Boland’s In He Own Image de ies he hegemonic concep ual scheme ha unde lies
such an assump ion by he inclusion o he emale body and i s complex sexuali y in he
poems, hus sub e ing he biblical my h o woman’s c ea ion as Adam’s appendix:
“And he ib, which he Lo d God had aken om Man, made he a woman, and
b ough he un o he man” (Gen 2.22). Ins ead, as he pe sona in “Exhibi ionis ” c ies
ou , he ime has come o “s a / wo king om he ex , / making / om his ash /
and gimmick y / o sex / my aes he ic” (Boland 1995a: 68). The poem’s de ian poe ic
oice desc ibes a woman’s exhibi ed naked body ha he emale pe sona has p e iously
modelled in a eminine e sion o man’s c ea ional my h in Genesis, a woman who no
longe wai s passi ely o be c ea ed. I God’s inspi ing b ea h gi es li e o clay-modelled
Adam, Boland’s poems exempli y a simila a emp o c ea e an independen emale
subjec , which necessa ily equi es a sub e sion o p e iously es ablished ye ine ec i e
icons: “I sub e / sculp u e, / he old mode; / I skin, / I dimple clay, / I lesh, / I ump
s one” (1995a: 68).
The olume illus a es, as his w i e would ha e i , an ac o displacemen , as Judi h
Bu le asse s: i emale sexuali y is cons uc ed wi hin powe ela ions, hen “ he
pos ula ion o a no ma i e sexuali y ha is ‘be o e’, ‘ou side’, o ‘beyond’ powe is a
Female Iconog aphy and Subjec i i y in Ea an Boland’s In He Own Image 91
cul u al impossibili y and a poli ically imp ac icable d eam, one ha pos pones he
conc e e and con empo a y ask o e hinking sub e si e possibili ies o sexuali y and
iden i y wi hin he e ms o powe i sel ” (Bu le 1990: 30). In his ligh , In He Own
Image o e s sub e si e possibili ies wi hin he e y e ms o cul u e i sel , o a
pa icula poe ic adi ion wo king h ough Boland’s disman ling o pa ia chal modes
o ep esen a ion by ew i ing hem: “I was a poe . Bu I was abou o ake on he li e o
he poe ic objec . I had w i en poems. Now I would ha e o en e hem … I would
ha e o eexamine modes o exp ession and poe ic o ganiza ion … I would ha e … o
dis up and dispossess” (Boland 1995b: 28, 29). Th oughou he olume, Boland is
engaged in eplacing my hic icons ha ha e adi ionally in e ened in he cons uc ion
o emale subjec i i y wi h mo e au hen ic, o en oublesome po ai s o women.
Howe e , his ask has p o ed o Boland di icul and pain ul, one o which she
pe sis en ly came back h ough he cou se o bo h he poe y and he c i ical
e lec ions. Such emale po ai s we e o be pa o a adi ion which denies women a
place, excep as an icon, oid o a sui able language o ep esen he expe ience as a
woman w i e :
I knew … ha I had a mind and a body. Tha my body would lead my poe y in one
di ec ion. Tha my mind could ake up he sub le pe missions a ound me and w i e
disembodied e se, he mo e appa en ly exci ing because i denied he exis ence o he
body and ha complexi y. I knew, in o he wo ds, ha I was a hal -named poe . My
mind, my language, my lo e o eedom: hese we e named. My body, my ins inc s: hese
we e named only as passi e pa s o he poem. Two pa s o he poem awai ed me. Two
choices. Powe o powe lessness. (Boland 1995b: 26)
The collision be ween emale sexuali y and poe ic language and i s con en ions is
d ama ised in Boland’s In He Own Image (1980), whose poems include and ep esen
he emale body and i s complexi ies. In his sense, “Ti ade o he Mimic Muse” – he
poem ha inaugu a es he olume in a an alising way– wo ks as a sub e si e pa ody o
he Mil onian in oca ion o he hea enly muse o poe ic inspi a ion, while also
add essing wha Boland sees as a con o e sial connec ion be ween gende and na ion.
I is bo h a plunge in o “an ancien wo ld o cus oms and pe missions” (Boland 1995b:
27) and an u gen call o e ision: “They had been me apho s and in oca ions, similes
and muses … Cus om, con en ion, language, inhe i ed image: They had all led o he
in ense passi i y o he eminine wi hin he poem” (Boland 1995b: 27-28).
Fo Boland, he na ional muse is i econcilable wi h he emale poe ’s c ea i e
capaci y, o his icon belongs o a se o “passi e, o namen al images o women”
insc ibed in he poe ic adi ion she inhe i ed, which sugges ed he “gene ic, he
na ional, he muse igu e” (2001: 105). The muse, a con en ional symbol o poe ic
inspi a ion, has been conside ed as a majo in e ening o ce in ansla ing expe ience
in o a . In con on ing he p oblem o his s e eo ype, women poe s o en “ ejec
gende ed igu es like he con en ional muse … o hey become hei own muses,
alida ing emale expe ience as bo h s a ing poin and subjec o hei li e a y wo k”
(Habe s oh 2001: 6).
Fu he mo e, he iconog aphy o he na ional muse signals women’s ambi alen
posi ion in Wes e n cul u al hegemony. On he one hand, gende ed bodies and
sexuali y play pi o al oles as e i o ies, ma ke s and ep oduce s o he na a i es o
92 Lau a Mª Lojo Rod íguez
na ions and collec i i ies, hus becoming icons o a na ional embodimen . On he o he ,
i is p ecisely such an associa ion be ween he emale and na u e, along wi h i s
dynamics o ep oduc ion, ha has excluded women om he collec i e body poli ic
and, mo e gene ally, om he p oduc i e sphe e o cul u e and socie y. As Yu al-
Da ies (1997: 15) has sugges ed, he concep o na ion has been adi ionally concei ed
o as an e e nal and uni e sal en i y, which is cons i u ed as a na u al ex ension o
amily and kinship ela ions ha a e, in u n, based on na u al sexual di isions o
labou acco ding o he mechanics o p oduc ion e sus ep oduc ion.
I is clea hen ha gende ela ions appea a he hea o cul u al cons uc ions o
social iden i ies and collec i i ies. Wi hin pa ia chal discou se, women a e conside ed
as biological ep oduce s o he na ion, and a e hus cons uc ed in adi ional
na ionalis discou se as symbolic bea e s o he collec i i y’s iden i y and honou : he
icon o a mo he symbolises in many cul u es he spi i o he na ion, as is he case o
Mo he Russia, Mo he India o Mo he I eland.2 E en so, he use o emale
iconog aphy o ep esen na ional iden i y in pos colonial e i o ies a ises as a esul o
he gene alised eminisa ion o na u e. González A ias (2000: 48) sugges s ha he I ish
e i o y has been eminised bo h by English allego ical ep esen a ions and by I ish
my hs o colonial esis ance, al hough wi h di e en aims in iew:3 he submissi e
Hibe nia s ands, ideologically speaking, in opposi ion o he muse c ea ed by I ish
na ionalism in he nine een h and wen ie h cen u ies, as embodied by he emale
allego ies o Da k Rosaleen o Ca hleen Ní Houlihan.4
Ye , he my hical exe cise o equa ing women wi h ‘mo he ’ na u e on he basis o
hei na u al cycles and e ilising powe in he case o ‘Mo he I eland’, and wi h
i ginal maids in he case o he I ish muse, also jus i ies he exclusion o women om
o icial cul u e. He e lies he pa adoxical na u e o emale ep esen a ion in mos
hegemonic cul u es: while women o en come o symbolise he collec i e uni y, hey a e
2 Yu al-Da ies (1997: 45) has looked in o he a ious ways in which he emale body has
come o ep esen he concep o na ionhood. Thus, he F ench Re olu ion was symbolically
e e ed o as ‘La Pa ie’, he igu e o a woman gi ing bi h o a baby; in Cyp us, a c ying woman
e ugee on oadside pos e s was he embodimen o he pain and ange o he G eek Cyp io
collec i i y a e he Tu kish in asion. Finally, in peasan socie ies he dependence o he people
on he e ili y o ‘Mo he Ea h’ has con ibu ed o his close associa ion be ween collec i e
e i o y, iden i y and womanhood.
3 As Innes (1993: 12-13) a gues, he poli ical union o England and I eland h ough he usion
o pa liamen s was ep esen ed in Punch as a ma i al usion whe e I eland would play he ole o
he young, i ginal and complacen wi e – Hibe nia – o a dominan and powe ul B i annia.
4 As González A ias (2000: 76) sugges s, hese emale allego ies de i e om he I ish poe ic
gen e o he aisling, which was consolida ed in he eigh een h-cen u y as poe y o esis ance o
B i ish in asion. The aisling would p esen a male poe who encoun e s a isiona y young woman
who, ha ing been a ished by he masculine in ade , asks o be es o ed o he o me condi ion
(Kea ney 1997: 120). This emale allego y wo ks as a ep esen a ion o g ie ing I eland, anxious
o be escued om B i ish opp ession (Innes 1993: 19). Ea an Boland explains how such an
inhe i ance pa akes o a con usion be ween he na ional and he eminine which is especially
pe nicious o mode n women poe s in I eland: “Fo a e y long ime – in ou ballads o aisling
poems o he eigh een h cen u y, ou nine een h-cen u y pa io ic e se up o and pas Yea s –
he eminine d ew au ho i y om he na ional in an I ish poem, and he na ional was so ened
and disguised h ough he eminine” (Boland 2001: 106).
Female Iconog aphy and Subjec i i y in Ea an Boland’s In He Own Image 93
also excluded om he collec i e o he body poli ic, and hey e ain an ‘objec ’ a he
han a ‘subjec ’ posi ion. Hence o h, he cons uc ion o womanhood and emale
subjec i i y has in i sel a p ope y o ‘o he ness’, o a coun e -na a i e ha eme ges
om he ma gins o cul u al p oduc ion h ough an exe cise o displacemen .5
I , as Ande son (1993: 19) a gues, na ions a e no e e nal o uni e sal phenomena,
bu speci ically mode n and a di ec esul o pa ia chal de elopmen s in Eu opean
his o y, hen he poli ics o associa ing a emale image wi h a pa icula na ional space
o Mo he Ea h mi o s a male objec i ying p inciple which de ines bo h women and
na u e as gi en, uni e sal en i ies (Foucaul 1972: 149). As Hen i Le eb e no es, a
na ional space is a social p oduc which con ains and egula es he social ela ions o
bo h p oduc ion and ep oduc ion: “Ideology p oduces speci ic kinds o spaces which
may se e as ools o hough and ac ion, a means o con ol, hence o domina ion and
powe ” (1991: 26).
Boland’s poem a icula es i sel as a s uggle o esis such pai ings and icons which
he objec i ying male gaze has p oduced in Wes e n cul u e, o “ he silen eminine
image y in he lo e o he na ion wen badly wi h my ac i e de e mina ion o be a poe ”
(1995b: 70). Boland consis en ly explo es he connec ions be ween gende , a , and
na ional iden i y, while also signalling he “ugly limi s” (1995b: 65) o a pa icula ly
subse ien ideology ha has shaped na ionalis discou se:
The he oine, as such, was u e ly passi e. She was I eland o Hibe nia. She was s amped,
as a ubbed-away ma k, on sil e o gold; a comp omised egal igu e on a h one. O she
was a nine een h-cen u y image o gi lhood, on a on ispiece o in a book o eng a ings.
She was in oked, add essed, emembe ed, lo ed, eg e ed. And, mos impo an ly, died
o . She was a mo he o a i gin … He iden i y was as an image. O was i a ic ion?
(Boland 1995b: 66)
As Boland he sel poin s ou , such ep esen a ions o he na ion and he na ional
spi i as a pa icula so o woman a e especially pe e se, o hey p ominen ly
enhance he pa adox o women’s ac ual absence om cul u al p oduc ion and om he
na ional en e p ise: “I was s a ing o no ice he absence o my name in i . I was eeling
he sexual opposi es wi hin he na a i e. The in ense passi i y o he emale; he ac
ha o he male p inciple was ese ed he igh no simply o ac ion bu o exp ession
as well” (1995b: 66).
When he na ional muse con en ion is e en ually e e sed, such an icon appea s no
longe as a hea enly c ea u e o he eyes o he emale poe and beholde : a om a
di ine ealm, he muse is expelled o “ he s ange scena io o wha happens o a
adi ion when p e iously mu e images wi hin i come o awkwa d and i id li e: when
he icons e u n o haun he icon-make s” (Boland 1995c: 485). G o esquely pa odied,
5 Some o Boland’s la e poems occasionally celeb a e he bliss ul communion o mo he and
child; e en so, hey mo e commonly acknowledge he pain ul necessi y o he mo he ’s sepa a ion
om he p ogeny, as is he case o “Pomeg ana e.” Fo Boland, as o K is e a, o be a mo he is
o be a ‘spli subjec ’, a sel ha is i en by i s in ima e encoun e wi h he o he (K is e a 1986:
297). By ex ending his ision o mo he as ‘spli subjec ’ o Mo he I eland, Boland elici s a
concep ion o na ional iden i y, ha like he ma e nal subjec , is open o he e ogenei y, dehiscen
a he han in eg al, dispe sed a he han consolida ed, cen i ugal a he han cen ipe al.

94 Lau a Mª Lojo Rod íguez
he poem ep esen s he muse as an aged p os i u e, which poin s o he p ocess o
commodi ica ion ha he adi ional gende ed icon implies, while also enhancing he
powe lessness o conju e up inspi ing images o a mode n emale subjec :
I’ e caugh you ou . You slu . You a ou
So he e you a e umed in candle-s ink.
I s yellow balm exhumes you o he glass.
How you a ch and pou in i !
How you poach you ace in i !
Anyone would hink you we e a who e –
An ageing ou -o -wo k kind-hea ed a .
I know you o he u hless bi ch you a e:
Ou c iminal, ou ico euse, ou Muse –
Ou Muse o Mimic A . (Boland 1995a: 55)
Those ancien i uals which he muse equi ed as p elimina y o he inspi ing
b ea h p o e now o be ine ec i e, “wi less emp y i es” (l. 23) when i comes o w i ing
on women’s eal expe ience h ough o me ly de alued subjec s: “The ki chen sc ew
and he ack o labou , / The wash humbed and he dish c acked, / The sc eam o
bea en women, / The c ime o babies ba e ed, / The hubbub and he sh iek o daily
g ie / Tha seeks asylum behind subu b walls–” (ll. 31-36). As Boland he sel a gued,
“ he li e o he I ish woman – he o dina y, li ed li e – was in isible and, when i
became isible, was conside ed inapp op ia e as a heme o I ish poe y” (2001: 104).
The pe sona’s o uous way o womanhood, as d ama ised in his poem, necessa ily
equi es wha Boland would call a “gene ous es uc u ing o con ex ” (2001: 105),
namely o ejec objec i ied emale image y in o de o become a subjec , a speaking
oice. A his momen , he Tennysonian glass “c acked” (l. 50) and he muse ha had
so a sponso ed his inhe i ed adi ion ceases o be aken se iously o become “ he
muse o mimic a .”
This muse’s “Eye-shadow, swi el b ushes, blushe s, / Ho pinks, ouge po s, s icks”
(ll. 11-12), which u he emphasise i s objec i ied s a us as he ecipien o male desi e,
become a cen al mo i in “Making Up,” whe e cosme ics e en ually hide he pe sona’s
“naked ace” (1995a: 70) in o de o please he male gaze. Such uncondi ional obli ion
o one’s emale subjec i i y b ings abou , as he pe sona co e ly sugges s, a deg ada ion
h ough he ac o p os i u ion: “I ’s a ick. / My hs a e made by men” (1995a: 71).
Boland’s “Ano exic” pa akes o a simila conce n by add essing he lack o
iden i ica ion wi h one’s own image. The ano ec ic emale oice o he poem may
pe soni y I ish women hemsel es, s a ing o de y he pa ia chal alues ha con ine
hei sex by ejec ing hei adi ional iden i ica ion – as well as objec i ica ion – wi h a
adian and abundan Hibe nia: as Edna Longley sugges s, he ano ec ic is “Ca hleen ní
Houlihan in a e minal condi ion” (1994: 173), be e sui ed o ep esen ing he eal
si ua ion o I eland h ough pa o he his o y. In mo e gene alising e ms, he woman
expe iencing such a diso de has become, Maud Ellmann a gues, “ he enigma ic icon o
ou imes” (1993: 2), symbolising no only he own malaise, bu ha o socie y a la ge.6
6 In a poem e ealingly en i led “Aisling” (1983), Paul Muldoon asks whe he I eland should
be symbolised by he disease ano exia: “Was she Au o a, o he goddess Flo a/A emido a, o
Female Iconog aphy and Subjec i i y in Ea an Boland’s In He Own Image 95
The poem’s pe sona wi nesses he spli sel , co esponding o hese wo ep esen a ions
o he emale, by alluding o he o me ea h-mo he ly “cu es and paps and wiles” (l.
5) ha she has success ully e ased h ough sel -s a a ion in a p ocess o
disembodimen o e en ually become “s a ed and cu eless. / I am skin and bone. /
She has lea ned he lesson” (ll. 15-17).7
Fas ing esponds o an economy o sac i ice, in he hope ha bodily change will
b ing abou spi i ual ans igu a ion. Thus, sel -in lic ed hunge is a s uggle o elease
he body om all con ex s, and especially om ha o co po eali y i sel . The poem’s
pe sona ec ea es such an exe cise o eligious a onemen by dep i ing he sel o ood o
discipline he sexual desi e, as exempli ied in he duali y i gin/wi ch, a esponse o
male cul u al ep esen a ions o c ea ion my hs: “Flesh is he e ic. / My body is a wi ch. /
I am bu ning i .” (ll. -3). This is ue inasmuch as knowledge, subjec i i y and sexuali y
o igina e in ea ing, as Genesis explains:8 “And when he woman saw ha he ee was
good o ood, and ha i was pleasan o he eyes, and a ee o be desi ed o make one
wise, she ook o he ui he eo , and did ea … And he eyes o bo h we e opened, and
hey knew ha hey we e naked; and hey sewed ig lea es oge he , and made
hemsel es ap ons” (Gen. 2.6-7).
I , as he na a i e in Genesis implies, ood is he ou e o knowledge and o sexual
awa eness, hen ano exia implies a s a egy o disembodimen , a eplacemen by
i gini y, an a emp o ise abo e he lesh and o o e come he emp a ion ha he
pai wi ch/bi ch ep esen s: “I omi ed / he hunge s. / Now he bi ch is bu ning” (ll.
12-14). Thus, s a a ion p o ides his su oga e o E e wi h a means o annulling
sexuali y, associa ed in he poem wi h Hell, Sa an and he all: “ he all / in o o ked
da k, / in o py hon needs / hea ing o hips and b eas s / and lips and hea / and swea
and a and g eed” (ll. 40-46). And ye , his denial –o “sel denials” (l. 6), a he –
en ails he isola ion and annihila ion o he sel , as he poem’s pe sona exp esses: “My
d eams p obe / a claus ophobia / a sensuous enclosu e” (ll. 20-23).
Venus b igh /o Ano exia, who le /a lemon s ain on my lannel shee ?” (ci ed by Longley 1994:
173). Acco ding o Foga y (1994: 97-98), Muldoon’s mock goddess unc ions as an allego y o
he u ile ac ions o I ish epublican p isone s on hunge s ike. As a esul , he isiona y woman
acqui es gene ic signi icance, a he han being he sel he cen e o subjec i i y. By con as ,
Boland’s ‘I’ does no ep esen a male and uni e salising ision, bu a emale and sel -c i ical
oice. Fo u he discussion see Whea ley (2001: 123-134) and Bell (1985).
7 As Ellmann sugges s (1993: 11), he I ish ha e had a long adi ion o s a a ion as a means
o ebellion, om Medie al legal p ocedu es o “ as ing o dis ain” – known as oscud – o
mode n I ish hunge s ike s a e he Eas e Rising o 1916. Fo a discussion o ea ing diso de s
and emale sexuali y in Boland’s “Ano exic,” see also González A ias (1996: 10-12).
8 As Maud Ellmann a gues, “i is h ough he ac o ea ing ha he ego es ablishes i s own
domain, dis inguishing inside om ou side. Bu i is also in his ac ha he on ie s o
subjec i i y a e mos p eca ious. Food, like language, is o iginally es ed in he o he , and aces
o ha o he ness emain in e e y mou h ul ha one speaks – o chews. F om he beginning one
ea s o he o he , om he o he , wi h he o he ; and o his eason ea ing comes o ep esen
he p o o ype o all ansac ions wi h he o he , and ood he p o o ype o all objec s o exchange”
(1993: 53).
96 Lau a Mª Lojo Rod íguez
Ellmann (1993: 16) a gues o he complici y be ween he hemes o hunge , w i ing
and imp isonmen .9 Indeed, in his poem, inca ce a ion could be ead as a deadly wish
o adap o man’s image, o Adam’s “ ib” (l. 18), a d ead ul and pu i ying jou ney ha
e mina es wi h he annihila ion o he pe sona’s subjec i i y: “I will slip / back in o him
again / as i I ha e ne e been away. / Caged so, / I will g ow/angula and holy / pas
pain / keeping his hea / such company / as will make me o ge / in a small space / he
all” (ll. 30-41). By using ano exia bo h as a eal illness and as a me apho o cul u e,
Boland p obes i s ela ionship wi h iconic ounda ional my hs in he cons uc ion o
emale subjec i i y, whose p e alence can p oduce “ agic s a es o dis o ed iden i y in
indi idual women” (Allen-Randolph 1993a: 13).
Simila ly, he poe ic pe sona in “In His Own Image” e lec s on he mise able s a us
as du i ul wi e, i ed and o e wo ked in any own’s subu b whe e “ he bacon li ch,”
“ he cups deep on he shel ,” and he “ke le’s paunch” become he “meag e p oo s” o
he exis ence (1995a: 57). No only is she bullied by he companion, bu also i onically
moulded acco ding o his own image by enouncing he subjec i i y and adop ing his
own: “Now I see / ha all I needed / was a hand / o mould my mou h / o scald my
cheek, / was his / concussion / by whose ligh s I ind / my sel -possession, / whe e I
g ow comple e.” (1995a: 58). A agic e ision o he c ea ional my h in Genesis
p esen s he sculp o ’s hands unmaking he emale ace in physical and psychological
abuse: “He spli s my lip wi h his is , / shadows my eye wi h a blow, / knuckles my neck
o i s p ope angle. / Wha a pe ec ionis ! / His a e a sculp o ’s hands: / hey summon /
o m om he oid, / hey b ing / me o mysel again. / I am a new woman.” (1995a:
58).
I “Ano exic” and “In His Own Image” explo e he limi s o emale co po ei y in
di e en ways, “Menses” add esses he e y cen e o i . T adi ionally, emale pe iods
appea associa ed wi h a concep o pollu ion, hus ein o cing women’s symbolic
de alua ion and hei connec ion wi h na u e, wi h he biblical cu se on women a e
he Fall, as he poem’s pe sona sugges s: “To be he me e pollu ion o he wake! / a
wa e cauled by he ligh , / a sick haul, / a allen sel ” (1995a: 63). I is p ecisely his
de e minis connec ion wi h na u e ha he pe sona loa hes (“I am he moon’s looking
glass. / My days a e moon-dials. / She will ne e be done wi h me.”), he compulsion o
mo he hood, o a ic imised e sion o eminini y which adi ional sexuali y implies
ha she eg e s: “As when I’ e g own / ound and obscene wi h child, / o when I moan
/ o him be ween he shee s” (1995a: 65). Howe e , he poe ic ep esen a ion o he
eminine and o i s bodily unc ions as he adi ionally epudia ed and excluded
cons i u es, as Bu le sugges s (1990: 27), he possibili y o a c i ique and dis up ion o
he male hegemonic concep ual scheme.
9 In he pe cep i e app oach o his opic, Ellmann illus a es he a gumen by analysing
se e al examples o he as ing a is , om Emily Dickinson o Richa dson, Rimbaud, Ka ka and
W.B. Yea s. Pa icula ly illumina ing is he eading o he la e ’s The King’s Th eshold, whe e he
a is –concei ed o as a su oga e o he communi y –s a es o pe ec he wo k o a . In his
sense, he a is ’s lesh is ans igu ed in o wo ds, as equi ed by his a o disembodimen .
Fu he mo e, Ellmann eads bo h Yea s’s The King’s Th eshold and Ka ka’s “The Hunge A is ”
as a pa able o he c isis o high a in bou geois cul u e, whe e a is ic au onomy is ep esen ed
as au ophagy.
Female Iconog aphy and Subjec i i y in Ea an Boland’s In He Own Image 97
The poem “In He Own Image,” which is also used as he i le o he whole olume,
is a de ian , shocking and oublesome example o he complexi ies o emale
subjec i i y. The pa en al ela ionship wi h a emale child and he ques ion o he
expec ed educa ion in he adul wo ld ine i ably b ings o mind W. B. Yea s’s “A P aye
o My Daugh e ”, included in his olume Michael Roba es and he Dance (1921) and
epublished in his Collec ed Poems (1982). This poem, w i en o his only daugh e
Ann, has become a complex s a emen abou pa ia chy inso a as i es s on a se o
p e-es ablished, masculine s anda ds ha in e ene in he cons uc ion o emale
subjec i i y.
As a a he , he pe sona jus i ies his daugh e ’s need o p o ec ion om he ou side
wo ld, me apho ically alluded o by means o he ough s o m howling ou side his
owe , in i sel an image which sugges s a phallocen ic ision: “Once mo e he s o m is
howling, and hal hid / Unde his c adle-hood and co e lid / My child sleeps on”
(Yea s 1982: 211). The p e alence o he pa ia chal, hegemonic concep ual scheme can
be deduced om he alleged i ues ha he pe sona wishes o his daugh e in body
and mind. Following he p emises o an idealised eminini y, he poe ic oice wishes o
beau y, “beau y and ye no / Beau y o make a s ange ’s eye dis augh / O he s be o e
a looking-glass” (Yea s 1982: 212), which ac ually wo ks as a denial o emale sexual
desi e, iden i ied in a nega i e sense wi h my hic icons such as Helen o T oy and
Aph odi e, while also signalling ani y as a na u al ea u e o he emale. Psychologically
speaking, he ac ual absence o a complex, opiniona ed mind becomes a eal i ue: “An
in ellec ual ha ed is he wo s , / So le he hink opinions a e accu sed” (Yea s 1982:
213).
The idea o daugh e s and mo he hood has opened up a wide ange o philosophical
enqui y in eminis c i icism, as well as a landscape o in imacy and bold sub e sion in
ecen women’s poe y. The o e iolence unde lying “In He Own Image” a ge s a
disman ling adi ional isions o mo he hood as unde s ood by means o pa ia chal
concep ual schemes, hus o e ing a “ e i o y in which o explo e un esol ed
ela ionship be ween inne and ou e iolences” (Allen-Randolph 1993a: 10) as
encou aged by inhe i ed images and iden i ies. The poem d aws on he mo he hood
me apho o add ess he complex and ambi alen ela ionship be ween he w i e and
he own c ea ion, he e a daugh e s angled a he mo he ’s own hands, which sugges s
he “speake ’s es angemen om he own poem” (Kelly 1993: 47).
As in “Ano exic,” he poem explo es he heme o emale inca ce a ion and
en apmen in he passi i y o he pe sona’s assigned ole as shown in he “ ing on my
wedding inge ” (1995a: 56), in he ine ec i e emale iconici y o an inhe i ed adi ion
wi h which he pe sona canno iden i y he sel , no wishes o pe pe ua e any longe :
“She is no mysel / anymo e she is no / e en in my sky / anymo e and I / am no
mysel .” (1995a: 57). Such a lack o iden i ica ion wi h a pa icula image b ings abou ,
as Kelly (1993: 47) has no iced, a c isis leading o a i ual bu ial o he pe sona’s c ea ion
o daugh e : “I will no dis igu e / He p e y ace. / Le he wea ame hys humbp in s,
/ a amily hei loom, / a so o bu ial necklace” (Boland 1995a: 57).
Fu he mo e, some o he image y employed in Boland’s poem ecalls once mo e “A
P aye o My Daugh e ”: Yea s’s me apho ic wish o his child o become “a
lou ishing hidden ee” and li e like “some g een lau el / Roo ed in one dea pe pe ual
place” is i onically ealised in Boland’s bu ial o passi e emale iconici y: “and I know