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A Level English Coursework- Drama Help

For my comparative section of the coursework, I need a drama and a prose, one of which needs to be post 2000. I'm thinking of doing The Bell Jar for my prose, meaning I need a post-2000 drama, probably with gender or mental health. Any ideas?
Original post by DrakonBlossom
For my comparative section of the coursework, I need a drama and a prose, one of which needs to be post 2000. I'm thinking of doing The Bell Jar for my prose, meaning I need a post-2000 drama, probably with gender or mental health. Any ideas?

Groan! Sorry to start off on such a negative note, but please try and have a rethink. "The Bell Jar" is (a) not a good novel (b) unless you have expertise in psychology I think you will be struggling to approach this text from the angle of "mental health". Remember, that novelists create characters in order to entertain, in order to create the maximum amount of drama possible, they do not create characters which can be put on the couch. I've noticed a trend on these boards for this novel to be selected, and for students to say they want to write about "mental health" (I assume they mean ill-health) but I am honestly unclear how one would adequately approach this in terms of literary theory.

What other texts have you read/enjoyed?
Original post by TabithaFord99
Groan! Sorry to start off on such a negative note, but please try and have a rethink. "The Bell Jar" is (a) not a good novel (b) unless you have expertise in psychology I think you will be struggling to approach this text from the angle of "mental health". Remember, that novelists create characters in order to entertain, in order to create the maximum amount of drama possible, they do not create characters which can be put on the couch. I've noticed a trend on these boards for this novel to be selected, and for students to say they want to write about "mental health" (I assume they mean ill-health) but I am honestly unclear how one would adequately approach this in terms of literary theory.

What other texts have you read/enjoyed?

I don't really read super literary stuff so I guess I figured it would be more manageable to focus on a novel I've already read and enjoyed. I don't really have any ideas. Are there any specific themes that I should focus on?
Original post by DrakonBlossom
I don't really read super literary stuff so I guess I figured it would be more manageable to focus on a novel I've already read and enjoyed. I don't really have any ideas. Are there any specific themes that I should focus on?

The problem with "The Bell Jar" (among others) is that there is not much to focus on - essentially it is a first attempt at a novel by Plath and merely draws on incidents in her own life for its plot. Consequently, it is a bit creaky.

How about you tell me what else you've read, which aspects of the text your liked, and what you've read that you really don't like.

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