UNIT Œ I - Bharathiar University

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UNIT – I 

POETRY 

Contents 

1.0 Aims and Objectives 

1.1 Walt Whitman 

1.1.1 Crossing Brooklyn Ferry 

1.1.2 Summary of the Poem 

1.2 Emily Dickinson 

1.2.1 I felt a Funeral in my Brain 

1.2.2 Summary of the poem 

1.2.3 Because I could not stop for Death 


1.2.5 After great pain a formal feeling comes 


1.2.7 This is my letter to the world 


1.2.9 The soul selects her own society 


1.3 Robert Frost 

1.3.1 "Mending Wall" 

1.3.2 Poem Summary 

1.3.3 The Death of the Hired Man 


1.3.5 Home Burial 


1.4 Poems for Non Detailed Study 

1.4.1 Ballad of the Goodly Fere 

1.5 E. E. Cummings 

1.5.1 The Cambridge Ladies 

1.5.2 Somewhere I have never traveled 

1.6 Sylvia Plath 

1.6.1 Brief Summary of the poem 

1.7 Wallace Stevens 

1.7.1 The Emperor of Ice Cream 

1.7.2 The Idea of Order at Key West 

1.8 Edwin Arlington Robinson 

1.8.1 THE MASTER 

1.8.2 KARMA 

1.9 HART CRANE 

1.9.1 Voyages 

1.10 Let Us Sum Up 

1.11 Lesson End Activities 

1.12 Points for Discussion 

1.13 References 

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· To explicate the poems and identify the thought flow of the poet. 

· Create awareness of cultures. 

· To foster an aesthetic sensitivity. 

· To provide Exposure to and familiarization with poetic terminology and devices. 

· To develop the skills necessary to engage with a poem's components and come to 

an understanding of the theme of that poem. 

· To initiate the students to think in terms of romanticism, mysticism, patriotism, 

etc. 

Detailed Study 

1.1 Walt Whitman 

A General estimate of Walt Whitman 

Walt Whitman is the heralder of Modernism in American poetry. He belongs to 

the transitional period America was passing through in the second half of the nineteenth 

century. The great American bard was born on 31 st may 1819 on a small farm at West 

Hills on Long Island. The inhabitants of Long Island were both English and Dutch and 

Whitman had both the English and Dutch blood in his veins. His father was a carpenter, 

a farmer and a free thinker. He was a radical with sound democratic convictions. The 

Whitmans came from a solid Puritan stock. From his mother’s side, the Van Velsors, 

Walt inherited Quaker ideas and the idea that in each person there is a light and everyone 

should pay heed to one’s conscience. His mother’s family was a mixture of Welsh and 

Dutch. 

Walt Whitman’s Quakerism was inherited from his mother’s family. His use of 

“thee” and “thou” for you is the result of the influence of Quakerism. As a child Walt 

Whitman lived on the farm in Long Island and Brooklyn. From Brooklyn New York was 

only a ferry drive away. After a ten-year sojourn in Brooklyn, the family again moved to 

Long Island. For Five years Whitman went to Public Schools. After a short spell of 

apprenticeship to a doctor he was apprenticed to the printing trade with a weekly news 

paper called the “Long Island Patriot”. At the age of twelve he started contributing 

sentimental pieces to the paper. 

The first versions of Leaves of Grass were self-published in 1855 and poorly 

received. Several poems featured graphic depictions of the human body, enumerated in 

Whitman's innovative "cataloguing" style, which contrasted with the reserved Victorian 

ethic of the period. Despite its revolutionary content and structure, subsequent editions of 

the book were well received by the reading public. By 1865 Walt Whitman was worldfamous, 

and Leaves of Grass had been accepted by publishing houses in America. 

Whitman did not invent American transcendentalism, but he had become its most famous 

exponent and was also associated with American mysticism. In the twentieth century, 

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young writers namely Hart Crane, William Carlos Williams, Allen Ginsberg, and Jack 

Kerouac rediscovered Whitman and reinterpreted his literary manifesto for a new 

audience. Over the next few years, Whitman continued to work on his poetry, and in 

1871 a number of works were published. Also in 1871, Whitman published Passage to 

India, which praised the completion of the Suez Canal, the laying of the Atlantic cable, 

and the finishing of the transcontinental railroad. In 1873, Whitman suffered a stroke. 

Walt Whitman died on 26 th March 1892. 

1.1.1 Crossing Brooklyn Ferry 

I 

Flood-tide below me! I see you face to face! 

Clouds of the west - sun there half an hour high - I see you also face to face. 

Crowds of men and women attired in the usual costumes, how curious you are to me! 

On the ferry-boats the hundreds and hundreds that cross, returning home, are 

more curious to me than you suppose, 

And you that shall cross from shore to shore years hence are more to me, and 

more in my meditations, than you might suppose. 

II 

The impalpable sustenance of me from all things at all hours of the day,The simple, 

compact, well-joined scheme, myself disintegrated, everyone disintegrated yet part of 

the scheme, 

The similitudes of the past and those of the future, 

The glories strung like beads on my smallest sights and hearings, on the walk in 

the street and the passage over the river, 

The current rushing so swiftly and swimming with me far away, 

The others that are to follow me, the ties between me and them, 

The certainty of others, the life, love, sight, hearing of others. 

Others will enter the gates of the ferry and cross from shore to shore, 

Others will watch the run of the flood-tide, 

Others will see the shipping of Manhattan north and west, and the heights of 

Brooklyn to the south and east, 

Others will see the islands large and small; 

Fifty years hence, others will see them as they cross, the sun half and hour high, 

A hundred years hence, or ever so many hundred years hence, others will see them, 

Will enjoy the sunset, the pouring-in of the flood-tide, the falling-back to the 

sea of the ebb-tide. 

III 

It avails not, time nor place - distance avails not, 

I am with you, you men and women of a generation, or ever so many generations 

hence, 

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Just as you feel when you look on the river and sky, so I felt, 

Just as any of you is one of a living crowd, I was one of a crowd, 

Just as you are refreshed by the gladness of the river and the bright flow, 

I was refreshed, 

Just as you stand and lean on the rail, yet hurry with the swift current, 

I stood yet was hurried, 

Just as you look on the numberless masts of ships and the thick-stemmed pipes 

of steamboats, I looked. 

I too many and many a time crossed the river of old, 

Watched the Twelfth-month seagulls, saw them high in the air floating with 

motionless wings, oscillating their bodies, 

Saw how the glistening yellow lit up parts of their bodies and left the rest 

in strong shadow, 

Saw the slow-wheeling circles and the gradual edging toward the south, 

Saw the reflection of the summer sky in the water, 

Had my eyes dazzled by the shimmering track of beams, 

Looked at the fine centrifugal spokes of light round the the shape of my head 

in the sunlit water, 

Looked on the haze on the hills southward and south-westward, 

Looked on the vapour as it flew in fleeces tinged with violet, 

Looked toward the lower bay to notice the vessels arriving, 

Saw their approach, saw aboard those that were near me, 

Saw the white sails of schooners and sloops, saw the ships at anchor, 

The sailors at work in the rigging or out astride the spars, 

The round masts, the swinging motion of the hulls, the slender serpentine pennants, 

The large and small steamers in motion, the pilots in their pilot-houses, 

The white wake left by the passage, the quick tremulous whirl of the wheels, 

The flags of all nations, the falling of them at sunset, 

The scallop-edged waves in the twilight, the ladled cups, the frolicsome crests 

and glistening, 

The stretch afar growing dimmer and dimmer, the gray walls of the granite 

storehouses by the docks, 

On the river the shadowy group, the big steam-tug closely flanked on each side 

by the barges, the hay-boat, the belated lighter, 

On the neighboring shore the fires from the foundry chimneys burning high and 

glaringly into the night, 

Casting their flicker of black contrasted with wild red and yellow light over 

the tops of houses, and down into the clefts of streets. 

IV 

These and all else were to me the same as they are to you, 

I loved well those cities, loved well the stately and rapid river, 

The men and women I saw were all near to me, 

Others the same - others who look back on me because I looked forward to them, 

(The time will come, though I stop here today, and tonight.) 

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V 

What is it then between us? 

What is the count of the scores or hundreds of years between us? 

Whatever it is, it avails not - distance avails not, and place avails not, 

I too lived, Brooklyn of ample hills was mine, 

I too walked the streets of Manhattan island, and bathed in the waters around it, 

I too felt the curious abrupt questionings stir within me, 

In the day among crowds of people sometimes they came upon me, 

In my walks home late at night or as I lay in my bed they came upon me, 

I too had been struck from the float forever held in solution, 

I too had received identity by my body, 

That I was I knew was of my body, and what I should be I knew I should be of my body. 

VI 

It is not upon you alone the dark patches fall, 

The dark threw its patches down upon me also, 

The best I had done seemed to me blank and suspicious, 

My great thoughts as I supposed them, were they not in reality meagre? 

Nor is it you alone who know what it is to be evil, 

I am he who knew what it was to be evil, 

I too knitted the old knot of contrariety, 

Blabbed, blushed, resented, lied, stole, grudged, 

Had guile, anger, lust, hot wishes I dared not speak, 

Was wayward, vain, greedy, shallow, sly, cowardly, malignant, 

The wolf, the snake, the hog, not wanting in me, 

The cheating look, the frivolous word, the adulterous wish, not wanting, 

Refusals, hates, postponements, meanness, laziness, none of these wanting, 

Was one with the rest, the days and haps of the rest, 

Was called by my nighest name by clear loud voices of young men as they saw me 

approaching or passing, 

Felt their arms on my neck as I stood, or the negligent leaning of their flesh 

against me as I sat, 

Saw many I loved in the street or ferry-boat or public assembly, yet never 

told them a word, 

Lived the same life with the rest, the same old laughing, gnawing, sleeping, 

Played the part that still looks back on the actor or actress, 

The same old role, the role that is what we make it, as great as we like, 

Or as small as we like, or both great and small. 

VII 

Closer yet I approach you, 

What thought you have of me now, I had as much of you - I laid in my stores 

in advance, 

I considered long and seriously of you before you were born. 

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Who was to know what should come home to me? 

Who knows but I am enjoying this? 

Who knows, for all the distance, but I am as good as looking at you now, for 

all you cannot see me? 

VIII 

Ah, what can ever be more stately and admirable to me than mast-hemmed 

Manhattan? 

River and sunset and scallop-edged waves of flood-tide? 

The seagulls oscillating their bodies, the hay-boat in the twilight, and the 

belated lighter? 

What gods can exceed these that clasp me by the hand, and with voices I love 

call me promptly and loudly by my nighest name as I approach? 

What is more subtle than this which ties me to the woman or man that looks in 

my face? 

Which fuses me into you now, and pours my meaning into you? 

We understand then do we not? 

What I promised without mentioning it, have you not accepted? 

What the study could not teach - what the preaching could not accomplish is 

accomplished, is it not? 

IX 

Flow on, river! flow with the flood-tide, and ebb with the ebb-tide! 

Frolic on, crested and scallop-edged waves! 

Gorgeous clouds of the sunset! drench with your splendor me, or the men and 

women generations after me! 

Cross from shore to shore, countless crowds of passengers! 

Stand up, tall masts of Mannahatta! stand up, beautiful hills of Brooklyn! 

Throb, baffled and curious brain! throw out questions and answers! 

Suspend here and everywhere, eternal float of solution! 

Gaze, loving and thirsting eyes, in the house or street or public assembly! 

Sound out, voices of young men! loudly and musically call me by my nighest name! 

Live, old life! play the part that looks back on the actor or actress! 

Play the old role, the role that is great or small according as one makes it! 

Consider, you who peruse me, whether I may not in unknown ways be looking 

upon you; 

Be firm, rail over the river, to support those who lean idly, yet haste with the 

hasting current; 

Fly on, sea-birds! fly sideways, or wheel in large circles high in the air; 

Receive the summer sky, you water, and faithfully hold it till all downcast eyes 

have time to take it from you! 

Diverge, fine spokes of light, from the shape of my head, or any one's head, in 

the sunlit water! 

Come on, ships from the lower bay! pass up or down, white-sailed schooners, 

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sloops, lighters! 

Flaunt away, flags of all nations! be duly lowered at sunset! 

Burn high your fires, foundry chimneys! cast black shadows at nightfall! cast 

red and yellow light over the tops of the houses! 

Appearances, now or henceforth, indicate what you are, 

You necessary film, continue to envelop the soul, 

About my body for me, and your body for you, be hung our divinest aromas, 

Thrive, cities - bring your freight, bring your shows, ample and sufficient rivers, 

Expand, being than which none else is perhaps more spiritual, 

Keep your places, objects than which none else is more lasting. 

You have waited, you always wait, you dumb, beautiful ministers, 

We receive you with free sense at last, and are insatiate henceforward, 

Not you any more shall be able to foil us, or withhold yourselves from us, 

We use you, and do not cast you aside -we plant you permanently within us, 

We fathom you not - we love you - there is perfection in you also, 

You furnish your parts toward eternity, 

Great or small, you furnish your parts toward the soul. 


This poem first appeared in the 1865 edition and after modifications it reappeared 

in the 1881 edition. There isn’t much formal structure in the poem. It is a long poem with 

nine sections. Manhattan and Brooklyn are two of the five districts of New York. 

Brooklyn is separated from Manhattan by the east river which could be crossed by ferry. 

Since Walt Whitman spent the best part of his life in New York he often crossed the river 

by ferry to go to Manhattan and Brooklyn. He would often be up in the pilot house where 

he could have an unobstructed view of the waters. In the firs section Whitman invokes 

nature and the multitudes. Crossing on the ferry is an experience where he meets 

multitudes of people. There is much variety in them, yet on the ferry everyone enjoys a 

similar experience. There is unity among all in the fact that they are undertaking a 

journey by it. It also scatters them far and wide. It also, in this para, Whitman employs 

the metaphor of the flood tide to say that all of us are born into the sea of mankind. We 

journey between life and death. It is all a part of the divine scheme. The ferry moves on, 

from a point of land, through water, to another point of land. Land and water thus 

form part of the symbolic pattern of the poem. Land symbolizes the physical and 

water symbolizes the spiritual. The circular flow from the physical to the spiritual 

connotes the dual nature of the universe. 

“The simple, compact, well-joined scheme, myself disintegrated, everyone 

disintegrated yet part of the scheme.” 

The poet identifies himself with humanity. The poet becomes one with the reader 

in his endeavor to present universal identity as a certainty. The difference wrought by 

time and space are set aside as unreal. We are all one in the journey yet we are 

disintegrated. Men may come and go but humanity will continue. The third section of the 

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poem is set in December, the coldest month of the year. Whitman exploits the image of 

the seagulls to create the effect in the stanzas. He has watched the familiar sights of the 

sea gulls, arrival and departure of big ships, fishermen, sailors, the scallop coastline, 

docks, smoking foundary chimneys etc., like all the others who have travelled in the 

ferry. Many more generations will continue to do so in the future. 

“These and all else were to me the same as they are to you, 

I loved well those cities, loved well the stately and rapid river, 

The men and women I saw were all near to me, 

Others the same - others who look back on me because I looked forward to them,” 

He loves mankind and nature. He identifies himself with the multitudes that 

throng the streets of Brooklyn and Manhattan. He has had similar experiences like his 

countrymen. In the beginning of the sixth section, Whitman indulges in Philosophical 

musings. 

“It is not upon you alone the dark patches fall, 

The dark threw its patches down upon me also, 

The best I had done seemed to me blank and suspicious, 

My great thoughts as I supposed them, were they not in reality meagre?” 

He has felt guile, anger, lust, greed, cowardice, etc like everyone around him. He 

continues his process of identifying himself with humanity in the ensuing sections also. 

In the eighth section he returns to the image of the seagulls. In this section he drives his 

message home. Life in the world is a spiritual voyage. The cycle of life and death 

continues. 

“Flow on, river! flow with the flood-tide, and ebb with the ebb-tide! 

Frolic on, crested and scallop-edged waves! 

Gorgeous clouds of the sunset! drench with your splendor me, or the men and 

women generations after me! 

Cross from shore to shore, countless crowds of passengers!” 

He discovers that everyone one of us is a voyager in this world. We are all 

individuals yet paradoxically we are one in nature’s plan. His request to mankind to cross 

the river is symbolic of the “samsara” concept in Hinduism. In the concluding sections he 

reinvokes all the previous images to derive the identity of experience and the soul among 

all men. The ferry is a symbolic link between the past, present and future. It unifies 

mankind in its entirety. Thus the poem seeks to determine the relationship of human 

beings to one another across time and space. 

1.2 Emily Dickinson 

Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830. She was achieved fame after 

her death and today she is acclaimed to be on par with poets like Walt Whitman. She in 

her family home at Amherst almost throughout her entire life. She studied English 

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classical literature, Latin and read the Aeneid over several years, and was taught in 

other subjects including religion, history, mathematics and geology. Soon Emily began 

to attend Mary Lyon's Mount Holyoke Female Seminary and stayed there for almost a 

year and she did not return to the school. Then she left home on short trips to visit her 

relatives in Boston, Cambridge, and Connecticut. For most of the time, she lived the life 

of a recluse. At home, Emily Dickinson saw sickness and death too often. This is 

reflected in her poetry. We find that most of her poems cantre around death. She died on 

May 15, 1886. she lived in obscurity but death has brought her much fame and she is 

one among the best American poets. 

1.2.1 I felt a Funeral in my Brain 

I felt a Funeral in my Brain, 

And Mourners to and fro 

Kept treading __ treading __ till it seemed 

That sense was breaking through ___ 

And when they all were seated, 

A Service, like a Drum ___ 

Kept beating ___ beating___ till I thought 

My Mind was going numb___ 

And then I heard them lift a Box 

And creak across my soul 

With those same Boots of Lead, again, 

Then Space___ began to toll, 

As all the Heavens were a Bell, 

And Being, but an Ear, 

And I, and silence, some strange Race 

Wrecked, Solitary, here___ 

And then a Plank in reason broke, 

And I dropped down, and down___ 

And hit a World, at every plunge, 

And Finished knowing___ then__ 


In I felt a Funeral in my Brain Emily Dickinson evokes the sad experience 

of a funeral from the point of view of a dead person. She brings before our mind’s eye the 

pall bearers, and mourners who keep moving in the room where the life less body 

lies.Every one is trying to have a last glimpse of the dead person before the burial. The 

whole experience is oppressing and the image of death pervades everything. The funeral 

is used as a metaphor to describe loss of sanity by the speaker. “I felt a Funeral in my 

Brain” may also be interpreted as a poem that describes the speaker's descent into 

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madness. The speaker experiences the loss of self into the confusion of unconscious, and 

the reader experiences the speaker's descending madness and the awe most of us feel 

about becoming crazy. The poet is the person who feels the funeral taking place in a cold 

and sordid manner. The mourners are symbolic of the pain that is oppressing the speaker 

to an extent where sense seems to break away giving place to insanity. The first, second 

and third stanzas mark the process of the passage from one stage to another i.e. life to 

death and sanity to insanity. Stanzas four and five mark the speaker’s entry into another 

world, if the world of solitary silence. The poet sees herself as “wrecked, solitary”. There 

is no one else to share the loss. The self will have shattered into pieces or chaos. 

Her alienation and inability to communicate are indicated by her being 

enveloped in silence. She falls past "worlds," which may stand for her past; she is losing 

her connections to reality. Her descent is described as "plunges," suggesting the speed 

and force of her fall into psychological chaos. The last word of the poem, "then--," does 

not finish or end her experience but leaves it opening the door for the horror of madness 

1.2.3 Because I could not stop for Death 

Because I could not stop for Death, 

He kindly stopped for me; 

The carriage held but just ourselves 

And Immortality. 

We slowly drove, he knew no haste, 

And I had put away 

My labor, and my leisure too, 

For his civility. 

We passed the school, where children strove 

At recess, in the ring; 

We passed the fields of gazing grain, 

We passed the setting sun. 

Or rather, be passed us; 

The dews grew quivering and chill, 

For only gossamer my gown, 

My tippet only tulle. 

We paused before house that seemed 

A swelling of the ground; 

The roof was scarcely visible, 

The cornice but a mound. 

Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each 

Feels shorter than the day 

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I first surmised the horses' heads 

Were toward eternity. 


“Because I Could Not Stop for Death” reveals Emily Dickinson’s calm 

acceptance of death. It is surprising that she presents the experience of death not as 

frightening but as that of receiving a gentleman caller. In the first Stanza the poet 

describes the journey to the grave .The journey begins when ‘Death’ comes calling at her 

door step like a gentleman caller in a carriage. Immortality is also a passenger in the 

carriage. The trip continues in the second Stanza where the carriage moves along at an 

easy and unhurried pace. This is perhaps a suggestion that death has arrived in the form 

of a disease that takes its own time to kill. Then, in the third Stanza, they pass through 

ripe fields ,school grounds and the setting sun. Here, Emily seems to be reviewing the 

stages of her life: childhood (school), maturity (the ripe, hence, “gazing” grain), and the 

descent into death (the setting sun)–as she passes to the other side. She experiences a chill 

during the journey because she is not warmly dressed. In fact, her garments are more 

appropriate for a wedding, representing a new beginning, than for a funeral, representing 

an end. Her description of the grave as her “house” indicates how comfortable she feels 

about death. There after centuries pass, so pleasant is her new life that time seems to 

stand still, feeling “shorter than a Day”. The overall theme of the poem is that death is not 

to be feared since it is a natural part of the endless cycle of nature. Her view of death may 

also reflect her personality and religious beliefs. On the one hand, as a spinster, she was 

somewhat reclusive and introspective, tending to dwell on loneliness and death. On the 

other hand, as a Christian and a Bible reader, she was optimistic about her ultimate fate 

and appeared to see death as a friend. 

1.2.5 After great pain a formal feeling comes 

After great pain a formal feeling comes-- 

The nerves sit ceremonious like tombs; 

The stiff Heart questions--was it He that bore? 

And yesterday--or centuries before? 

The feet, mechanical, go round 

A wooden way 

Of ground, or air, or ought, 

Regardless grown, 

A quartz contentment, like a stone. 

This is the hour of lead 

Remembered if outlived, 

As freezing persons recollect the snow-- 

First chill, then stupor, then the letting go. 


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The narrator states that a formal feeling sets in after one experiences great pain. 

The experience leaves the "Nerves" taut with exhaustion and the nerves seem to be 

immobile like solemn and ceremonious, Tombs." The heart questions whether it ever 

really endured such pain and whether it was really so recent. The heart is unsure of the 

time when the pain was endured. However the feet continue to plod along the routine 

work mechanically. It seems as if the feet are wooden without feeling whether it is 

treading the ground or air and the heart remains in a state of stony contentment. This, the 

speaker says, is "the Hour of Lead," and if the person experiencing it survives this Hour, 

he or she will remember it in the same way that "Freezing persons" remember the snow: 

"First--Chill--then Stupor--then the letting go--." 

1.2.7 This is my letter to the world 

This is my letter to the world, 

That never wrote to me,-- 

The simple news that Nature told, 

With tender majesty. 

Her message is committed 

To hands I cannot see; 

For love of her, sweet countrymen, 

Judge tenderly of me! 


This poem is different from the earlier two poems because it does not centre around death. 

The poem “This is my letter to the world” is a letter is addressed to the world. The world 

could mean the reading public or the entire human race. The speaker feels sad because 

the world never wrote to her. Like an unrequited lover the speaker writes a letter to the 

world. This can be interpreted as a metaphor for the experience of the poet as an artist 

who is lonely and misunderstood by the society. The poet feels sad that her unique talents 

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and creative vision have not been appreciated by the people. Her letter and words are 

inspired by nature’s ‘tender majesty’ and she conveys nature’s secret message to her. The 

poet says the message delivered by mother nature(Her) has been given to her for safe 

keeping(Committed) and letter is a legacy which the poet will leave to the ‘hands’ of the 

future generations, whom she cannot see. The poem ends on a pleading note where the 

poet calls readers “Sweet — countrymen,” for a compassionate understanding of her 

“letter to the world.” The speaker (poet) makes this appeal in the name of nature itself, as 

it is nature who is the inspiration behind her works. 

1.2.9 The soul selects her own society 

The soul selects her own society, 

Then shuts the door; 

On her divine majority 

Obtrude no more. 

Unmoved, she notes the chariot's pausing 

At her low gate; 

Unmoved, an emperor is kneeling 

Upon her mat. 

I've known her from an ample nation 

Choose one; 

Then close the valves of her attention 

Like stone. 


This poem by Emily Dickinson deals with the quality of the soul. According to 

critics the soul selects its own exclusive friends. However it may also mean search of the 

inner self. Once the inner self is realized the soul will shut off all others. It can mean the 

selection of a companion or the selection of the mind over the body. However once the 

soul, makes a selection ,it is final. The poem can have multiple interpretations .So the 

soul’s selection may also be God or solitude in the case of a poet. The use of ‘divine 

Majority’ suggests god. In the second stanza, the poet says, that the selection is final and 

the soul does not swevere even FC:\WINDOWS\hinhem.scrif richmen or even emperors 

crave for its attention. This is suggestive of celibacy and solitude. The soul does not turn 

away from its service to god. The reference to ‘mat’ is suggestive of the rush mat in the 

church. From the ample variety available in the world the soul makes a single choice and 

shuts off all others. The ‘valves’ are metaphorical doors that are shut once the choice is 

made. 

Emily Dickinson's focused skills come up with metaphor and imagery such as: 

divine Majority, chariots, emperor, mat, ample nation, and stony valves of attention. She 

continually surprises the reader with her vivid and unexpected series of images, each of 

which furthers the somber mood of the poem. 

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1.3 Robert Frost 

The poet was born on 26 th March, 1874 Frost’s parents were of Scottish and 

English descent and he lived in California and Sanfransisco during his early years. 

Frost's father was a teacher, and later he became the editor of the San Francisco Evening 

Bulletin .The poet lived in close association with rural life durin his early days and 

moved to the city later. So he frequently uses themes from rural life in New England in 

his poems. Most of his poems centre around complex, social and philosophical themes. 

He ranks one among the best American poets and was honoured for receiving four 

Pulitzer Prizes. His first poem, "My Butterfly: An Elegy" was published in the 

November 8, 1894 edition of the New York Independent. He married Elinor Miriam 

White, and attended Harvard University for two years. Frost ‘s grandfather purchased a 

farm for the young couple in Derry, New Hampshire, and Frost worked on the farm for 

nine years and wrote many of the poems that later became famous. His attempts at 

farming were not successful and Frost returned to education as an English teacher at 

Pinkerton Academy from 1906 to 1911, then at the New Hampshire Normal School . In 

1912, Frost sailed with his family to Great Britain, and his first book of poetry, A Boy's 

Will, was published the next year. In England he got the acquaintance of all the leading 

poets of the time. When the first world war began Frost returned to America in 1915 and 

resumed his vocation as a teacher and poet. He died a little more than two years later, in 

Boston, on January 29, 1963. 

1.3.1 "Mending Wall" 

Something there is that doesn't love a wall, 

That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it, 

And spills the upper boulders in the sun; 

And makes gaps even two can pass abreast. 

The work of hunters is another thing: 

I have come after them and made repair 

Where they have left not one stone on a stone, 

But they would have the rabbit out of hiding, 

To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean, 

No one has seen them made or heard them made, 

But at spring mending-time we find them there. 

I let my neighbour know beyond the hill; 

And on a day we meet to walk the line 

And set the wall between us once again. 

We keep the wall between us as we go. 

To each the boulders that have fallen to each. 

And some are loaves and some so nearly balls 

We have to use a spell to make them balance: 

14


"Stay where you are until our backs are turned!" 

We wear our fingers rough with handling them. 

Oh, just another kind of out-door game, 

One on a side. It comes to little more: 

There where it is we do not need the wall: 

He is all pine and I am apple orchard. 

My apple trees will never get across 

And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him. 

He only says, "Good fences make good neighbours." 

Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder 

If I could put a notion in his head: 

"Why do they make good neighbours? Isn't it 

Where there are cows? But here there are no cows. 

Before I built a wall I'd ask to know 

What I was walling in or walling out, 

And to whom I was like to give offence. 

Something there is that doesn't love a wall, 

That wants it down." I could say "Elves" to him, 

But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather 

He said it for himself. I see him there 

Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top 

In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed. 

He moves in darkness as it seems to me, 

Not of woods only and the shade of trees. 

He will not go behind his father's saying, 

And he likes having thought of it so well 

He says again, "Good fences make good neighbours." 


In “The Mending Wall” Robert Frost makes use of the image of a wall to drive 

home the lesson that people unnecessarily create boundaries around themselves. The wall 

separating the farm of two neighbours is introduced as a primary symbol in the poem. 

Frost begins the poem by stating that there is something in nature that does not like wall. 

So it swells the ground beneath and manages to disintegrate the wall to such an extent 

that even two men can pass abreast through the opening. 

The poet is sure that the destruction of walls is not the work of rabbit hunters. The 

force that destroys the wall is unnameable. There is a mystery about who or what doesn’t 

like a wall. No one has seen the holes being made but at springtime there are big holes in 

the wall.The narrator and his neighbour meet on a specified date and rebuild the wall. 

Rebuilding the wall is a labourious task. The stones are uneven in size and shape and they 

15


have to balance them delicately.They are tired by the time the wall is rebuilt.The speaker 

reinforces the idea that these breaks created by nature are more mysterious than those 

made by the hunters. This action cannot be observed, though the effects are consistent 

year after year. 

The speaker (poet) does not like a wall. He keeps rebuilding it only to please 

his neighbour. Very humourously Frost says: 

“He is all pine and I am apple orchard. 

My apple trees will never get across 

And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.” 

Both of them have different crops in their orchard. The pine cones will not walk 

up and eat the apples or vice versa. Yet his neighbour insists on building walls saying that 

good fences make good neighbours. The separation between them is also emphasized in 

the fact that they walk on opposite sides of the wall and as they are each responsible for 

replacing the stones that have fallen on each one’s side. While they are performing this 

act together, they do not actually assist each other. 

Frost’s tone becomes playful in the lines, when he says that farmers often use 

fences to keep their livestock separated. Such a fence is unnecessary because they have 

only pine and apple trees, not cows or cattle. Again, the speaker considers trying to 

provoke his neighbor with practical objections, but he never makes this statement out 

loud. 

In the concluding sections, Frost becomes philosophical and speculates abstractly. 

He wants to know what they are “walling in” and “walling out.” The double function of a 

wall is addressed, for not only are outsiders prevented from entry, but insiders are trapped 

inside. The speaker considers the possibility that walls “give offence” as he himself 

seems to be slightly offended, but he never reaches a conclusion about what it is within 

himself that is either walled in or walled out. Nor does he say that he himself doesn’t love 

a wall, only that “something” doesn’t. He muses that “Elves” might have destroyed their 

wall. In the speaker’s eyes the neighbour resembles a savage, an old stonage man armed 

with a stone. He implies that the neighbour is also using the stones as weapons; he is 

“armed.” In a sense, then, the fence becomes a weapon, even if its purpose is primarily 

defense. The speaker then moves from thoughts of the Stone Age to thoughts of the Dark 

Ages, where darkness functions as a symbol for a lack of insight that is understood as 

progress. His darkness is more than physical darkness provided by the shade. There is 

also emotional darkness in his refusal to leave the wall unmended. Frost concludes saying 

that his neighbour will not change his ideas, nor will he give up the practices set forth by 

his father. Like a savage the man keeps repeating “Good fences make good neighbors”. 

1.3.3 The Death of the Hired Man 

Mary sat musing on the lamp-flame at the table 

Waiting for Warren. When she heard his step, 

16


She ran on tip-toe down the darkened passage 

To meet him in the doorway with the news 

And put him on his guard. 'Silas is back.' 

She pushed him outward with her through the door 

And shut it after her. "Be kind," she said. 

She took the market things from Warren's arms 

And set them on the porch, then drew him down 

To sit beside her on the wooden steps. 

'When was I ever anything but kind to him? 

But I'll not have the fellow back,' he said. 

'I told him so last haying, didn't I? 

"If he left then," I said, "that ended it." 

What good is he? Who else will harbor him 

At his age for the little he can do? 

What help he is there's no depending on. 

Off he goes always when I need him most. 

'He thinks he ought to earn a little pay, 

Enough at least to buy tobacco with, 

won't have to beg and be beholden." 

"All right," I say "I can't afford to pay 

Any fixed wages, though I wish I could." 

"Someone else can." 

"Then someone else will have to. 

I shouldn't mind his bettering himself 

If that was what it was. You can be certain, 

When he begins like that, there's someone at him 

Trying to coax him off with pocket-money, -- 

In haying time, when any help is scarce. 

In winter he comes back to us. I'm done.' 

'Shh I not so loud: he'll hear you,' Mary said. 

'I want him to: he'll have to soon or late.' 

'He's worn out. He's asleep beside the stove. 

When I came up from Rowe's I found him here, 

Huddled against the barn-door fast asleep, 

A miserable sight, and frightening, too- 

You needn't smile -- I didn't recognize him- 

I wasn't looking for him- and he's changed. 

Wait till you see.' 

'Where did you say he'd been? 

'He didn't say. I dragged him to the house, 

17


And gave him tea and tried to make him smoke. 

I tried to make him talk about his travels. 

Nothing would do: he just kept nodding off.' 

'What did he say? Did he say anything?' 

'But little.' 

'Anything? Mary, confess 

He said he'd come to ditch the meadow for me.' 

'Warren!' 

'But did he? I just want to know.' 

'Of course he did. What would you have him say? 

Surely you wouldn't grudge the poor old man 

Some humble way to save his self-respect. 

He added, if you really care to know, 

He meant to dear the upper pasture, too. 

That sounds like something you have heard before? 

Warren, I wish you could have heard the way 

He jumbled everything. I stopped to look 

Two or three times -- he made me feel so queer-- 

To see if he was talking in his sleep. 

He ran on Harold Wilson -- you remember - 

The boy you had in haying four years since. 

He's finished school, and teaching in his college. 

Silas declares you'll have to get him back. 

He says they two will make a team for work: 

Between them they will lay this farm as smooth! 

The way he mixed that in with other things. 

He thinks young Wilson a likely lad, though daft 

On education -- you know how they fought 

All through July under the blazing sun, 

Silas up on the cart to build the load, 

Harold along beside to pitch it on.' 

'Yes, I took care to keep well out of earshot.' 

'Well, those days trouble Silas like a dream. 

You wouldn't think they would. How some things linger! 

Harold's young college boy's assurance piqued him. 

After so many years he still keeps finding 

Good arguments he sees he might have used. 

I sympathize. I know just how it feels 

To think of the right thing to say too late. 

18


Harold's associated in his mind with Latin. 

He asked me what I thought of Harold's saying 

He studied Latin like the violin 

Because he liked it -- that an argument! 

He said he couldn't make the boy believe 

He could find water with a hazel prong-- 

Which showed how much good school had ever done 

him. He wanted to go over that. 'But most of all 

He thinks if he could have another chance 

To teach him how to build a load of hay --' 

'I know, that's Silas' one accomplishment. 

He bundles every forkful in its place, 

And tags and numbers it for future reference, 

So he can find and easily dislodge it 

In the unloading. Silas does that well. 

He takes it out in bunches like big birds' nests. 

You never see him standing on the hay 

He's trying to lift, straining to lift himself.' 

'He thinks if he could teach him that, he'd be 

Some good perhaps to someone in the world. 

He hates to see a boy the fool of books. 

Poor Silas, so concerned for other folk, 

And nothing to look backward to with pride, 

And nothing to look forward to with hope, 

So now and never any different.' 

Part of a moon was filling down the west, 

Dragging the whole sky with it to the hills. 

Its light poured softly in her lap. She saw 

And spread her apron to it. She put out her hand 

Among the harp-like morning-glory strings, 

Taut with the dew from garden bed to eaves, 

As if she played unheard the tenderness 

That wrought on him beside her in the night. 

'Warren,' she said, 'he has come home to die: 

You needn't be afraid he'll leave you this time.' 

'Home,' he mocked gently. 

'Yes, what else but home? 

It all depends on what you mean by home. 

Of course he's nothing to us, any more 

then was the hound that came a stranger to us 

Out of the woods, worn out upon the trail.' 

19


'Home is the place where, when you have to go there, 

They have to take you in.' 

'I should have called it 

Something you somehow haven't to deserve.' 

Warren leaned out and took a step or two, 

Picked up a little stick, and brought it back 

And broke it in his hand and tossed it by. 

'Silas has better claim on' us, you think, 

Than on his brother? Thirteen little miles 

As the road winds would bring him to his door. 

Silas has walked that far no doubt to-day. 

Why didn't he go there? His brother's rich, 

A somebody- director in the bank.' 

'He never told us that.' 

'We know it though.' 

'I think his brother ought to help, of course. 

I'll see to that if there is need. He ought of right 

To take him in, and might be willing to-- 

He may be better than appearances. 

But have some pity on Silas. Do you think 

If he'd had any pride in claiming kin 

Or anything he looked for from his brother, 

He'd keep so still about him all this time?' 

'I wonder what's between them.' 

'I can tell you. 

Silas is what he is -- we wouldn't mind him-- 

But just the kind that kinsfolk can't abide. 

He never did a thing so very bad. 

He don't know why he isn't quite as good 

As anyone. He won't be made ashamed 

To please his brother, worthless though he is.' 

'I can't think Silas ever hurt anyone.' 

'No, but he hurt my heart the way he lay 

And rolled his old head on that sharp-edged chair-back. 

He wouldn't let me put him on the lounge. 

You must go in and see what you can do. 

20


I made the bed up for him there to-night. 

You'll be surprised at him -- how much he's broken. 

His working days are done; I'm sure of it.' 

'I'd not be in a hurry to say that.' 

'I haven't been. Go, look, see for yourself. 

But, Warren, please remember how it is: 

He' come to help you ditch the meadow. 

He has a plan, You mustn't laugh at him. 

He may not speak of it, and then he may. 

I'll sit and see if that small sailing cloud 

Will hit or miss the moon.' 

It hit the moon. 

Then there were three there, making a dim row, 

The moon, the little silver cloud, and she. 

Warren returned-- too soon, it seemed to her, 

Slipped to her side, caught up her hand and waited. 

'Warren?' she questioned. 

'Dead,' was all he answered. 

The Death of the Hired Man 


Frost presents a confrontation between two people in this lengthy poem. The first 

stanza functions as an introduction to the situation. It presents two people named Warren 

and Mary with conflicting ideas. We are able to infer that a man named “Silas is back” 

.We gather that Warren will be upset with this information, though Mary is more patient. 

Frost is also able to vary the rhythm of this stanza by including two short emphatic 

sentences among the longer ones: “Silas is back” and “Be kind, she said.” There is 

alliteration, or repetition of initial consonant sounds, in “Mary sat musing” and “Waiting 

for Warren. When” Frost presents the picture of normal family where a wife welcomes 

her husband on his return home. In this situation we find that Mary, the wife asks her 

husband Warren to be kind to someone called Silas. 

In the next section, Warren rebukes Mary by listing out all the good he had done 

for Silas. In the ensuing lines we know that Silas is an old man who was hired to help 

Warren during hay making. Silas had abandoned work during that time inspite of 

Warren’s warning only to return now at winter. Mary speaks up for him and argues with 

her husband stating that Silas is a poor old man who doesn’t want to beg. So warren must 

hire him. But Warren says he does not have money for wasteful endeavours. Mary says 

21


that it was a pitiful sight to see him out in the freezing cold, so she had invited him in. 

During the argument, Mary says that Silas had agreed to ditch the meadow for her. 

Warren wants to know where Silas had been. Mary tells him that Silas is too miserable 

and weak and kept sleeping even through tea. The fact that he was unable to wake up to 

drink tea or smoke foreshadows the end of the poem, when he will permanently be unable 

to wake up. 

Warren is cynical and states that Silas is incapable of ditching the meadow or any 

other task. Even after Mary provides more detail about her conversation with Silas, 

Warren remains unsympathetic. He tells Mary that Silas makes promises and he can ask 

keep to protect his dignity; he promises to work because he doesn’t want to beg. But, 

Mary replies that Silas met Harold Wilson, the boy who helped Warren make hay before 

Silas arrived and had promised to do a lot of work in his company if Warren hired him 

also. 

There is a reference to Silas’s past that troubles him “like a dream”; his memory 

is like a nightmare. There is a narration of events between Silas and Harold and their 

animosity. Harold is represented by Latin and a violin, his Knowledge doesn’t help him 

much in the farm. Silas says it is difficult to teach him to “find water with a hazel prong.” 

The conflict between Silas and Harold Wilson also relates to Silas’s dignity and feelings 

of self-worth. We are able to understand that Silas does not like to see a boy making a 

fool of himself with books. Warren comments on Silas’s inept methods of haying. Mary 

seems to share Silas’s attitude that formal education is somewhat useless, for she refers to 

Harold as a “fool of books.” She believes that if Silas can transmit his knowledge to 

someone else, he will not believe he has lived in vain. 

In the next section, the attention shifts from the couple to nature around them. 

There is a change in tone of the poem. The gentle moon is casting its silvery light on 

Mary. The surroundings are totally peaceful. Mary e notices that the stems of the morning 

glories resemble the strings of a harp, a simile that is extended when Mary touches them 

“As if she played unheard.” Frost is using these details in order to emphasize Mary’s 

character; as a gentle person, she interprets her surroundings with gentleness. The 

ensuing stanzas reveal the peak of their argument. Mary takes up the stand for Silas and 

tells Warren that he should accept Silas because the old man has come home to die. At 

the mention of ‘Home’ Warren gets angry and says that home is a place where one should 

be welcomed, but he is not ready to welcome Silas. So their home is not a place for Silas 

to return with the expectation to be welcomed. Their conversation also reveals that Silas 

is having a brother who is living in good means in the neighbourhood. So Warren tells 

Mary that Silas should go to his brother. Warren breaks a stick and tosses it aside. His 

nonchalance is revealed in the act. He has no pity for Silas. Mary continues to urge 

Warren to treat Silas with sympathy. She insists that he is too weak to do any work, but 

she does not want to make Silas feel useless. Mary asks Warren to go in and see Silas 

once and then decide to keep him or send him out. She concludes her argument with a 

statement that she will watch the cloud sail past or hit the moon. In the concluding 

section, we are presented with Silas’s death. The cloud has “hit the moon”. When Warren 

returns, his attitude is more compassionate and he just says ‘dead’ to convey the news of 

22


Silas’ death. Thus the poem ends on an abrupt pathetic note. We are made to infer that 

Silas considered Warren and Mary’s residence his home. Which might have made him to 

come back to gather grace before his death. 

1.3.5 Home Burial 

From North of Boston, 1914. 

HE saw her from the bottom of the stairs 

Before she saw him. She was starting down, 

Looking back over her shoulder at some fear. 

She took a doubtful step and then undid it 

To raise herself and look again. He spoke 

Advancing toward her: “What is it you see 

From up there always—for I want to know.” 

She turned and sank upon her skirts at that, 

And her face changed from terrified to dull. 

He said to gain time: “What is it you see,” 

Mounting until she cowered under him. 

“I will find out now—you must tell me, dear.” 

She, in her place, refused him any help 

With the least stiffening of her neck and silence. 

She let him look, sure that he wouldn’t see, 

Blind creature; and a while he didn’t see. 

But at last he murmured, “Oh,” and again, “Oh.” 

“What is it—what?” she said. 

“Just that I see.” 

“You don’t,” she challenged. “Tell me what it is.” 

“The wonder is I didn’t see at once. 

I never noticed it from here before. 

I must be wonted to it—that’s the reason. 

The little graveyard where my people are! 

So small the window frames the whole of it. 

Not so much larger than a bedroom, is it? 

There are three stones of slate and one of marble, 

Broad-shouldered little slabs there in the sunlight 

On the sidehill. We haven’t to mind those. 

But I understand: it is not the stones, 

But the child’s mound——” 

“Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t,” she cried. 

She withdrew shrinking from beneath his arm 

23


That rested on the banister, and slid downstairs; 

And turned on him with such a daunting look, 

He said twice over before he knew himself: 

“Can’t a man speak of his own child he’s lost?” 

“Not you! Oh, where’s my hat? Oh, I don’t need it! 

I must get out of here. I must get air. 

I don’t know rightly whether any man can.” 

“Amy! Don’t go to someone else this time. 

Listen to me. I won’t come down the stairs.” 

He sat and fixed his chin between his fists. 

“There’s something I should like to ask you, dear.” 

“You don’t know how to ask it.” 

“Help me, then.” 

Her fingers moved the latch for all reply. 

“My words are nearly always an offence. 

I don’t know how to speak of anything 

So as to please you. But I might be taught 

I should suppose. I can’t say I see how. 

A man must partly give up being a man 

With women-folk. We could have some arrangement 

By which I’d bind myself to keep hands off 

Anything special you’re a-mind to name. 

Though I don’t like such things ’twixt those that love. 

Two that don’t love can’t live together without them. 

But two that do can’t live together with them.” 

She moved the latch a little. “Don’t—don’t go. 

Don’t carry it to someone else this time. 

Tell me about it if it’s something human. 

Let me into your grief. I’m not so much 

Unlike other folks as your standing there 

Apart would make me out. Give me my chance. 

I do think, though, you overdo it a little. 

What was it brought you up to think it the thing 

To take your mother-loss of a first child 

So inconsolably—in the face of love. 

You’d think his memory might be satisfied——” 

“There you go sneering now!” 

“I’m not, I’m not! 

You make me angry. I’ll come down to you. 

24


God, what a woman! And it’s come to this, 

A man can’t speak of his own child that’s dead.” 

“You can’t because you don’t know how. 

If you had any feelings, you that dug 

With your own hand—how could you?—his little grave; 

I saw you from that very window there, 

Making the gravel leap and leap in air, 

Leap up, like that, like that, and land so lightly 

And roll back down the mound beside the hole. 

I thought, Who is that man? I didn’t know you. 

And I crept down the stairs and up the stairs 

To look again, and still your spade kept lifting. 

Then you came in. I heard your rumbling voice 

Out in the kitchen, and I don’t know why, 

But I went near to see with my own eyes. 

You could sit there with the stains on your shoes 

Of the fresh earth from your own baby’s grave 

And talk about your everyday concerns. 

You had stood the spade up against the wall 

Outside there in the entry, for I saw it.” 

“I shall laugh the worst laugh I ever laughed. 

I’m cursed. God, if I don’t believe I’m cursed.” 

“I can repeat the very words you were saying. 

‘Three foggy mornings and one rainy day 

Will rot the best birch fence a man can build.’ 

Think of it, talk like that at such a time! 

What had how long it takes a birch to rot 

To do with what was in the darkened parlour. 

You couldn’t care! The nearest friends can go 

With anyone to death, comes so far short 

They might as well not try to go at all. 

No, from the time when one is sick to death, 

One is alone, and he dies more alone. 

Friends make pretence of following to the grave, 

But before one is in it, their minds are turned 

And making the best of their way back to life 

And living people, and things they understand. 

But the world’s evil. I won’t have grief so 

If I can change it. Oh, I won’t, I won’t!” 

“There, you have said it all and you feel better. 

You won’t go now. You’re crying. Close the door. 

The heart’s gone out of it: why keep it up. 

25


Amy! There’s someone coming down the road!” 

“You—oh, you think the talk is all. I must go— 

Somewhere out of this house. How can I make you——” 

“If—you—do!” She was opening the door wider. 

Where do you mean to go? First tell me that. 

I’ll follow and bring you back by force. I will!—” 


The poem “Home Burial” by Frost presents an emotionally charged dialogue 

between a bereaved couple. They have lost a baby in the past and the wife (Amy) is in 

deep sorrow. She spends her time gazing out of the window into the open land and the 

husband is irritated by her obsession. One evening, he returns home to find her gazing out 

and gets irritated. He walks up to her telling that today he will find out what it is that 

draws her attention. We are able to understand that their relationship is strained because 

she says even if he looks, he will not be able to understand what the object of her 

attention is 

The ensuing lines reveal that the husband looks out of the window and states that : 

“The little graveyard where my people are! 

So small the window frames the whole of it”. 

He is not able to guess why she should be obsessed with the sight of the small 

family graveyard. In return she says that he is hard hearted and gets ready to leave the 

house . He does not understand what it is he does that offends her so much. He tries to 

stop her. 

“Amy! Don’t go to someone else this time. 

Listen to me. I won’t come down the stairs.” 

The husband does not relish the idea that his wife seeks out a third person to share 

her grief over the loss of their child. He feels he has every right to demand that she 

should talk with him to release her sorrow. They continue to argue as he requests her not 

to go and she repeatedly tells him that he is incapable of consoling her because he has no 

feeling for the loss. At last she says that she cannot believe that any man would be so 

insensitive like him so as to dig his own child’s grave. She resents him deeply for his 

composure, and feels that it is hard-heartedness. She vents some of her anger and 

frustration, and he receives it, but the distance between them remains. She opens the door 

to leave, as he calls after her. The poem ends with the statement: 

“Where do you mean to go? First tell me that. 

I’ll follow and bring you back by force. I will!—” 

Thus the poem ends with a note of determination of the husband to bring Amy back even 

if she were to leave him. 

26


1.4 Poems for Non Detailed Study 

Ezra Pound 

Ezra Weston Loomis Pound was born on 30 th October.He was an an American 

expatriate poet, critic and a major figure in the modernist movement.Ezra Pound was 

born in Hailey, Idaho, United States, to Homer Loomis and Isabel Weston Pound. He 

studied for two years at the University of Pennsylvania, then transferred to Hamilton 

College in 1905. He then returned to Penn, to receive an M.A. in Romance philology in 

1906.During his stay in Penn, he got the friendship of William Carlos Williams and 

Hilda Doolittle(HD).For some time, Pound taught at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, 

Indiana, and left as the result of a minor scandal. 

In 1908, he travelled to Europe and settled in London after spending several 

months in Venice.His early potry wa influenced by the pre-Raphaelites and other 19th 

century poets and medieval Romance literature, as well as much neo-Romantic and 

occult/mystical philosophy. He believed that William Butler Yeats was the greatest 

living poet and was deeply interested in Yeats’s occult beliefs. He was influenced by 

Yeats to such an extent that during the first world war, Pound and Yeats lived together at 

Stone Cottage in England, studying Japanese. In 1914 , Pound married Dorothy 

Shakespear an artist, and the daughter of Olivia Shakespear, a novelist and former lover 

of W.B. Yeats.Pound was the forerunner of Imagism and he also contributed to a 

movement called Vorticism ,led by Wyndham Lewis.These movements led him to 

become familiar with the works of James Joyce, Wyndham Lewis, William Carlos 

Williams, H.D., Jacob Epstein, Richard Aldington, Marianne Moore, Rabindranath 

Tagore, Robert Frost, Rebecca West and Henri Gaudier-Brzeska.T.S.Eliot was a good 

friend of Pound and he undertook the task of editing “The Wasteland”. 

In 1915, Pound published Cathay, a small volume of poems and began the work on “The 

Cantos”. His “Homage to Sextus Propertius “ was published in 1919 and “ Hugh Selwyn 

Mauberley” followed in1920. Then Pound moved to Paris, where he moved among a 

circle of artists, musicians, and writers who were revolutionizing the whole world of 

modern art .Chif among them were Marcel Duchamp, Tristan Tzara, Fernand Leger 

,Basil Bunting and Ernest Hemingway.Pound went to Italy in 1924 and returned to 

America in 1939.By 1941 he was back in Italy but was constantly contributing scholarly 

articles to the American public.He wrote continuously for several newspapers.He 

delivered several lecture about cultural issues on Italian radio. Pound believed that 

economic freedom was a prerequisite for a free country. Inevitably, he touched upon 

political matters.However in 1943 Pound was indicted for treason by the United States 

government. On 10 th July , 1943, the Allied forces landed in Sicily and rapidly began to 

overrun the southern part of Italy. 

Pound played a significant role in cultural and propaganda activities in the new 

republic, which lasted till the spring of 1945.He was arrested by Italian partisans, on 2 nd 

May ,1945 and soon released.The next day he reported to the American Forces and was 

27


incarcerated in a United States detention camp.In captivity he continued his composition 

of “The Cantos”and he was brought to the United States and charged for treason.Since 

he was suffering from a nervous breakdown he was found to be unfit for a trial.He was 

hospitalised for twelve years. Following his release, Pound returned to Italy, where he 

remained until his death in 1972. 

1.4.1 Ballad of the Goodly Fere 

In “Ballad of the Goodly Fere, Pound delivers an answer to those who made 

blasphemes against Christ in a Turkish Café at Soho. In this poem, Ezra pound presents a 

clear picture of Christ .The poem is narrated by Simon Zelots, one of Christ’s disciples. 

The historical perspective adds to the flavour of the poem. Pound has exploited the 

dramatic monologue to create the effect. Simon Zelots elaborates the vigour and 

masculinity of Christ in the stanzas. 

The narrator reveals his personal feelings and attitudes regarding Christ. 

According to him Christ was a kind hearted man who had boundless love for mankind. 

His love extended to animals also. When Christ’s disciples were arrested and illtreated by 

the Roman Soldiers, Christ pleaded in vain for their deliverance and freedom. He begged 

the soldiers to leave them off unharmed. Simon talks about the Last Supper and the entry 

of Christ into Jerusalem. When Christ entered in triumph, even the scribes and Pharsees 

were not able to arrest him. In the stanzas, we find that Pound deliberately uses archaic 

words to create the atmosphere of the poem. 

Simon nostalgically remembers the numerous acts of Christ’s benevolence. He 

has healed the sick, raised the dead, and calmed the storm. Simon was present to witness 

the angry clap of thunder and lightning during the crucifixion of Christ. Christ was not 

afraid to go to the gallows. He took up all suffering with patience for the benefit of 

mankind. He did not display any sign of sorrow. We see the triumph of Christ when he 

rose from the dead after crucifixion. 

1.5 E. E. Cummings 

Edward Estlin Cummings ,born in 1894 was a poet prose writer, essayist, lecturer, and 

playwright. Cummings grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where his father was a 

sociology professor at Harvard and a clergyman.From an early age, Cummings 

demonstrated a strong interest in poetry. He attended Harvard from 1911 to 1915, 

studying literature and writing daily. He eventually joined the editorial board of the 

Harvard Monthly, a college literary magazine, where he worked with his close friends S. 

Foster Damon and John Dos Passos. In his senior year he became fascinated with avantgarde 

art, modernism, and cubism, an interest reflected in his graduation dissertation, 

“The New Art.” In this paper, Cummings extolled modernism as practiced by Gertrude 

Stein, Ezra Pound, Amy Lowell, and Pablo Picasso. He also began incorporating 

elements of these styles into his own poetry and paintings. 

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In 1917 his poems appeared in the anthology “Eight Harvard Poets”. During the world 

war he offered his service as an ambulance driver. E. E. Cummings died in 1962.During 

his stay in Paris Cummings spent four months in an internment camp in Normandy on 

suspicion of treason. The experience he got during that period was used by him in his 

prose work entitled “The Enormous Room”. During the 1920s and 1930s Cummings kept 

shunting between Paris and New York. 

Cummings was Politically liberal and had leftist leanings. He visited the Soviet 

Union in 1931 in order to find out how the system of government subsidy for art 

functioned there. All his travel experiences are recorded in “Eimi “ published in 1933. 

He continued to write prolifically and received the Shelley Memorial Award for poetry in 

1944, the Charles Eliot Norton Professorship at Harvard for the academic year 1952-53, 

and the Bollingen Prize for Poetry in 1958. All of Cummings's poetry attest his neverending 

search for fresh metaphors and new means of expression through creative 

placement of words ,new word constructions, and unusual punctuation and capitalization. 

He originally intended to publish his first collection as Tulips & Chimneys, but was 

forced to publish the poems from the original manuscript as three separate volumes: 

Tulips and Chimneys (1923), XLI Poems (1925), and & (1925). The “tulips” of the first 

volume are free-verse lyric poems that present a nostalgic glance at his childhood. The 

Enormous Room, which is is a novel on his experiences in the French internment camp is 

widely considered a classic of World War I literature. The collection No Thanks ,was 

written in 1935 in response to his trip to the Soviet Union, treats the theme of artistic 

freedom in an especially powerful manner. The “Chimneys” is a sonnet sequence that 

identifies the hypocrisy, narrow-mindedness, and stagnation Cummings saw in the 

society around him. The sequence includes the well-known poem “The Cambridge 

ladies” Cummings reached the height of his popularity during the 1940s and 1950s, 

giving poetry readings to college audiences across the United States until his death in 

1962. 

1.5.1 The Cambridge Ladies 

In “The Cambridge Ladies Cummings attacks the life style of the society. 

Cambridge is a part of Boston. The Harvard University is located in Cambridge. In the 

poem Cummins pokes fun at the ladies in Cambridge. He says that they are ‘un beautiful’ 

and are in possession of ‘furnished souls’. It is satirical because he says their souls are 

also furnished like bed rooms and drawing rooms in apartments. Their attitudes and life 

style are set, so he equates them to inanimate objects. 

Cummings States that the Cambridge Ladies have not enriched their knowledge 

level by means of university education. In contrary they give more importance to physical 

pleasure and cheap sensuality. For them education serves the purpose of a means to 

attract the attention of others. They are all socially pretentious and too narrow minded. 

The Cambridge ladies have very comfortable minds because they accept only 

preconceived notions. They do not welcome new ideas. There is irony when he says 

“they are the blessed daughters of Protestant church”. They believe in Long fellow who is 

29


no longer alive. Even their love for literature is pretentious. They are neither interested in 

spiritual or intellectual life. 

The Cambridge ladies create an impression of being interested in many things but 

in truth their interest is shallow. They knit dresses for the downtrodden and take part in 

charitable deeds, but they do not care who the recipient is. It may be the poor of their 

country or the Polish soldiers. Humorously, Cummings comments that while their hands 

are busy knitting wool, their mouth keeps knitting gossips. The Cambridge Ladies are 

scandal mongers. In conclusion Cummings says that children may get attracted to the 

rattle of the candy seller but even if the moon rattles above the Cambridge do not care for 

anything. 

This poem reveals the hypocrisy of people who confine themselves to a limited 

sphere of knowledge and a confined group of peers. Rather than looking towards the 

outside world and into the unknown, these women commit themselves to spreading 

rumors, being “loyal” Christians, and being socially adept. The Cambridge ladies forget 

to see and understand the individual beauties in life such as the moon. Everything they 

believe is internalized by their social doctrines; they leave no room for change or for new 

ideals. Therefore, they are unable to associate with the serenity of nature or with a world 

separate from themselves. Because they are assigned to a societal doctrine in which they 

have no control . They no longer concern themselves over problems and “do not care” 

about anything at all. They are conceited. The poet’s tone is filled with sarcasm and irony 

to show the contradiction between the Cambridge ladies’ actions and beliefs. 

1.5.2 Somewhere I have never traveled 

The poem “Somewhere I have never travelled, gladly beyond” was published by 

Cummings in 1931 in his poetry collection entitled, ViVa. Like all his other poems, he 

has not given a title to the poem. So the first line is taken by the editors as the title. The 

central theme of the poem is Love. Critics, acclaim this poem as the best out of 

Cummings’s love poems. 

The poem describes the profound feelings of love that the speaker has for his lady 

love. He wonders at the mysterious power the woman has over him. In the ensuing lines 

the speaker extols the power her love has over him. She seems to have transformed him. 

The opening lines of the poem indicate that the poet is going to describe a new journey 

which is beyond experience. He follows the age old tradition of describing his lady love’s 

eyes. He describes how her love blossoms as if petal by petal. Without her love, he will 

close him up like clenched fingers. 

He reaches the height of romantic fancy when he says that he would die if she 

were ever to wish it. He moves on to say that there is nothing more fragile in this world 

than her. The lover compares his lady love to a delicate rose. If not handled properly the 

love would wither. The speaker in the poem may not be Cummings himself, though the 

intensity of emotions expressed in the poem leads one to believe that the poet is 

describing his own experiences because when he published “somewhere I have never 

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travelled,gladly beyond,” he had been married to Anne Barton for two years. So she 

might have been the source of the poem’s inspiration. However this inspiration must have 

been short-lived, for they were divorced a year later, in 1932. We are able to determine 

that the poet is discussing metaphysical concepts, abstract ideas that cannot be 

experienced by one's physical senses. 

1.6 Sylvia Plath 

Sylvia Plath was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on 27 th October , 1932. Her 

mother, Aurelia Schober, was a master’s student at Boston University when she met 

Plath’s father, Otto Plath, who was her professor. They were married in January of 1932. 

Otto taught both German and biology.In 1940, when Sylvia was eight years old, her 

father died as a result of complications from diabetes. He had been a strict father, and 

both his authoritarian attitudes and his death drastically defined her relationships and her 

poems—most notably in her elegaic and infamous poem, " Daddy." 

Since childhood she kept a journal and published her poems in regional 

magazines and newspapers. Her first national publication was in the Christian Science 

Monitor in 1950, just after graduating from high school.In 1950, Plath matriculated at 

Smith College. She was an exceptional student, and despite a deep depression she went 

through in 1953 and a subsequent suicide attempt, she managed to graduate in 1955. 

Plath then moved to Englandon a Fulbright Scholarship. In early 1956, she attended a 

party and met the English poet, Ted Hughes. Shortly thereafter, Plath and Hughes were 

married, on 16th June, 1956. 

Plath returned to Massachusetts in 1957, and began studying with Robert Lowell. 

Her first collection of poems, Colossus, was published in 1960 in England. In 1962, Ted 

Hughes left Plath for Assia Gutmann Wevill. That winter, in a deep depression, Plath 

wrote most of the poems that would comprise her most famous book, Ariel. In 1963, 

Plath published a semi-autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar, under the pseudonymof 

Victoria Lucas. Then, on February 11, 1963, during one of the worst English winters on 

record, Plath wrote a note to her downstairs neighbor instructing him to call the doctor, 

then she committed suicide using her gas oven . 

Plath’s poetry is often associated with the Confessional movement, and compared 

to poets such as her teacher, Robert Lowell, and fellow student Anne Sexton. Often, her 

work is singled out for the intense coupling of its violent or disturbed imagery and its 

playful use of alliteration and rhyme.Although only Colossus was published while she 

was alive, Plath was a prolific poet, and in addition to Ariel, Hughes published three other 

volumes of her work posthumously, including The Collected Poems, which was the 

recipient of the 1982 Pulitzer Prize. She was the first poet to win a Pulitzer Prize after 

death. 

31


1.6.1 Brief Summary of the poem 

“Daddy” is one of the most highly anthologized poems of Plath's. The poem is 

brutal, but it is about mourning, loss, and about what happens when that grief is blocked. 

(This poem's essence lies in her not believing her father is dead, and since she never 

went to his funeral, or even visited his grave as a child, the father is a strange limbo, a 

zombie figure.) In 1959 she visited her father's grave and was tempted, oddly as she says, 

to dig him up & prove to herself that he's really dead. 

In the poem, she just wants to be with her father. From this poem the feminist 

movement of the 60s took Plath as one of their own.; In the poem "Daddy", Sylvia Plath 

says that there are women who, due to early conditioning and circumstances, find 

themselves incapable of dealing with oppressive and overbearing men. Such women are 

always feeling helpless and forlorn. For some women, the struggle is never resolved and 

for others it takes almost a lifetime. Those who are lucky will get a reprieve somehow or 

the other. The speaker in this poem is Sylvia Plath. The poem describes her feelings of 

oppression and her battle to come to grips with the issues of this power imbalance. The 

poem also conjures the struggle that many women face in a male dominated society. 

The conflict of this poem is male authority and control against the right of a 

female to be herself, to make choices, and be free of male domination. Plath's was facing 

conflicts in her relationship with her father and it continued throughout her life with her 

husband. The intensity of this conflict is well evident as she uses examples that cannot be 

ignored. The atrocities of NAZI' Germany are used as symbols to describe of the horrors 

of male domination. The constant and crippling manipulation of the male, as he 

introduces oppression and hopelessness into the lives of his women, is equated with the 

twentieth century's worst period. Words such as Luftwaffe, panzerman, and Mein Kampf 

look are used to describe her father and husband as well as all forms of male domination. 

The frequent use of the word black throughout the poem conveys a feeling of gloom and 

suffocation. Like many women in society, we know that Plath felt oppressed and stifled 

throughout her life by her use of the simile "I have lived like a shoe for thirty years poor 

and white, barely able to breath or Achoo. "The use of similes and metaphors such as 

"Chuffing me off like a Jew. A Jew to Dachau, Auschwitz, Belson." clearly shows the 

feelings of anguished hopelessness and the agony she must have felt. 

The universality of this poem is guaranteed as there will always be women who feel 

the same torture that is described. In the verses. Strong images are conveyed throughout 

the poem. The words "marble- heavy, a bag full of God" conveys the ever present 

authority of her father and the heaviness it weighed on her throughout her life. She says 

men are like vampires who draw away the life blood of women and make them forget 

their own individuality. The tone of this poem shows the poet’s embittered feelings.It 

also reminds us of a sobbing child because od the child like repetition of ‘daddy’.The line 

"Daddy, daddy, you bastard"reveals her anger.From childhood she has been suffering in 

fear. Visiting his grave she states I've had to kill you" and "Daddy, you can lie back 

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now. By the end of the poem Plath has reached resolution. It is a beautiful poem that 

clearly shows that she has climbed from total domination by a male to freedom . In 

addition to the anger and violence, 'Daddy' is also pervaded by a strong sense of loss and 

trauma. The repeated 'You do not do' of the first sentence suggests a speaker that is still 

battling a truth she only recently has been forced to accept. 

1.7 Wallace Stevens 

Wallace Stevens was born on 2 nd October,1879 and is regarded as a great 

American Modernist Poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, and spent most of his 

life working for an insurance company in Connecticut. His poem, " The Emperor of Ice 

Cream," has been anthologized numerous times. Stevens attended Harvard as a nondegree 

special student, and later moved to New York City to work as a journalist. He 

then attended New York Law School, graduating in 1903. On a trip back to Reading in 

1904 Stevens met Elsie Viola Racheland married her in 1909 after a long courtship. 

After working for several New York law firms from 1904 to 1907, Stevens was hired on 

January 13, 1908 as a lawyer for the American Bonding Company. 

By 1914 he had become the vice-president of the New York Office of the 

Equitable Surety Company of St. Louis, Missouri .He then joined the home office of 

Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company and left New York City to live in Hartford, 

where he remained the rest of his life. By 1934, he had been named vice president of the 

company. After he won the Pulitzer Prize in 1955, he was offered a faculty position at 

Harvard, but declined it since it meant that he should give up his vice presidency of The 

Hartford . 

Stevens’s first book of poetry, Harmonium, was published in 1923. He produced 

two more major books of poetry during the 1920s and 1930s and three more in the 1940s. 

In Stevens, "imagination" is not equivalent to consciousness, or "reality" to the world as 

it exists outside our minds. Reality is the product of the imagination as it shapes the 

world. Because it is constantly changing as we attempt to find imaginatively satisfying 

ways to perceive the world, reality is an activity, not a static object. We approach reality 

with a piecemeal understanding, putting together parts of the world in an attempt to make 

it seem coherent. To make sense of the world is to construct a worldview through an 

active exercise of the imagination. This is no dry philosophical activity, but a passionate 

engagement in finding order and meaning. He received the National Book Award in 

1951 and 1955 .In his book “Opus Posthumous”, Stevens writes “After one has 

abandoned a belief in god, poetry is that essence which takes its place as life’s 

redemption."But as the poet attempts to find a fiction to replace the lost gods, he 

immediately encounters a problem: a direct knowledge of reality is not possible. He died 

on 2 nd August 1955 

1.7.1 The Emperor of Ice Cream 

Brief summary 

33


In this poem Stevens presents us with a stark, realistic picture of life. He dos not 

spin a web of imagination or fantasy. He is of the view that the world today revolves 

around sensual pleasures.” The Emperor of Ice Cream signifies Physical satisfaction”. All 

the people in his verses, such as : the roller of cigars, wenches, flower boys represent 

physical pleasure. In the second stanza Stevens draws death into the picture in order to 

create a contrast with physical pleasure. He presents the picture of the death of a slattern. 

The woman’s body will be buried soon along with her house. The people who have 

gathered there to pay homage to her are cheap prostitutes and a man. There is no truth in 

their tears. 

Stevens describes the physical surroundings of the slattern’s house. The dressing 

table is made of cheap wood and it does not have any glass knobs. A badly embroidered 

sheet revealed that she was poor. Through the poem it is obvious that Stevens wants us to 

know that death is the real emperor. Death is the supreme Lord who overrules all our 

sensual pleasures. Not understanding this people are in persuit of cheap physical 

pleasures. 

1.7.2 The Idea of Order at Key West 

Brief Summary of the poem 

Written in 1934, “The Idea of Order at Key West” is one of the most difficult 

poems by Wallace Stevens. Yet, it stands as one of Stevens’ most anthologized poems, 

and Critics call the poem his best work. Though widely read, the poem has no 

authoritative interpretation. Several critics have diverse interpretations of the poem. The 

poem is complex but the plot is simple. One of the great ironies of “The Idea of Order at 

Key West,” is that for a complex poem, its plot is rather simple. An unnamed speaker is 

walking along the beach of Key West and hears a woman singing a song. The song 

enchants the speaker, and as the woman is singing, he begins to muse on the beauty of 

her song and its relationship to his own life, particularly his ideas on reality and 

imagination. The music seems to move in mimic motion like waves of the sea. 

The song has a transforming significance only for its hearer, who hears a new, 

"amassing harmony" as much beyond the song as beyond the sea. For the critic, the 

singer's voice makes "the sky acutest at its vanishing" and measures "to the hour its 

solitude." Her measures open intercourse between nature and "ourselves," mastering and 

portioning out the darkness of inner and outer seas—but only in the "meta-phoric" speech 

of the critic who "interprets" and outlines the connection between artifice and sea, form 

and nature, music and death. 

Finally, after listening and thinking, the speaker experiences a kind of epiphany, a 

moment of insight. While few would question these basic facts of the poem, there is lot of 

debate around what Stevens thinks of the song and what kind of epiphany he experiences. 

While the poem remains too complex to be easily paraphrased we can say the poem 

dramatizes important conflicts for Stevens: imagination and reality, presence and 

absence, order and chaos, nature and civilization, the mind and the body. We don’t see 

34


the singer or actually hear what it is the woman is singing we experience the 

transformation that the speaker undergoes.. The woman’s song transforms the speaker’s 

experience of walking along the beach, and, when he returns to the town, he discovers 

that his perception of Key West has also been altered. Some critics say that the poem is 

an example of Stevens championing the creative process. Recent critics believe that the 

poem is about the need for poetry and the need for art. Thus, the emphasis of the poem is 

not so much on the song itself but on what the song does to the listener. 

1.8 Edwin Arlington Robinson 

Edwin Arlington Robinson was born on 22 nd December 1869 at Head Tide, 

Maine, to Edward Robinson, a timber merchant and civic leader, and Mary Elizabeth. He 

grew up at Gardiner, which provided the model for a series of poems that he wrote 

throughout his career. While his oldest brother, Herman, was destined to manage the 

family fortune and his middle brother (Dean) to become a doctor, Robinson was free to 

turn to poetry. He began writing regularly at the age of eleven and in high school 

attended meetings of the town's poetry society as its youngest member. But while 

Robinson was willing to be taught the rudiments of the various poetry forms, one of his 

contemporaries recalled that it was very difficult to influence him. This strength of 

purpose marked his character throughout his life. 

Robinson attended Harvard from 1891 to 1893 despite his father's doubts about 

the value of a higher education. During the early 1890s the family's fortunes began to 

decline, triggering a series of tragedies that influenced Robinson's life and poetry. In 

1892 his father died, and the panic of 1893 and the lingering aftermath slowly bankrupted 

the family over the next seven years. Robinson's brother Dean became addicted to 

morphine and returned home in failing health. Robinson was forced to leave Harvard 

because of the family's financial difficulties and his mother's failing health. She died in 

1896 of "black diphtheria," and because no mortician would handle the body, the brothers 

had to lay out their mother, dig the grave, and bury her. During this time Robinson wrote 

the poems that were later published in 1896 as “The Torrent and the Night Before” and in 

1897 as “The Children of the Night”. Since Robinson was very poor his friends financed 

the publications. 

Robinson's poems are noted for mastery of conventional forms, be it the sonnet, 

the quatrain, or the eight-line stanza. The characters of works like "Richard Cory," "Luke 

Havergal," "Aaron Stark," and "John Evereldown" are faced with failure and tragedy, but 

Robinson, as Louise Bogan noted, "with the sympathy of a brother in misfortune, notes 

their failures and degradations without losing sight of their peculiar courage" Robinson 

first met Emma Shepherd, the great love of his life, while taking dancing lessons in 1887, 

and in her he found a companion he could talk to and who encouraged his poetry. 

Although he loved her, he believed he could either write poetry or raise a family but not 

do both. He introduced Emma to Herman, who married her in 1890. It was not a happy 

marriage, strained by financial difficulties and Herman's drinking. Robinson's love for 

Emma during this difficult time resulted in his leaving Gardiner for New York City in 

1897. In 1899 his brother Dean died, possibly of an intentional drug overdose. As 

35


executor of their mother's estate, Herman had agreed to support Robinson with a monthly 

stipend that allowed him to barely get by, but he was left penniless when the family 

fortune finally vanished in 1901. 

For the next quarter-century Robinson chose to live in poverty and write his 

poetry, relying on scraps of temporary work and charity from friends. In 1902 he 

published “Captain Craig,” again with the help of friends. He received some good 

reviews for “The Torrent”, but several critics ignored or disliked “The Children of the 

Nigh”t and “Captain Craig”. As a result, Robinson fell into a depression, neglecting his 

poetry, drifting from job to job and drinking heavily. 

In 1905 President Theodore Roosevelt's son Kermit had read “The Children of the 

Niggt” and encouraged his father to read it as well. Roosevelt liked the book and 

arranged a job for Robinson at the New York Customs House. The president arranged for 

republishing “The Children of the Night”. Robinson's job at the customs house was 

deliberately structured to enable him to do as little work as possible and to devote his 

time to poetry. But, ironically, Robinson found the poetry he created during this time to 

be second-rate. "The stuff that I have been writing of late," he wrote to a friend, "has been 

so bad that I have been ashamed of it and of myself. I shall do better pretty soon. The 

major magazines remained closed to him despite Roosevelt's patronage, and when the 

president left the White House in 1909, Robinson quit the customs house after being 

ordered to do his job, keep regular hours, and wear a uniform. 

Back in Gardiner living with a friend, Robinson set to work full time, revising old 

poems and writing new ones. In 1909 he also published “The Town down the River”, 

which he dedicated to Roosevelt. In 1911 Robinson began spending his winters at the 

homes of New York friends and his summers at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, 

New Hampshire. He gave up alcohol. During this time, he tried playwriting; but his play 

“Van Zorn” (1914) was unsuccessfully produced, and “The Porcupine” (1915) never 

made it to the stage. 

In late 1916 Robinson received a measure of financial security through a monthly 

stipend from an anonymous source. The Man against the Sky published in 1916 brought 

him some fame. In 1917 Merlin was published, followed by Lancelot in 1920 and 

Tristram in 1927. In 1919, on his fiftieth birthday, Robinson was the cover subject of the 

New York Times Review of Books, and he was praised by Lowell, Vachel Lindsay, and 

Edgar Lee Masters, among others. In 1921, his Collected Poems was awarded the first 

Pulitzer Prize for poetry. He was awarded a second Pulitzer Prize in 1924 for The Man 

Who Died Twice. Aided by a push from the Literary Guild and critical notices by Mark 

Van Doren, Tristram (1927) became a bestseller, earning Robinson his third 

Pulitzer.Now Robinson was financially independent, and the success exhilarated him. 

After years of self-denial, he surprised friends by the attention he paid to his clothes and 

the generosity he paid to others in need. In what he called a protest against Prohibition, he 

began drinking again. Robinson published regularly for the rest of his life, mostly long 

verse narratives, including Avon's Harvest (1921); Roman Bartholow (1925); Dionysus in 

Doubt (1925); Cavender's House (1929); Matthias at the Door (1931); a collection of 

36


shorter poems, Nicodemus (1932); Talifer (1933); and Amaranth (1934). Robinson was 

the first major American poet of the twentieth century, unique in that he devoted his life 

to poetry and willingly paid the price in poverty and obscurity. 

For the first twenty years of Robinson's writing career, he had difficulty in 

getting published and attracting an audience. He published his first two volumes privately 

and the publication of the third was secretly guaranteed by friends. He did receive 

positive reviews from the beginning, however, and with the publication of The Man 

Against the Sky in 1916 his reputation was secure. For the rest of his life he was widely 

regarded as "America's foremost poet,". He won three Pulitzer Prizes for his volumes 

published in 1921,1924 and 1927. Robinson is a "people poet," writing almost 

exclusively about individuals or individual relationships rather than on more common 

themes of the nineteenth century. He exhibits a curious mixture of irony and compassion 

toward his subjects--most of whom are failures--that allows him to be called a romantic 

existentialist. He is a true precursor to the modernist movement in poetry.He was one of 

America's greatest practitioners of the sonnet and the dramatic monologue.Robinson died 

on 6 th April, 1935. 

1.8.1 THE MASTER 

Brief summary of the poem 

The poem extols the fame and glory of a person whose identity the poet wishes 

to keep hidden. The opening stanza says that a name that had often been used with 

ridicule has suddenly become revered on account of the fame and glory achieved by that 

person. All the gentlemen who jeered the name will be forgotten in due course but this 

person will be remembered. He came when there was mankind was endangered and 

people were roaming about with sore hearts. He made an estimate of us and reconciled 

himself to our nature. 

As a master he was so mild and kind, yet he was untamable. We on the other hand 

who are vain and incapable of proper judgment doubted him at every step. We doubted 

even his benevolent smile and derided him. Whereas, He, being a master understood our 

ignorance and served us without expecting anything in return. The master was aware that 

we would be ashamed of our behaviour in the end. Very patiently he bore all our jeers 

and kept teaching us patiently like we would ,school children. With much forbearance 

the master waited for us to give up our jibes, taunts, and enlighten ourselves. The master 

did not ask us anything. Yet we, being ill tempered flung rude words at his face. 

In the ensuing lines the poet present us with clues for who the master is. The face 

of the master is neither too old nor too young, but he was ancient at birth. He was the 

saddest king (king of jews) on earth. With a brief smile he accepted a crown of thorns. 

He had grandeur, love, patience, and the flaming urge to do good to mankind. 

The master has washed away our sins. But we who are yet sinful try to fly too 

high with waxen wings(Icarian Wings).We yearn for glory and fame. On seeing the 

humility of the master we have now left our pride behind and become humble. We are 

37


now able to understand what is humility and sublimity. With this knowledge we flourish 

at the point closer to earth (Perigee). All of us now accept that there is only one Master 

(Titan) at a time. The Master is none other than Jesus Christ. 

1.8.2 KARMA 

Brief summary of the poem 

The poem is brief consisting of just fourteen lines. The poem begins with a 

note of Christmas season. A man who is dressed up as Santa Claus requests for a token 

from the passers by. There is a reference to The Old Testament, Genisis, where God 

said” Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Though created by God mankind 

is not perfect. We have our own flaws, while Christ is the epitome of perfection. 

Coming upon the ‘freezing Santa Claus’ the narrator begins to ponder. He thinks 

of mankind, our collective and individual sins, miseries, sorrows and the instances 

where he wrecked the life of others. Finally he decides on a compromise and finds a dime 

as penitence and as a response to the magnanimity of Jesus who died for men. This poem 

is classed one among Robinson’s philosophical poems. The poem finds a place in several 

anthologies and readers have come up with various interpretations. 

1.9 HART CRANE 

Harold Hart Crane was born on 21 st July,1899 in Garrettsville, Ohio.Hart 

Crane’s father, Clarence, was a successful businessman who had made his fortune in the 

candy business with chocolate bars.During childhood Crane witnessed frequent fights 

between his parents and finally they broke up. Soon thereafter Crane dropped out of high 

school left foe New York. Between 1917 and 1924 he moved back and forth between 

New York and Cleveland, working as an advertising copywriter or in his father’s 

factory. From Crane's letters, it appears that New York was where he felt most at home, 

and much of his poetry is set thereand he was greatly inspired by T.S. Eliot. 

Crane wrote poetry that was often traditional in form and archaic in language. 

Crane was often condemned by critics as being beyond comprehension. In 1920s, some 

literary magazines published some of Crane’s lyrics, gaining him, fame . His ‘White 

Buildings’ was first published in 1926.It contains most of Cranes lyrics. Crane was often 

criticized for being gay. However, poems such as "Repose of Rivers" makes it clear that 

he felt a sense of alienation.Crane’s ‘The Bridge was published in 1930 but it received 

poor reviews. Crane often fell into drinking bouts and also got himself involved in 

heterosexual affairs with Peggy Cowley, the wife of his friend Malcolm Cowley. He 

wrote "The Broken Tower," one of his last published poems, as a result of the affair. His 

continuous feeling of failures led him to renew homosexual activity despite his 

relationship with Cowley. Just before noon on 27 th April, 1932, on a steamship passage 

back to New York from Mexico right after he was beaten up for making sexual advances 

to a male crewmember, he committed suicide by jumping into the Gulf of Mexico. 

Although he had been drinking heavily and left no suicide note, witnesses believed 

38


Crane's intentions to be suicidal, as several reported that he exclaimed "Goodbye, 

everybody!" before throwing himself overboard. 

Crane was the favorite poet of the great American playwright, Tenessee Williams. 

Robert Lowell called him the Shelley of his age. Literary scholar R.W.B. Lewis wrote 

about Crane as "one of the dozen-odd major poets in American historu." Crane's epic 

poem, The Bridge, was read on national television during the celebration of the Brooklyn 

Bridge. The Collected Poems of Hart Crane was published after his death and The 

Complete Poems and Selected Letters and Prose of Hart Crane in 1966. 

1.9.1 Voyages 

A brief summary of the poem 

"Voyages," is often condemned by critics as an erotic poem written while Crane 

was falling in love with Emil Opffer, a Danish merchant marineman. He was a successor 

to Walt Whitman and found spiritual transcendence in homoerotic desire. The poem 

commences with the image of sea urchins fighting each other on the scallops of the surf 

on the shore. They fight for the conquest of sea shucks. They are gaily digging and 

scattering weeds baked by the sun. The sun glistens like thunder on the waters. The 

narrator is sure that the sea urchins will hear him talking about them. He calls the 

children to frisk with their dog on the shore. At the same time he warns them not to cross 

the limits and go deep. It is dangerous because the sea is cruel. In the second section the 

poet indulges in conceits. He describes the endless waters and compares it to the wink of 

eternity. Then he describes the sea and its bent horizon during moon tide .This might be a 

reference to youth. The sea, he says seems to be laughing at the inflections of pure love. 

The tides resemble Poinsettia meadows. The sea encompasses everything .It can envelope 

sleep, death, desire in an instant. The narrator invokes the seasons, minstrel galleons of 

carib fire (Star fish in the carribean sea) to bequeath us to our earthly shore until we have 

knowledge of paradise. 

In the third section the poet says that light retrives various landscapes from the 

sea.This might be a reference to setting in of adulthood and gaining knowledge and 

wisdom due to various travails and experiences. The poet wanders various shores and the 

‘sea lifts’, even reliquary hands. The poet then brings in the imagery of star kissing star 

and wave on a wave and tells that even if death were to come it does not presume 

carnage. We will be wise not to fear death. Things seem to be happening again and again 

in a routine but there has been a single change from one dawn to another. The poet finally 

calls forth” permit me voyage, love into your hands”. The concluding lines seem to make 

an inversion of the line of thought created earlier. One might interpret that the poet wants 

a divine force to permit voyage into eternal boundless happiness .Another interpretation 

might be that he wants the extended hands of his lady love. 

In the poem ‘Voyages ‘ Crane has reached mastery of the lyric .Inspired by his 

passionate love for sailor Emil Opffer he has brought forth an adoration of the sea in six 

39


sections. He has presented the restless, resplendent wave and tide, to mark the shifts in 

his own life. In five-line stanzas composed in classic iambic pentameter, he mimics 

turbulence. Moving lightly in stanza one he begins with a child’s sensations—the feel of 

surf, sand, and shell—before proposing a paradox in line 16: “The bottom of the sea is 

cruel.” This tension between the power to delight and the power to kill relieves the 

poem of mere nature worship and invests it with a mystic synthesis of positive and 

negative energies. It is believed that the joyful consummation indicated at the 

concluding lines was written for his lover Emil Opffer. 


The poems selected for detailed and non-detailed study presents the pageant of 

American poets. This collection will motivate the students to think of various themes, 

imagery, ploy of metaphors and different styles of versification. They will be able to 

develop analytical skills to explicate poems. 


1. Comment on the theme of death in Emily Dickinson’s Poems. 

2. “Good fences make good neighbours” – Explain with reference to Robert Frost’s 

“Mending Wall” 

3. Comment on Whitman’s “well-joined scheme, myself disintegrated, everyone 

disintegrated yet part of the scheme” with reference to the poem “Crossing 

Brooklyn Ferry”. 

4. Compare and contrast the theme of death in Frost’s “Home Burial” and “The Death 

of a Hired Man”. 

5. Comment on Whitman’s use of imagery in “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry”. 

6. Write a note on the satirical element in Cummings’s “The Cambridge Ladies”. 

7. Comment on the autobiographical element in Sylvia Plath’s ”Daddy” 

8. Attempt a critical appreciation of Stevens’s “The Emperor of Ice Cream”. 

9. Comment on the image of Christ suggested in Ezra Poud’s “Ballad of the goodly 

Fere (Friar)” and E.A.Robinson’s “The Master”. 

10. Comment on the Erotic element in Cummings’s “Somewhere I have never traveled” 

and Harte Crane’s “Voyages”. 

11. Attempt an estimate of the major themes in American poetry with reference to the 

poets prescribed for study. 

12. Comment on the style of versification of American poets with reference to the 

poems prescribed for detailed study. 


1. Discuss the various literary devices used by the American Poets prescribed for 

your study. 

2. ‘Life and death as major themes’ : Discuss with reference to the poems 

prescribed for your study. 

40



1. Walt Whitman Handbook-Allen Gay Wilson, Packard &Co.,New York,1946 

2. Emily Dickinson: The mind of the poet-Albert J. Gelpi,Cambridge University 

Press,1965 

3. The poetry of Emily Dickinson-Ruth, Wesleyan University Press,1965 

4. Emily Dickinson Selected Poems-K.P.Saradhi, Narain’s Series,1993 

5. Walt Whitman Selected Poems-Sasthri, Narain’s Series,1993 

6. Robert Frost Selected Poems- Narain’s Series,1994 

7. Stevens Poetry of Thought- Frank Dogget,1967 

8. The Merrill Guide to E.E.Cummings-Columbus Merrill,1970 

9. "The Shock of Sylvia Plath's Daddy." 123HelpMe.com. 13 Nov 2007 

10. "Plath’s Daddy Essays: Allegory in Plath’s Daddy." 123HelpMe.com. 13 Nov 

2007 

11. Ezra Pound-www.Poets .com 

12. E.A.Robinson-www.Poets .com 

13. Hart Crane-www.Poets .com 

41


UNIT – II 

DRAMA 

Contents 


2.1 The Emperor Jones-Eugene O’ Neill 

2.1.1 Summary of the Plot 

2.1.2 Scene wise Summary of the play 

2.1.3 Emperor Jones 

2.1.4 Smithers 

2.1.5 Lem 

2.1.6 Significance of the Title 

2.1.7 Expressionism in The Emperor Jones 

2.1.8 Symbols in The Emperor Jones 

2.1.9 Brutus Jones 

2.1.10 The dark dense forest 

2.1.11 The Time 

2.1.12 The Silver Bullet 

2.1.13 The Tom-Tom 

2.2 A Street Car named Desire- Tennessee Williams 

2.2.1 A SHORT SUMMARY of the PLOT 

2.2.2 Loneliness 

2.2.3 REALITY VS ILLUSION 

2.2.4 SEXUAL VIOLENCE 

2.2.5 Scene Summaries 

2.2.6 BLANCHE DUBOIS 

2.2.7 STANLEY KOWALSKI 

2.2.8 STELLA KOWALSKI 

2.2.9 HAROLD MITCHELL ("MITCH") 

2.2.10 EUNICE HUBBELL 

2.2.11 STEVE HUBBELL 

2.2.12 PABLO GONZALES 

2.2.13 PAPER COLLECTOR 

2.2.14 NURSE AND DOCTOR 


2.4 Lesson End Activity 




· Initiate critical examination of plots. 

42


· Inculcate skills to analyze dialogue sequences. 

· Introduce students to the art of comparing and contrasting characters and 

situations. 

· Develop skills to analyze scenery. 

· Teach students to trace the reflection of society from the characters presented. 

Detailed study 

2.1 The Emperor Jones-Eugene O’ Neill 

Eugene O’ Neill 

Eugene O’ Neill was born on 6 th October ,1888 in a New York hotel. He was the 

third son of James O’Neill a the famous actor. From childhood Eugene did not have a 

stable life as he often accompanied his father on his long acting tours. This led Eugene to 

feel insecure and this insecurity is reflected in his works. His education was also 

conducted in a frequently changing background. Eugene attende various Catholic and 

non sectarian boarding schools from 1896 to 1902.For four years he studied in thru 

Betts Academy at Stamford. Then he went to Princeton. In 1909 Eugene secretly married 

Kathleen Jenkins and they were divorced in 1912 because of opposition from her 

parents.Eugene left for an expedition to Honduras in search of gold. During the trip he 

was exposed to Central America. This exposure was exploited by Eugene in his 

“Emperor Jones” and “The Fountain”. 

Next he took up a sixty –five day voyage to Beunos Aires and got rich experience 

from taking up various employment. He looked after mules on a cattle steamer that went 

to Durban and back. After a period of destitution in Beunos Aires he became a seaman on 

a British Ship sailing to New York. He picked up occasional employment and in 

December 1912 he had rest at at the Gaylord Farm Sanatorium on account of 

Tuberculosis. His stay in the sanatorium led him to reflect and concentrate on play 

writng. He wrote several one act plays such as “ Bound East for Cardiff” ,“ Before 

Breakfast”in 1916,”Fog” ,”The Siniper”, In the Zone”, Square Player” and “ The long 

Voyage Home” in 1917, “The Rope ‘ in 1918, ”The Dreamy Kid”in 1919, and 

“Exorcism”in 1920. Eugene’s writing carrer had gathered momentum and his “Beyond 

the Horizon” got the first Pulitzer prize in 1920. In 1920 he got the second Pulitzer prize 

for the play” Anna Christie”.In the next year he wrote “The First Man” and “The Hairy 

Ape”.Soon several plays such as “ All God’s Chillun Got Wings”, “Desire Under the 

Elms”,” The Great God Brown”, “Mourning Becomes Electra”, “ Emperor Jones”and 

Iceman Commeth “ followed.Eugene O’Neill won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 

1936.Striken with Parkinson’s Disease and he died on 27 th November,1953. 

2.1.1 Summary of the Plot 

“The Emperor Jones” is a powerful play which enumerates the life and 

experiences of Brutus Jones, a Negro. Jones had a humble beginning. He is a criminal 

43


who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the U.S.A. for murder of a man called Jeff. 

Consumed by a fit of anger Jones had murdered the prison guard and escaped from jail. 

After his escape he sought refuge in an island in the West Indies. Though a criminal 

Jones was intelligent, shrewd and self-confident. With his capabilities he became the 

Emperor of the island within a span of two years. Jones was clever enough to fool the 

natives of the island in an efficient manner. It so happened that once a native called Lem 

fired at Jones from point blank range. But miraculously Jones did not die. He exploited 

the incident by spreading a rumour that he had a charmed life and he could be killed only 

by a silver bullet. To add truth to the story he got a silver bullet and carried it with him in 

order to kill himself if anything untoward happened. Jones knew that the natives would 

never get enough to make a silver bullet. This background information is provided to us 

in the play through a conversation between Jones and Smithers. 

Smithers is a White trader who poses to be a friend of Jones but in actuality he is 

Jones’s jealous enemy. Jones has been exploiting the natives by crooked means. He is not 

benevolent like a real Emperor but he is aware that the natives would revolt against him. 

He plans to run away through the Great Forest to the sea coast and leave for Martinique 

in case of a revolt. He has stoved away enough money to lead a comfortable life. ones is 

thorugh in his plans to an extent that he has familiarized himself with the forest and 

hidden food also.Very soon there is a revolt and all his courtiers, ministers, generals and 

attendants have deserted him. Soon the faint beating of the Tom-Tom is heard. It means 

the natives are casting spells and working up their courage to through a war dance. He 

plans to run away and is noon. He realizes that it will be nightfall by the time he reaches 

the edge of the forest and by morning he will reach the coast. 

Leaving everything behind to Smithers he walks out in his fine clothes and a 

Panama hat.As per his plan he reaches the edge of the plain where the Great forest 

begins and feels tired and hungry. The sound of the Tom-Tom is louder and insistent. 

When he searches for the white stone under which he had hidden food he finds it gone.He 

realizes that someone has stolen the food and placed many white stones to puzzle him. He 

is confused and afraid and feels as if shapeless things are ensuing from the trees around 

him. Terror strikes him and the sound of the Tom-Tom becomes more loud and seems to 

be nearing him. Terrified he takes a shot at the spirits and then realizes that it was a 

mistake to shoot because he has given away his hiding place. Immediately he runs into 

the forest. The moon rises at night and Jones is very tired and hungry. He begins to 

hallucinate in fear and sees Jeff, whose throat he had cut with a razor. He fires the 

revolver again in panic and Jeff disappears. The sound of the Tom-Tom becomes more 

insistent and loud. It is about eleven O’clock at night and Jones is still in the Great forest 

and his soul is tortured. He throws off his fine Scarlet Emperor’s clothing and looks like a 

primitive. Though terrified of the devils in the forest he is not afraid because he is a 

member of the Baptist church. He prays to God for protection. Just then he sees the 

prison guard whom he killed on duty. The guard seems to be leading convicts to work on 

the road and he motions to Jones to join the group and lashes him with a whip. Angered 

Jones fires the revolver again and the sound of the Tom-Tom becomes more louder. 

44


Running with much effort Jones reaches clear space at three O’clock in the 

morning. Once again he prays to God. He is now tired, afraid, hungry ,dirty and confused 

and miserable. He wants to lie down and rest. Suddenly he sees two negroes clad only in 

loin cloth who sway forward and backwards and let out a wail. They are galley slaves. 

Feeling hypnotized Jones begins to wail like them. Now he too is dressed only in 

aloincloth and is identical to the natives. The sound of the Tom-Tom becomes more loud 

and insistent and it seems to be nearing him. At five O’clock the next morning Jones 

reaches a gigantic tree at the edge of a river. The wail of chained slaves is heard. There is 

a rough stone altat in the open space and Jones kneels on it and prays. Then a witch 

doctor appears dancing and casts a spell. Jones watches him hyptonised and joins the 

incantation. The doctor reaches the river and a crocodile comes out of it and fastens its 

eyes upon Jones. The doctor urges Jones to go to the crocodile for he must be sacrificed 

to the evil forces. The sound of the Tom-Tom becomes more loud. 

It is now dawn and Smithers is seen in the open place with Lem, the tribal chief. They 

have come there in search of Jones, to have their revenge with a silver bullet. Soldiers 

search the forest and return with Jones’s dead body. The Emperor has been killed with a 

silver bullet. He was an Emperor in death. Smithers comments that he died in style. 

2.1.2 Scene wise Summary of the play 

SCENE I 

The scene is set in the grand palace of Emperor Jones. The walls are high 

ceilinged and the palace situated on high ground. The Emperor’s throne is grand in its 

solitary stature .It is noon time and an old woman sneaks into the palace. At that time 

Henry Smithers ,a London trader comes in. He is dressed in worn riding clothes ,puttees, 

spurs ,a white cork helmetand a cartridge belt with an automatic revolver. He surprises 

the woman and holds her captive and she appeals to him not to tell Emperor Jones. She 

tells him that all the natives have gone up hill leaving her behind. Smithers has a mean 

smile at this news because he knows very soon they will beat the Tom-Tom and attack 

the Emperor. Jones enters at this moment. He is a tall powerfully built middleaged 

Negro. His fearures exude confidence and he is dressed in grand clothes. Jones is angry 

because some one has whistled and woken him up. Smithers says that he whistled to 

wake him because he has news for him(Emperor). Smithers tells Jones that all his 

ministers and attendants have run away to drink rum and talk big in the town. They 

mock each other and Jones reminds Smithers to behave because he is the Emperor now. 

Their ensuing conversation tells us that Jones is a criminal who was sentenced to 

life imprisonment in the U.S.A. for murder of a man called Jeff. Consumed by a fit of 

anger Jones had murdered the prison guard and escaped from jail. After his escape he 

sought refuge in an island in the West Indies. Though a criminal Jones was intelligent, 

shrewd and self-confident. With his capabilities he became the Emperor of the island 

within a span of two years. Jones was clever enough to fool the natives of the island in an 

45


efficient manner. It so happened that once a native called Lem fired at Jones from point 

blank range. But miraculously Jones did not die.He exploited the incident by spreading a 

rumour that he had a charmed life and he could be killed only by a silver bullet. To add 

truth to the story he got a silver bullet and carried it with him in order to kill himself if 

anything untoward happened.Jones knew that the natives would never get enough to 

make a silver bullet. This background information is provided to us in the play through 

a conversation between Jones and Smithers. Smithers is a White trader who poses to be a 

friend of Jonesbbut in actuality he is Jones’s jealous enemy.Jones has been exploiting the 

natives by crooked means.As a trader Smithers does some stealing but Jones is blindly 

robbing the natives . Jones boasts that he has been the Emperor since two years not 

because of luck but because of his brains.Smithers warns the Emperor telling him that the 

guards are not on duty and Lem is a powerful bloodthirsty enemy but Jones takes it 

lightly. He is aware that the natives would revolt against him.He plans to run away 

through the Great Forest to the sea coast and leave for Martinique in case of a revolt.He 

has stowed away enough money to lead a comfortable life.Jones is thorugh in his plans to 

an extent that he has familiarized himself with the forest and hidden food 

also.Meanwhile the sound of the Tom-Tom is heard.Jones is confident and he tells 

Smithers that none of the nigger charms will affect him because he is a member of the 

Baptist church.Leaving everything behind to Smithers he walks out in his fine clothes and 

a Panama hat.The sound of the Tom-Tom is heard and Jones walks out of the palace in 

style and Smithers admires him. 

SCENE II 

Jones is now at the outskirts of the forest and the night is settling in.He continues 

to walk at a rapid pace for some time and removes his shoes to check if he’s got blisters 

on his feet.Then Jones sits down wearily listening to the distant sound of the Tom-Tom. 

He stands up to look across the plain to have a look if his enemies were following him. 

He is afraid and hunger tortures him. So he begins to look for the food he had hidden 

under a white stone.To his dismay Jones finds that the food is gone.Someone had stolen it 

and placed lot of white stones in the vicinity and he gets confused.The sound of the Tom- 

Tom has increased in rapidity. As he turns, little formless fears creep of the forest’s deep 

blackness.They are black and shapeless and only their eyes can be seen.Tryin to find his 

way Jones realizes that he is not able to identify the trees which he had known very 

well.Tis terrifies him.To ward them off he fires a shot and realizes his mistake. Now 

Jones is worried because his enemies would hear the shot and find out where he was. 

SCENE III 

Jones has now gone further into the forest and the moon has risen.There is silence 

but for the sound of the Tom-Tom. Then Jones hears the sound of some one playing 

dice.Soon he sees Jeff whom he had murdered.First Jones believes that Jeff is not dead 

and speaks to the form then remembers that Jeff was really dead and this could be his 

ghost.He shudders and fires a shot at the figure and immediately Jeff disappears.The 

46


sound of the Tom-Tom becomes louder and more rapid.Filled with fear Jones starts 

running blindly into the underbush. 

SCENE IV 

The moon is high up and Jones is tired of running in the forest.Feeling suffocated 

he teats off his coat ,loosens his spurs and throws them away.Listening to the sound of 

the Tom-Tom he fears that his enemies are nearing him.He is terrified by the thought of 

being caught and killed by the niggers but he musters courage by recollecting that he 

was a member of the Baptist Church.He thinks that as a Christian he is civilized and 

better than an ignorant black nigger.Jones feels that his fear and tiredness is due to hunger 

and it is causing him to hallucinate also.So he prays to God to save him from such 

ghostly illusions. Soon Jones has another illusion.He sees a prison guard leading a band 

of convicts to work. The guard seems to be leading convicts to work on the road and he 

motions to Jones to join the group and lashes him with a whip.Angered Jones fires the 

revolver again and the sound of the Tom-Tom becomes more louder.Overcome by fear 

Jones rushes into the forest.This scene reveals that Jones’ Psyche has been affected. 

SCENE V 

In the forest there is a large circular clearing which is enclosed by gigantic 

trunks of trees.In the center there is a big dead tree stump. Jones sits on the stump and he 

is tensed.He begins to moan “Oh Lawd,Lawd!” repenting for his past sins. He confesses 

his sins one by one.He says he killed Jeff because he cheated in the game of dice.The he 

killed the guard because the man whipped him.He adds that he has cheated the people 

after becoming the emperor.Jones then invokes God to have mercy on him. He prays that 

he must not see ghostly sights any more. He removes his shoes and tells to himself” Look 

at you now.Emperor you’se gittin ,mighty low.”While he is thus occupied,a crowd of 

people silently enter the clearing. Soon Jones sees the White Auctioneer,the slaves and 

the white onlookers.The come to stand around the stump and the auction begins. The 

Auctioneer touché Jones on the shoulder and commands him to stand on the stump.He 

then points to Jones and says that the planters can see this slave,who is strong and will 

make a good field hand,though he is middle aged. The planters raise their fingersand 

make their bids.Filled with anger that he is being sold ,Jones fires the revolver again and 

everything disappears.Only blackness remains and the sound of the Tom-Tom becomes 

louder.At the end of this scene Jones is almost mad with fear. 

SCENE VI 

Jones is crying and moaning and he does not know what to do.All the bullets have 

been fired except the silver bullet that he had saved for emergency.On reaching a clearing 

he flings himself to the ground. Jones is now almost naked, wearing only a loin cloth.All 

his Emperor paraphernalia is gone. He sees two rows of Negro slaves dressed in just a 

47


loin cloth.First they seem to silent,but soon they begin to sway and moan in a low 

melancholy tone.The sound increases slowly as if guided by the sound of the Tom-Tom 

in the distance.Gradually it becomes a loud wail of despair.Terror overtakes Jones and 

he too begins to sway and is filled with despair and desolation.Soon the rorms disappear 

and only darkness is left behind.Jones begins to run and his voice seems to recede.This 

scene indicates that Jones is heading for a psychological breakdown. 

SCENE VII 

There is a gigantic tree by the edge of a big river and there is a structure of rocks 

that looks like an altar.Reaching this place Jones ,kneels down with devotion before the 

altar and mutters” What__ what is I doin’? What is _ dis place?. Trembling with fear he 

begins to pray to God fro protection.Then he crawls from the altar ,too close to the 

ground.Suddenly a Congo witch doctor reaches the clearing carrying a bone rattle and 

a charmed stick.He begins to cast a spell and keeps dancing. The soun of the Tom –Tom 

seems to grow louder influenced by his dance.Jones looks at him and sits in a halfkneeling,half-squatting 

position as if paralysed.Soon Jones is hypnotized by the dance 

and the chant of the spell and takes part in the incantation swaying his body in 

tune.Finally the dance ends with a howl of despair.The witch docter points his wand to 

the sacred tree,to the river beyond,to the altar and finally to Jones with a ferocious 

command. Jones realizes that he is being ordered to offer himself as a sacrifice to 

appease the God and as a symbol of repentance.He begins to moan in 

despair”Mercy,Lawd! Mercy!”.A crocadile emerges from the river in response to the 

witch doctor’s incantations.The witch doctor commands Jones to offer himself to the 

monster with furious exultation. The Tom- Tom beats madly. Jones cries out in a fierce, 

exhausted voice:” Lawd,save me! Lawd Jesus hear my prayer!” In answer to his prayer 

he remembers the silver bullet. He takes out the revolver shooting defiantly ,” De silver 

bullet.You don’t git me yet.” He fires at the crocadile’s eyes.Immediately everything 

disappears and only the sound of the Tom-Tom is heard. 

SCENE VIII 

The day has dawned and the loud beat of the Tom- Tom is heard quite near. Lem 

enters the forest with a squad of soldiers and Smithers.He is wearing a cartridege belt 

and has a revolver. All his soldiers are armed.Lem is sure that he will catch his 

enemy.Smithers tells him that they should hunt for Jones in the forest.Then a sound of 

snapping twigs emerges from the forest and the soldiers jump to their feet.Lem remains 

sitting listening with rapt attention.Suddenly he makes a quick signal and his soldiers 

enter the forest at different points.Soon reports of several shots reverberate through the 

forest followed by savage,exultant yells.The beating of the Tom-Tom ceases 

abruptly.Lem looks at Smithers with a grin stating that Jones has been caught and he is 

dead. In reply to Smithers’s query about how he was sure of Jones’s death ,Lem replies 

that his men had used a silver bullet. Lem tells Smithers that they had moulded silver 

bullets to kill Jones. Soon soldiers emerge from the forest carrying Jones’s limp body.It is 

48


evident that he is dead.Smithers comments mockingly : “ Well,they did for yer right 

enough Jonesey,me lad. Dead as a bloater,where’s yer ‘igh an’ mighty airs now,yer 

bloomin ‘Majesty? Then with a smile he says” Silver bullets.Gawd blimey,but you died 

in the ‘eight o’style any ‘ow.” Then the body of Jones is carried out by Lem’s men. 

Smithers exclaims :stupid idiots, the lot of them.Blasted niggers”. Though evil Jones was 

definitely a much better man than the Negroes who killed him. Thus the play ends on a 

tragic note. 

Characters 

2.1.3 Emperor Jones 

Emperor Jones is the tragic hero of the play. He is intelligent, crafty,proud, selfconfident 

and far-sighted.Jones had,had a sordid past on account of his decadent 

behaviour.He was convicted for murder of Jeff. While seving his sentence consumed by 

a fit of anger Jones had murdered the prison guard and escaped from jail.After his escape 

he sought refuge in an island in the West Indies. Though a criminal Jones was intelligent, 

shrewd and self-confident. With his capabilities he became the Emperor of the island 

within a span of two years. Jones was clever enough to fool the natives of the island in an 

efficient manner. It so happened that once a native called Lem fired at Jones from point 

blank range. But miraculously Jones did not die. He exploited the incident by spreading a 

rumour that he had a charmed life and he could be killed only by a silver bullet. To add 

truth to the story he got a silver bullet and carried it with him in order to kill himself if 

anything untoward happened. Jones knew that the natives would never get enough to 

make a silver bullet. This background information is provided to us in the play through a 

conversation between Jones and Smithers.Jones is intelligent and shrewd and he knows 

that the people would soon revolt.So he plans to run away through the Great Forest to the 

sea coast and leave for Martinique in case of a revolt.He has stoved away enough money 

to lead a comfortable life.Jones is thorugh in his plans to an extent that he has 

familiarized himself with the forest and hidden food also.When the natives revolt against 

him Jones is first confident that he can make his escape to Martinique.As an emperor he 

has acquired the veneer of western civilization ,but failed to control his animal instincts 

and impulses which came to the surface frequently.The hallucinations that Jones sees 

are a result of his confusion,fear and greed. Jung calls this the ‘collective unconscious’. 

Jeff,the prison guard ,the slaves,auctioneer and the witch doctor are all the products of his 

confused Psyche and unconscious. At the end of each illusion he fires the revolver and 

the hallucination comes to an end.The Doctor,altar and the crocadile are all the 

externalization of his racial collective conscious.Though he apes the western civilization 

he is still a Negro at heart.Before his end he is dressed in a loin cloth like his fellow 

Negroes.All the trappings of an Emperor is lost.The sound of the Tom-Tom reaches into 

his very soul and scares the wits out of him.He is killed by a silver bullet that the natives 

have made for him. Pride is his tragic flaw. 

49


2.1.4 Smithers 

Smithers is a white trader and a friend of Jones.He poses to be a friend of Jones 

but in actuality he is Jones’s jealous enemy.Smithers and Jones often indulge in long 

talks and Jones tries to berate him. Smithers reminds Jones that as a trader he robs people 

to some extent,whereas Jones being an Emperor robs them blind. Jones is the biggest 

sinner according to Smithers. We find that when Jones makes his escape he leaves 

everything behind to Smithers who greedily examines the treasures. Smithers in mean 

enough that he joins Lem’s party to hunt down Jones.In the end when Jones is dead he 

comments mockingly : “ Well,they did for yer right enough Jonesey,me lad. Dead as a 

bloater,where’s yer ‘igh an’ mighty airs now,yer bloomin ‘Majesty? Then with a smile 

he says” Silver bullets.Gawd blimey,but you died in the ‘eight o’style any ‘ow.” 

2.1.5 Lem 

Lem is the chief of the Negroes. He has a deep dislike for Jones because Jones 

exploits his people. Once he went to the extent of shooting Jones at point blank range,but 

luckily Jones escapes.Jones is clever enough to exploit the situation and say that he led a 

charmed life and only a silver bullet can kill him.We that Lem is foolish enough to 

believe it because in the end of the play we see that he has armed his men with Silver 

bullets. Though he has not done any criminal activity ,he is not fit to be a chief because 

he is not intelligent enough.That is why in the last scene Simthers exclaims :”stupid 

idiots, the lot of them.Blasted niggers”. 

2.1.6 Significance of the Title 

The re is much significance in the title”The Emperor Jones”. The fact that O’Neill 

uses ‘ The’ before Emperor suggests that Jones is an Emperor with certain distinct 

individual characteristics.He is both a type and an individual. He is not an ordinary 

Emperor but a run away criminal and a symbol of primordial which is existent in 

everyone.He is superior to the Trader Smithers and the Negroes.That is why he dies in 

style. 

The title of the play is also a good instance of O’Neill’s use of irony.The 

Emperor’s full name is Brutus Jones,which implies the brute in man. Thus Jones is a 

symbol of everyman.It is indeed ironical that a brute should be the king.He dresses in 

gaudy colours like red which is symbolic of the savage in him.Through the six scenes 

in the forest we see that Jones has lost his identity of ‘The Emperor’ and during the end 

he is a Negro clad in just a loin cloth. Thus we see both physical and spiritual regression 

in him for he has lost confidence in himself and indulges in savage incantations with the 

witch doctor.He has lost his Christian soul.It is ironical that pride which gave him much 

confidence in the beginning leads to his fall in the end. So pride is his tragic flaw. 

2.1.7 Expressionism in The Emperor Jones 

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“The Emperor Jones” is the first play in which O’Neill has used the 

expressionistic technique.Expressionism is a technique where the dramatist depicts inner 

reality of his characters. The soul and psyche of the personages are laid bare and the 

emphasis shifts from the external to the internal.Yet there is total harmony with regard to 

time and action between the shift of focus on the inner reality and the external 

surroundings. The thought processes of the character’s sub conscious is probed deeply.In 

an expressionistic play the scenes often alternate between fantasy and reality. All these 

characteristics are evident in ‘The Emperor Jones’. 

When the play is observed we are able to note that six scenes are used by Eugene 

O’Neill to lay Jones’s soul bare to his readers/viewers.In the great forest Jones is found 

confessing his sins and crying out in desperation. His collective conscious and sub 

conscious ,conjure up for him imaginary fears and shapes.The scenes are filled with with 

soul dissection.Jones keeps shifting between reality and hallucinations.The fearsome 

sound of the tom-Tom is successfully employed by O’Neill to intensify the conflict.As 

the play reaches the climax we see that the sound of the Tom-Tom also reaches higher 

intensity and when Jones dies the beating of the Tom-Tom stops.Thus the Tom-Tom 

effect is remarkable. 

Another feature of an expressionistic play is that the number of characters is cut 

down and the focus is on one character.This feature is well evident in ‘The Emperor 

Jones’ for most of the play consists of Jones’s monologues and there are very few 

characters.Another characteristic of an expressionistic play is the use of symbols. 

O’Neill makes use of symbols to render inner psychological reality. Brutus Jones,the dark 

forestand the Tom-Tom are excellent symbols. 

2.1.8 Symbols in The Emperor Jones 

Symbolism is the use of any part of a play where a character, incident, setting, 

language, etc. to suggest an idea or ideas not conveyed by the surface story.The use of 

symbols enables the dramatist to enclose vast meaning and profound themes.O’Neill has 

used a network of symbols in ‘The Emperor Jones’. 

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2.1.9 Brutus Jones 

He is the symbol of the brute in Everyman. It is indeed ironical that a brute 

should be the king.He dresses in gaudy colours like red which is symbolic of the savage 

in him. 

2.1.10 The dark dense forest 

The dark dense forest is a symbol of man’s ignorance and sin.Everyman has 

some amount of darkness in the soul.The Great forest is exploited by the dramatist to 

present the dark thoughts and formless fears in man’s mind. 

2.1.11 The Time 

The time span used by O’Neill is symbolic in the sense that the trials and 

tribulations faced by Jones takes place in the darkness under the dim light of the mmon. 

The retribution takes place at dawn.So night is a symbol of regression and dawn ,a 

symbol for retribution. 

2.1.12 The Silver Bullet 

The silver bullet is a symbol of materialism .Due to influence of Western 

culture,Jones forgets that he is a Negro and apes the westerners in dress and manners.This 

leads him to lie about the silver bullet.He fibs to save his life as well as to elevate him 

above the level of fellow Negroes.In the end he is killed by a silver bullet. 

2.1.13 The Tom-Tom 

The Tom-Tom symbolizes the all pervading and inescapable primitive instinct.The 

intensity increases as the play reaches its climax.The primitive in Jones responds to the 

beat of the Tom-Tom.Once the retribution is over the beating is stopped. This symbolizes 

that the Tom-Tom is also a force that punishes evil. 

Drama Non –Detailed 

2.2 A Street Car named Desire- Tennessee Williams 

Tennessee Williams is one of the best modern playwrights,who earned lot of 

money and fame. He is named along with Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller as one of 

the three leading American dramatists of the 20th century. The Glass Menagerie was 

Tennessee Williams' first successful play. Three years later his , A Streetcar Named 

Desire captured the Critics' Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize. As a young man he 

achieved great success.However he liked his plays, but hated being a celebrity. 

Tennessee Williams was born in Mississipi in 1911.From child hood he and his sister 

were groomed with refinement and good manners of Southern Gentry. 

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After high school, Williams went to the University of Missouri to study 

journalism but he was forced by his father to work at a shoe company because he got low 

grades. Yet he continued to write in his free time.In due course he left the job and 

enrolled himself in a play writing course at Washington University in St. Louis. He also 

started to read widely from the Russian Chekhov, to Hart Crane.He soon discovered 

how to make dialogue reveal character. From plays by Ibsen, the Norwegian dramatist, 

Williams learned the art of creating truth on the stage. Williams owed his fascination 

with uninhibited sexuality partly to D. H. Lawrence. He also studied the works of the 

master Swedish playwright August Strindberg for insights into dramatizing inner 

psychological strife. Williams' prolific reading gave his own writing a boost. Tom 

finished his formal schooling at the University of Iowa and in 1938 he adopted the name 

"Tennessee." 

With his pen and pad he roamed the United States. He wrote stories, poems, even 

a first play that flopped in Boston. Eventually, he landed a job in California writing 

screenplays for MGM but he did not relish converting others' stories into movies. He 

wanted to do originals. While in Hollywood, he wrote a movie script entitled The 

Gentleman Caller. When MGM rejected it, Williams quit his job, transformed the script 

into a play, and called it The Glass Menagerie. The play opened on Broadway in March, 

1945, and altered Williams' life. After moving to Mexico, he turned wrote A Streetcar 

Named Desire-which reached Broadway in December, 1947.It turned out to be a 

masterpiece. In both Streetcar, and The Glass Menagerie, he shaped the story from his 

own experiences. Williams’ Blanche is a combination of both his mother and sister Rose. 

Williams continued to bring out plays almost every season for thirty-five years. 

According to critics, though, after the 1940's Williams never again reached the heights of 

Menagerie and Streetcar he reused material and seemed continually preoccupied with the 

same themes and with characters trapped in their own private versions of hell. Although 

many later plays lacked freshness, there were hits and have joined the ranks of the finest 

American plays.His Cat on a Hot Tin Roof won drama prizes in 1955, and Night of the 

Iguana earned honors in 1961. 

Some of Williams’plays caused great sensation because they deal with 

homosexuality and incest. People flocked to Williams movies to see stars like Elizabeth 

Taylor, Richard Burton and Paul Newman. In the film of A Streetcar Named 

Desire.During his last years Williams kept writing, but one play after the other failed. To 

ease his pain, Williams turned to drink and drugs. He died in a New York hotel room in 

1983. Williams left behind an impressive collection of work. His plays continue to move 

people by their richness, intensity of feeling, and timelessness. He often transformed 

private experience into public drama. In doing so, he gave us glimpses into a world most 

of us have never seen before. 

53


A Street Car Named Desire 

2.2.1 A SHORT SUMMARY of the PLOT 

Blanche DuBois is arriving in Elysian Fields to visit her sister Stella and brotherin-law 

Stanley Kowalski. Her presence there is like that of a delicate white moth flitting 

about on a heap of garbage in a dump yard. She does not fit into the surroundings 

.Refinement and good breeding is reflected in all that she says and does, at least until 

her mask is stripped away bit by bit. Blanche teaches English at a high school in Laurel, 

Mississippi. She is in need of a place to stay while recovering from a nervous 

breakdown. Stella agrees to accommodate Blanche, at least for a while, but she cautions 

Blanche that the apartment is tiny and that Stanley isn't the sort of man Blanche may be 

used to. He's rough and undignified. But Stella loves him despite his crude manners. 

After arriving, Blanche reveals that Belle Reve, their old family plantation in 

Laurel, has been lost to creditors. Blanche blames her sister for leaving home years ago 

while she was forced to stay on and watch all the residents of Belle Reve die one by one. 

The loss of Belle Reve troubles Stanley and he accuses Blanche of having sold the 

plantation to buy furs and jewels. When Blanche denies his accusations Stanley ransacks 

her belongings looking for a bill of sale. He tears open a packet of letters and poems 

written by Blanche's husband, who committed suicide years ago. Stella tries in vain to 

protect Blanche from Stanley's anger. 

That night Blanche and Stella go to the movies while Stanley and his friends play 

poker and drink. When they return, Blanche is introduced to Mitch, whom she charms 

easily and begins to flirt with him. Upset that the poker game has been interrupted, 

Stanley explodes in a drunken rage. With much violence he tosses a radio out the 

window and his pregnant wife . His friends drag him into the shower while, Stella and 

Blanche escape upstairs to a friend's apartment. 

Dripping wet, Stanley goes into the street and keeps calling out for Stella like an 

animal calling for its mate.She comes down and allows herself to be carried off to bed. 

Later Mitch returns and apologizes to Blanche for Stanley's coarse behavior. Blanche is 

disgusted by Stanley's behaviour and wants to leave but has nowhere else to go. She 

contrives a story about a rich friend named Shep Huntleigh who might give her refuge 

and asks to Stella to come with her. However, Stella refuses vows her love for Stanley 

regardless of how brutally he may treat her. 

Mitch, is a lonesome man in search of a wife. So he begins to date Blanche. But 

Stanley has learned that Blanche was an infamous whore in Laurel.He confronts 

Blanche with that information and she denies it. Yet soon after the incident when 

Blanche flirts with a newsboy, we realize that she might have loose morals.When Mitch 

talks of marriage Blanche reveals the tragic story of her earlier marriage to Allan, who 

turned out to be a homosexual. When Blanche rejected him, Allan commited suicide.So 

now she is unable to forget the sight of his bloody corpse or the sound of the fatal 

gunshot. Extremely moved, by her narration Mitch embraces Blanche. Meanwhile, 

54


Stanley learns that Blanche has been fired from her teaching job in Laurel because she 

seduced one of her students. In addition, she was told to leave Laurel because night after 

night she entertained soldiers from a nearby army base. 

Stella is preparing a birthday party for her sister and Stanley tells her and Mitch 

about Blanche's past. Stella is shocked to hear this but she asks Stanley to be gentle 

with Blanche. But Stanley presents Blanche a one way bus ticket to Laurel as her 

birthday present. Stella Scolds Stanley for giving her such a cruel birthday present.Stella 

feels labor pains suddenly and Stanley rushes her to the hospital. 

Mitch visits Blanche and tells her what Stanley has said. He seems to be agitated . 

She requests him for understanding by confessing that she had been intimate with men in 

order to fill her emptiness after Allan's suicide. Her tale arouses sexual in Mitch and he 

wants sex that she has been dispensing to others. He tries to assault her, but she repels 

him by shouting "Fire!" out the window. 

Arriving late that night Stanley returns to find Blanche dressed in fine traveling 

clothes. She informs Stanley that Shep Huntleigh has invited her on a cruise and that 

Mitch had apologized for not coming to her birthday party. Stanley bluntly calls her a 

liar. He wants to prove that he will not be fooled by her pack of lies. He tries to seduce 

her and she tries to stop him with a bottle, but too weak to resist, she collapses at his feet. 

Stanley picks her up, and carries her off to be raped. 

Weeks later Stella is packing Blanche's belongings. Blanche believes that she is 

being taken to the country for a rest, but in truth, she is being committed to a mental 

hospital. Stella doesn't know if she's doing the right thing but she has to do that in order 

to preserve her marriage. However, Stella has decided to dismiss the story of the rape as 

just another of Blanche's fibs. 

While dressing, Blanche keeps talking about the cruises and romantic 

adventures with Shep Huntleigh. Shortly, Stella leads Blanche out to meet the doctor and 

nurse from the hospital. Blanchetries to dodge them and the nurse begins to overpower 

her with a straitjacket and the doctor intervenes. He talks kindly to Blanche, as though he 

is the gentleman caller she's been expecting. Calmed by the doctor's gentleness, Blanche 

takes his arm and walks to the waiting ambulance. 

Themes 

2.2.2 Loneliness 

Loneliness is a curse and Blanche suffers from it. Bereft after her husband's 

suicide, she becomes a prostitute to fill her emptiness. She molests young boys and has 

constructed a web of pretense to delude herself and others that she is charming and 

sociable. She invents tales about her gentleman friend Shep Huntleigh. He is real enough 

to comfort Blanche and to keep hope alive that someday she will be rescued from 

loneliness. The pain of loneliness brings Blanche and Mitch together. Blanche prefers 

55


men of another type but rather than being a lonely spinster for the rest of her life, she is 

willing to put up with Mitch. Mitch, too, hopes to find a woman to replace his mother, 

who will soon die. 

2.2.3 REALITY VS ILLUSION 

The conflict between Stanley and Blanche are symbolic of illusion versus reality. 

To Stanley reality is what we can touch and see. Stanley feels right at home in reality 

among real people, are natural and say what they think and feel. Since a human is an 

animal, according to Stanley he ought to act like one. To put on airs, to deny one's 

instincts, to hide one's feelings-those are dishonest acts. Whereas Blanche rejects reality 

in favor of illusion because reality has treated her unkindly. Too much truthfulness 

destroyed her marriage therefore she takes refuge in dreams and illusions. She says what 

ought to be true, not what is true. Stanley can't tolerate idealists like Blanche. What she 

calls "magic" Stanley calls "lies." Losing her way altogether at the end of the play, 

Blanche can no longer distinguish illusion from reality. So she goes to an asylum, the 

only place where that distinction doesn't make any difference. 

2.2.4 SEXUAL VIOLENCE 

Sexual violence and conflict between males and female characters is well evident 

throughout the play. On one side we have Blanche, who lures the newspaper boy into her 

arms, but thinks the better of it, and frees him after only one kiss. She wins Mitch's 

affection but claims "high ideals" to keep him at a distance. When Mitch discovers that 

he ha s been cheated he attempts to rape her. Blanche wards off the attack like a 

practiced warrior. Stanley is unconquerable and sees right through Blanche's sexual 

pretenses. At the end he rapes Blanche proving that in sexual combat, he is the winner 

and still champion. 

2.2.5 Scene Summaries 

SCENE ONE 

The play commences with a loving pen portrayal of New Orleans.Stanley 

Kowalski appears on stage first, walking with his friend Mitch. He is a big man carrying 

a package of bloody meat, which he gives to his wife Stella, standing on the first floor 

landing. Stanley tells Stella that he's on his way to bowl and she, his faithful mate, 

follows him to the alley. 

Shortly after Stella leaves, Blanche DuBois, carrying a suitcase walks down 

Elysian Fields. Her gestures and her clothing tell that she is a stranger to the parts. She is 

dressed as though she is going to be headed for a summer tea party in the garden district 

instead of searching for the two-story building occupied by the Kowalskis. When she 

speaks-to ask directions from Eunice Hubbell, the Kowalskis' upstairs neighbour we can 

56


note that Blanche is used to more refined surroundings. Despite Blanche's doubts that 

Stella really lives in such a place, Eunice assures her that she's found the right address. 

When Blanche discloses she is Stella's sister, Eunice escorts Blanche into the apartment. 

Eunice wants to chat, but Blanche asks to be left alone, claiming to be tired from her trip. 

As she leaves, Eunice offers to tell Stella of Blanche's arrival. We get the feeling that 

Blanche is a worn-out traveler from Mississippi where she teaches school and owns her 

family's ancestral home, Belle Reve, a large plantation with a mansion. As soon as 

Eunice goes out, Blanche, is upset and nervous about something, and finding whiskey in 

a closet she quickly swallows half a glassful. Then she mutters to herself, "I've got to 

keep hold of myself!" 

When Stella returns Blanche chatters at a feverish pace. As she speaks, she 

reveals her unsettled emotional state. In just a brief dialogue with her sister, Blanche 

expresses affection, shock, modesty, concern for Stella, vanity, resentment, and 

uncertainty about herself. While almost every sentence reveals another dimension of 

Blanche's inner turbulence, the dialogue also illustrates the relationship between the 

sisters. Blanche explains that she has suffered a nervous breakdown and has therefore 

taken a leave from her teaching job. Blanche then comments on Stella's messy apartment 

and reproaches Stella for gaining so much weight not knowing that Stella is pregnant. 

Stella apologizes for the size of her apartment and starts to prepare Blanche for 

meeting Stanley and his friends. They're not exactly the type of men Blanche is 

accustomed to. Blanche finally turns the conversation to news of home and announces 

that Belle Reve their ancestral home has been lost. Before Stella can ask why, Blanche 

launches into a passionate and morbid apology which assigns blame for the loss on a 

parade of sickness and death that marched through the family. Every death had to be paid 

for with a little piece of Belle Reve, and gradually the place just slipped away through 

Blanche's fingers. More shocked than angry, Stella says nothing. Blanche thinks that 

Stella doubts the story and cruelly lashes out at her sister. Stanley ,Steve and Mitch, 

return from bowling and plan a poker game for the following evening. We are able to 

make out from the dialogues that Stanley and Blanche don’t get along. 

SCENE TWO 

The Kowalskis are celebrating poker night and Stella plans to take Blanche on the 

town to get her out of the house while Stanley and his friends drink. While Blanche soaks 

in the tub Stella urges Stanley to be kind to Blanche. Stanley ignores Stella's pleas. He 

wants to know more about the loss of Belle Reve. He can't understand that the place is 

just-gone! He wants to see a bill of sale or papers of some kind to confirm Blanche's 

story. Stanley suspects that Blanche used the money from Belle Reve to deck herself in 

furs and jewels and costly dresses. Stella tells him that the furs are cheap and the jewelry 

is fake, but Stanley refuses to let the matter at rest. Stella is caught in the middle between 

her husband and sister. Blanche comes out of the bathroom and talks cheerfully with 

Stanley. She plays the role of a coquette, flaunting her helplessness and fishing for 

compliments. But he is wise to her flirtations .She is not impressed with his brutishness. 

57


He wants to know the truth about Belle Reve. She tells him that while she may 

fib a little, she wouldn't lie about something as important as Belle Reve. She'll show the 

papers to Stanley if he wants to see them. Impatient for the papers, Stanley grabs for them 

inside Blanche's trunk. What he finds is a packet of love letters and poems written by 

Blanche's late husband, Allan. Blanche refers to her husband as a "boy." Because they 

married young and Allan died before he reached manhood. Finally, she hands Stanley a 

pack of legal documents related to the history of Belle Reve. Stanley believes the papers 

and tells that he is doing it for Stella's welfare, especially now that she's going to have a 

baby.On hearing the news of Stella's baby she rushes out to find Stella and to tell her that 

she and Stanley have settled their differences. Blanche brags that she conquered Stanley 

with wit and a bit of flirting. 

SCENE THREE 

When Blanche and Stella return from their night out Stanley and Mitch are playing 

a poker. Stanley seems to be losing and he lashes out at Mitch for wanting to go home. 

He also snaps at Blanche, whacks Stella on the thigh, and orders the two women to leave 

them alone. When Mitch drops out of the game, Blanche seizes the chance to talk with 

him. She knows how to charm him and her wiles work on Mitch. He is won over 

instantly and is hypnotized by her charm. Blanche clicks on the radio and we hear a good 

waltz. Caught up in the music, Blanche dances gracefully and Mitch imitates her 

awkwardly. Stanley, walks into the room in rage, grabs the radio and throws it out the 

window. Then he strikes Stella .His friends drag him to the shower to sober him up. 

Meanwhile, Blanche, distraught and frightened, has organized a hasty escape upstairs to 

Eunice's with Stella in tow. 

Soon Stanley emerges dripping and sheds in tears, for his baby and Stella. Half 

dressed, he goes outside to the front pavement and howls again and again, "Stella! 

Stella!" Eunice warns him to leave her alone, but after sometime Stella comes out the 

door and slips down the stairs to Stanley. The two embrace. Stanley then lifts her and 

carries her into the dark flat. Blanche seems shaken by Stanley's outburst and Mitch 

returns tries to comfort her. Together, they smoke a cigarette and Blanche thanks Mitch 

for his kindness. 

SCENE FOUR 

The next morning Blanche expresses dismay over the previous night's events but 

Stella has forgiven Stanley. Stella admits to her sister that she likes Stanley's brutish 

manner. Blanche says Stanley is a mad man and asks her to leave him immediately. 

Blanche urges Stella to come away with her. She proposes opening a shop of some kind 

with money provided by Shep Huntleigh, a rich acquaintance. For Stella most of life's 

anxieties and troubles are trivial when compared to "things that happen between a man 

and a woman in the dark." Stella calls it love, but Blanche terms it "brutal desire”. After 

Blanche finishes, Stanley reveals that he'd overheard the whole conversation. 

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SCENE FIVE 

To keep her hope alive, or at least to keep up the pretense of hope, Blanche 

composes a letter to Shep Huntleigh, informing him that she intends to make room in her 

crowded social life to visit him in Dallas. While Blanche reads a piece of the letter to 

StellaSteve and Eunice are involved in an argument. Later they make up like Stella and 

Stanley. Suddenly Stanley startles Blanche by mentioning that a man named Shaw from 

Laurel claims to have met a woman named Blanche at Hotel Flamingo a place 

frequented by the town's lowlife. Stanley stops short of calling Blanche a whore, but he 

strongly implies that Blanche is something more than just an English teacher. Blanche 

denies it, but she seems to be nervous.Then Blanche sets about asking Stella’s advice 

about how she should treat her date Mitch. In the absence of Stella and Stanley Blanche 

tries to make advances at a high school boy who comes to collect paper.She even kisses 

him.Soon Mitch arrives with a bouquet of roses for her. 

SCENE SIX 

It's two a.m., and Blanche and Mitch are returning from an evening out. The 

streets are empty. Even the streetcars have stopped. Blanche teases Mitch asking if the 

"Desire" is still running. Blanche and Mitch are not made for each other but Mitch is a 

man, and that's what Blanche wants. Blanche asks, Mitch "Will you sleep with me 

tonight?" in french and he does not understand that she is making a fool of him.Blanche 

realizes that Mitch must not believe Shaw’s story when Stanley tells him about it .So to 

to win Mitch's sympathy, Blanche relates the story of her marriage. It's a tragic tale of 

love, homosexuality, and violence. Mitch is deeply affected by the story. 

SCENE SEVEN 

Four months later Stellsa is preparing up for Blanche's birthday celebration when 

Stanley comes home elated.He tells Stella that a supply man driving through Laurel had 

told him the truth about Blanche.She was nothing short of a prostitute. Stella refuses to 

believe but Stanley insists that Blanche had been told to leave town for being a hotel 

whore and for seducing one of the seventeen-year-old boys in her class. Stella urges 

Stanley to be kind to Blanche, who needs understanding because of her tragic marriage. 

But Stanley doesn’t relent and he's already informed Mitch about Blanche's sordid past. 

Stanley claims that he felt obliged to warn Mitch that Blanche is a fraud. Blanche's 

marriage to Mitch is now out of the question. To add to the injury, Stanley has bought 

Blanche a one way bus ticket back to Laurel. Emerging from the bathroom, Blanche 

sees distress on Stella's face, but Stella won't disclose the reason. That task belongs to 

Stanley. 

SCENE EIGHT 

Mitch doesn't attend the birthday dinner. Blanche tries vainly to keep up her 

spirits and tells a joke. Stella laughs weakly, but Stanley remains stone faced. As he 

reaches across the table for another chop, Stella calls him a "pig." She orders him to wash 

59


his greasy face and fingers and to help her clear the table. Stanley berates Stella. After 

Stanley stalks out, Blanche tries to phone Mitch . To bring the party to an end, Stanley 

presents Blanche with a birthday gift. Blanche is surprised and filled with anguish when 

she sees that it is a bus ticket to Laurel. Stella's labor begins, and Stanley rushes her to the 

hospital. 

SCENE NINE 

Later that evening Blanche is drinking alone and a shabby Mitch 

arrivesand Blanche quickly hides the bottle.Mitch accuses her for deceit. Blanche tries to 

defend against Mitch's charges by lying that she befriended strangers to forget her grief. 

She begins to repeat confusing fragments of conversations from her past. The opposite of 

death, she says, is desire. Mitch declares that he wants Blanche to give what she's denied 

him all summer-her body. She protests that she would do so only if he'll marry her. 

Disgusted, Mitch says that Blanche isn't clean enough to bring into the same house as his 

mother. He advances, intent on raping her. To scare him off Blanche rushes to the 

window shouting, "Fire! Fire! Fire!" and Mitch runs off. 

SCENE TEN 

Blanche is talking aloud to herself about a moonlight swim in a rock quarry and 

Stanley comes in.She asks about Stella.Since the baby is not yet born Stanley will stay at 

home that night. Blanche becomes wary and alarmed at the thought of being alone in the 

apartment with him. He asks about her fine attire and and she explains that Shep 

Huntleigh has invited her on a Caribbean yacht cruise. They continue to talk and Blanche 

senses danger. Stanley retreats to the bathroom to don his special silk pajamas and comes 

out bare-chested, and grinning. It is evident he wants Blanche and approaches her 

cautiously. Blanche has smashed a bottle on the table edge and uses the jagged top to 

defend herself . When she swings at him, he catches her wrist and forces her to drop the 

weapon. She collapses at his feet. Then he picks up her limp form and carries her into the 

bedroom. 

SCENE ELEVEN 

Blanche, has told Stella about the rape and she refuses to believe Blanche. At the 

start of this scene Stella tells Eunice, "I couldn't believe her story and go on living with 

Stanley and Eunice concurs: "Don't ever believe it. Life has got to go on. No matter what 

happens, you've got to keep on going." Stella has arranged a "rest" for Blanche at an 

insane asylum in the country. Blanche has confused her trip to the country with the cruise 

on Shep's yacht, Blanche is preparing her wardrobe. Stella is feeling remorseful about 

having committed Blanche to an asylum and when the time comes for Blanche to be 

taken away, Stella cries out in despair. 

When Blanche sees that the doctor is not Shep Huntleigh, she returns to the 

apartment, pretending to have forgotten something. The matron follows and prepares a 

straitjacket for Blanche .Distressed, Blanche begins to hear voices as reverberating 

60


echoes. The doctor speaks kindly and Blanche responds with relief and takes his arm. 

While being escorted to the waiting car, she tells the doctor, "Whoever you are-I have 

always depended on the kindness of strangers." Stella is distraught and Stanley comes to 

her aid. 

CHARACTERS 

2.2.6 BLANCHE DUBOIS 

Blanche is an English teacher, who has lost her job. She wasn't fired for poor 

teaching skills because superintendent's letter said Blanche was "morally unfit for her 

position" because she seduced one of the seventeen-year-old boys in her class. Blanche's 

sexual exploits so outraged the citizens of Laurel, Mississippi, that they practically threw 

her out of town. These facts about Blanche are revealed in late in the play.At first, she 

seems to be a high-strung, but refined, woman who has come to New Orleans to pay her 

sister a visit. However as the play unfolds, Blanche's past is revealed bit by bit. At the 

end she is undone, fit only for an asylum. Even in defeat she maintains ladylike dignity 

even after being raped. 

Blanche arouses both compassion and disapproval simultaneously. She is often 

regarded as a symbol of a decaying way of life . She came to Elysian Fields seeking love 

and help, but she found hostility and rejection. She has been scarred by her husband's 

suicide and by the loss of her ancestral home. She has reached a stage of life when she 

can no longer depend on her good looks to attract a man. To compensate for loneliness 

and despair, she creates illusions and clings to the manners and speech of dying Southern 

gentility. Pretending is like second skin to her and she says that deception is half of a 

lady's charm. She calls it "magic." Unfortunately, though, she is caught in a situation with 

Stanley Kowalski, who not only abhors her superior airs, but seems bent on destroying 

her . 

Blanche may be a tragic victim but she is an immoral woman who deserves what 

she gets. Blanche tells so many lies that she herself can't remember them all. Some lies 

may be harmless, but others are destructive because , Mitch is crushed by her 

untruthfulness.Towards the end of the play before being raped by Stanley we see Blanche 

as an advocate of civilized values. She speaks up for the nobility of humanity, for its 

achievements in the arts, for progress made by civilization.It seems to shock the readers 

that such words ensue from the mouth of an ex-Prostitute. 

2.2.7 STANLEY KOWALSKI 

Stanley is an ill mannered ,lusty man.He speaks plainlyad doesn’t hide his 

feelings, and he hates affectations of any kind. He is intent on destroying Blanche. He is 

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a sturdy man of Polish descent, who likes to drink, play poker, and bowl. His greatest 

pleasure is sex. He also has a violent streak and often strikes Stella and hurls things out 

of the window and rapes Blanche in the end. He has humour,wit ,frankness and down to 

earth yet he is a man who can go to extremes. Stanley's efforts to ruin Blanche reveals the 

other dimensions of his personality. Blanche not only interferes with his sex life, she 

attempts to lure Stella away from him. So his hatred of Blanche is quick and unrelenting.. 

Stanley is a man who is used to having his wihes obeyed. So when Blanche tries 

to pretend like the gentry and go against his wishes he dislikes her. When he learns that 

she was not part of gentry but a common whore he wants to tear her mask of pretence and 

bring her down. 

2.2.8 STELLA KOWALSKI 

Both Stella and Blanche grew up together at Belle Reve. After the sisters reached 

adulthood Stella left for New Orleans, where she met and married Stanley. She's a gentle 

woman of about twenty-five, level-headed and affectionate. Sex and bowling are the only 

interests she shares with her husband. When he plays poker, she goes to the movies. She 

accepts his tantrums, his abuses, and his coarse manners. Stella seems to have the 

patience of a saint. When Blanche insults her, Stella often listens unperturbed, as though 

she is insensitive. As Blanche berates her little sister, an unconscious hostility may be 

building inside Stella, something that may have begun years ago when the sisters were 

young. At the end of the play, when Stella commits Blanche to an asylum, you might 

regard Stella's action as her ultimate expression of antagonism toward her older sister. 

Stella sends Blanche away for her own good. Though a good lady she prefers to 

believe that Blanche is insane rather than face the truth about Stanley. Stella chooses to 

sacrifice her sister rather than destroying her marriage by accusing Stanley of raping 

Blanche. Stella has learned a useful lesson from her older sister-how to deceive oneself to 

avoid coping with painful reality. 

2.2.9 HAROLD MITCHELL ("MITCH") 

When Blanche meets Mitch, she is ready to accept him though she might have 

preffered someone rich like the legendary Shep Huntleigh. However she settles for Mitch, 

a good-hearted and honest fellow, but also a rather dull and self-conscious one. He has 

awkward manners and stumbling speech and lacks intellect, money, wit, or looks. 

Blanche is attracted by his courtesy. He is the first person to treat her like a lady since her 

arrival in New Orleans. Second, he is an unmarried man and his sense of proprietymakes 

him stand out like a prince among the other men in Stanley's poker-playing crowd of 

slobs,. He also happens to be lonely and is looking for someone to love. Mitch is 

enraptured by Blanche the moment he sees her. She is clearly more refined, charming and 

intelligent than the women he's used to and his mother would approve. We rarely hear 

Mitch speak without mentioning his mother. He believes that Blanche would be a good 

substitute for his mother. Blanche dominates Mitch, practically leading him around on a 

leash. He couldn’t even kiss her without permission. 

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But when Mitch hears the truth about Blanche, he is filled with grief and shock. 

Yet in the end he makes undue advances at Blanche and tells her that she cannot be taken 

in the place of his mother. 

2.2.10 EUNICE HUBBELL 

The Hubbells own the building where the Kowalskis rent the first-floor apartment. 

Eunice and her husband live upstairs. Eunice interferes with the daily lives of Stella and 

Stanley. She is a nosy neighbour. She gives refuge to Stella whenever Stanley hits her. 

The sounds that come from the Hubbells' apartment add to the jungle-like ambience of 

Elysian Fields and reveal that fighting and lovemaking are not restricted to the street floor 

of the building. Eunice's comment to Stella about the rape of Blanche illustrates how 

Eunice, whose instincts are generally tender, has come to terms with the unspeakable 

vulgarity around her: "Don't ever believe it. Life has got to go on. No matter what 

happens, you've got to keep on going." 

2.2.11 STEVE HUBBELL 

Steve is one of Stanley's poker and drinking companions. Like Stanley, he is crass 

and inelegant. He fights with his wife Eunice, throws dishes at her, and later, comes 

crawling back to her apologetically. 

2.2.12 PABLO GONZALES 

Pablo is the fourth member of Stanley's card-playing gang. Like the others, he is 

slovenly in mind and body. 

2.2.13 PAPER COLLECTOR 

When he comes to collect for the newspaper he gets a kiss from Blanche instead 

of his fee. Blanche's encounter with the boy calls to mind two other boys in her 

experience: her young husband and the student in her English class whom she seduced. 

2.2.14 NURSE AND DOCTOR 

They come to accompany Blanche to the asylum. The nurse, or matron, is ready 

to stuff Blanche into a straitjacket when the doctor, recognizing that a gentle hand is 

needed, steps in. Blanche rewards the doctor with thanks. 


The two plays selected for detailed and non-detailed study are remarkable pieces 

in American Drama.Both “A Street Car Named Desire “ and “The Emperor Jones” had 

played very successfully in the theaters in America. “The Emperor Jones” initiates the 

students to get a clear understanding of the expressionistic technique used in literature.It 

also makes the student get an awareness of concepts such as collective conscious and 

63


sub-conscious and how psychological breakdown can be depicted in different genres. 

“A Street Car Named Desire”depicts the decadence existent in the modern society. 


1. Comment on the aptness of the title”The Emperor Jones”. 

2. Sketch the character of Brutus Jones as a Tragic hero. 

3. Explain O’Neill’s use of symbolism in “The Emperor Jones”. 

4. “The Emperor Jones ” is an expressionistic play-Justify. 

5. Comment on the theme of conflict between good and evil ,sin and retribution in 

“The Emperor Jones”. 

6. Trace the conflict between Stanley and Blanche. 

7. In what ways are Stanley and Blanche symbolic figures? 

8. Regardless of her past, why is Blanche a generally sympathetic figure? Explain. 

9. How does each character contribute to Blanche's breakdown? 

10. Comment on the themes in “A Street Car Named Desire”. 


1. ‘Reality Vs Illusion’ : Discuss with reference to the play, The Emperor Jones 

by O’ Neill. 

2. Justify the title of Tennessee Williams’ A Street Car Named Desire. 


1. “The Emperor Jones”- Dr.Ragukul Tilak,Rama Brothers,1994 

2. A Street Car named Desire- Dr.Ragukul Tilak,Rama Brothers,1996 

3. A Street Car named Desire- www.sparknotes .com 

4. A Street Car named Desire www.cliffnotes .com 

64


UNIT – III 

PROSE 

Contents 


3.1 About the Author 

3.2 Introduction to the Essay 

3.3 Summary of Emerson’s views on “Self Reliance” as a quality 

3.4 The Importance of Self-Reliance. 

3.5 Self-Reliance and the Individual. 

3.6 Self-Reliance and Society. 

3.7 Glossary 

3.8 Introduction 

3.9 Poe’s Views on Plot 

3.10 Poe’s Views on Poetry 

3.11 Poe’s Views on Versification 

3.12 To Sum Up 





· To enable the student spell out the characteristic features of the structure of the 

language. 

· Initiate the use of powerful vocabulary and appropriate phrases and idioms in 

meaningful situations. 

· Motivate the students to be able to explain and illustrate events. 

· Teach narration techniques to elaborate the features of one’s culture in words with clarity, brevity and lucidity. 

· Motivate reading comprehension by selecting works containing complicated word 

clusters. 

DETAILED PROSE 

Self –Reliance-Emerson 

3.1 About the Author 

Life and Background 

Ralph Waldo Emerson was born on May 25, 1803, to the Reverend William 

and Ruth Haskins Emerson. His father, was a pastor of the First Unitarian Church of 

65


Boston, chaplain of the Massachusetts Senate. He was the editor of a Monthly 

Anthology, a literary review. Following his father’s death in 1811, the family was left 

in a state of near-poverty, and Emerson was raised by his mother and an aunt whose 

acute, critical intelligence had a lifelong influence on him. 

Emerson entered Harvard College on a scholarship in 1817, and during 

collegiate holidays he taught at school. After graduating from college, Emerson 

moved to Boston to teach at his brother William’s School for Young Ladies and 

began to experiment with fiction and verse. In 1825, after quitting the ladies school, 

he entered Harvard Divinity School; one year later, he received his master’s degree, 

which qualified him to preach. He began to suffer from symptoms of tuberculosis, 

and in the fall of 1827 he went to Georgia and Florida in hopes of improving his 

health. He returned in late December to Boston, where he preached occasionally. He 

met Ellen Tucker, a seventeen-year-old poet in Concord, who also suffered from 

tuberculosis. They were married in September 1829, and were very happy in the 

marriage, but, unfortunately, both ill with tuberculosis; in 1831, after less than two 

years of marriage, Ellen died.He resigned his pastorship and on Christmas Day, 

1832, he left for Europe even though he was so ill that many of his friends thought 

he would not survive the rigors of the winter voyage. While in Europe, he met many 

of the leading thinkers of his time, including the economist and philosopher John 

Stuart Mill; Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth; and Thomas Carlyle 

etc. After his return from Europe in the fall of 1833, Emerson began a career as a 

public lecturer. One of his first lectures, “The Uses of Natural History,” attempted to 

humanize science by explaining that “the whole of Nature is a metaphor or image of 

the human mind,” an observation that he would often repeat. Other lectures were on 

diverse subjects such as Italy, biography, English literature, the philosophy of 

history, and human culture. 

In September 1834, Emerson moved to Concord, Massachusetts, and married 

Lydia Jackson of Plymouth. Emerson’s first book, Nature, was published 

anonymously in 1836. However, “The American Scholar,” the Phi Beta Kappa 

address that Emerson presented at Harvard in 1837, was very popular and, when 

printed, sold well. In 1836, Emerson joined the Transcendental Club, which included 

Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, and Alcott. In 1840, he helped launch The 

Dial, a journal of literature, philosophy, and religion that focused on 

transcendentalist views and in due course became its editor. After the first two years, 

he succeeded Fuller as its editor. 

In 1841, Emerson published the first volume of his Essays, a carefully 

constructed collection of some of his best-remembered writings, including “Self- 

Reliance” and “The Over-Soul.” A second series of Essays in 1844 would firmly 

establish his reputation as an authentic American voice. 

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Tragedy struck the Emerson family in January 1842 when Emerson’s son, 

Waldo, died of scarlet fever. Emerson would later write “Threnody,” an elegy 

expressing his grief for Waldo; the poem was included in his collection Poems 

(1846). Ellen, Edith, and Edward Waldo, his other children, survived to adulthood. 

In 1847, Emerson again traveled abroad, lecturing in England with success. A 

collection called Addresses and Lectures appeared in 1849, and Representative Men 

was published in 1850. 

Emerson’s later works were never so highly esteemed as his writings previous 

to 1850. However, he continued to lead an active intellectual and social life. He 

made many lecture appearances in all parts of the country, and he continued writing 

and publishing. During the 1850s, he vigorously supported the antislavery 

movement. When the American Civil War broke out, he supported the Northern 

cause and was deeply affected by the horrors of war.As he grew older, Emerson’s 

health and mental acuity began to decline rapidly. In 1872, after his Concord home 

was badly damaged by fire, his friend Russell Lowell and others raised $17,000 to 

repair the house and send him on vacation. The trauma speeded up his intellectual 

decline.Emerson died of pneumonia on April 27, 1882, and, announcing his death, 

Concord’s church bells rang 79 times. 

“Self-Reliance” 

3.2 Introduction to the Essay 

Self Reliance was published in first 1841 in Essays and then in the 1847 

revised edition of Essays. Throughout his life, Emerson kept detailed journals of his 

thoughts and actions, and he depended upon them as a source for many of his essays. 

It is so in the case of “Self-Reliance” also.In self-reliance Emerson has drawn from 

his journal entries dating back to 1832. In addition to his journals, Emerson drew 

materials from various lectures he delivered between 1836 and 1839. 

The essay begins with three epigraphs: a Latin line, meaning “Do not seek 

outside yourself”; a six-line stanza from Beaumont and Fletcher’s Honest Man’s 

Fortune; and a four-line stanza that Emerson himself wrote. Emerson dropped his 

stanza from the revised edition of the essay, but modern editors have restored it. All 

three epigraphs revolve around the necessity of relying on oneself for knowledge 

and guidance. 

The essay can be divided into three major divisions: 

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i) the importance of self-reliance (paragraphs 1-17), 

ii) self-reliance and the individual (paragraphs 18-32), and 

iii) self-reliance and society (paragraphs 33-50). 

3.3 Summary of Emerson’s views on “Self Reliance” as a quality 

Emerson commences his self reliance with the statement that he happened to read 

the verses of an eminent painter. They were original and not conventional. Irrespective 

of the subject the soul always hears an admonition in such lines. Genius he says is “To 

believe your own thought ,to believe that what is true for in your private heart is true for 

all men,_ that is genius”. He quotes Moses,Plato and Milton’s names and says that they 

did not say what men thought but what they thought. Man must learn to detect the 

spark of genius within himself. He says if we do not give expression to that spark in us 

a stranger may speak the very same thoughts with good sense and we will have to eat our 

own thoughts from someone else’s mouth. Emerson says that there is a time in 

everyone’s life where we crave for originality and believe that we must toil to reap 

rewards. Man must put his heart into the work he is doing. When one is doing his duty 

with total involvement genius will spark in his mind. Otherwise genius deserts him. 

Emerson exhorts people to have trust in themselves.We have to accept God’s plan for 

us.Even great men have accepted the place divine providence has found for them. We 

should not flee our society like cowards.” And we are now men and must accept in the 

highest mind the same transcendent destiny : and not minors and invalids in a protected 

corner,not cowards fleeing before a revolution,but guides,redeemers,and 

benefactors,obeying the almighty effort,and advancing on chaos and the dark”. 

Emerson says all humans carry pretty faces when we are children. Infancy 

does not continue forever in us .God has designed youth ,puberty and manhood with its 

own charm. One babe will transform four or five adults into children when they play 

with it.Youth is very bold in expressing its ideas but adulthood is always jailed by 

consciousness.We hear many voices in solitude but they are forgotten when we enter the 

world. “Society is a joint-stock company in which the members agree,for the better 

securing of his bread to each shareholder…”. Emerson says that ‘conformity’ is a virtue 

in society while “self reliance” I is an evil. He says intergrity of the mind is most 

sacred.We must obey the law of nature.He says” I am ashamed to think how easily we 

capitulate to badges and names,to large societies and dead institutions”. Even in a place 

where malice and vanity poses as Philanthrophy we must be bold to speak the ‘rude 

truth’.Truth is always more handsome than affectation of love.Emerson says 

philanthrophy which is mislaid is a folly. Men do charitable deeds by mere routine like 

paying a fine for being absent at parade. He wishes to be ‘genuine and equal’ rather 

than be ‘glittering and unsteady’. He is more concerned about what he must do rather 

than what other people may think . “ … you will always find those who think they 

know what is your duty better than you know it”. When we live for the eyes of the wold 

it blurs our character. Emerson states that most men have bound their eyes with a 

handkerchief and attached themselves to some community or opinion.This conformity 

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casts a shadow on all their activities.On the otherhand if we are non conformists the 

world punishes us. Yet Emerson says “ It is easy enough for a firm man who knows 

the world to brook the rage of the cultivated classes”. Emerson lashes out on cowards and 

saying there is no use in carrying a head on the shoulder.If we lack individuality it is 

like dragging about our own corpse. We should state the truth ,that comes to our mind 

and not worry about being misunderstood . 

Great men likePythagoras,Socrates,Jesus,MartinLuther,Copernicus,Galileo and 

Newton were also misunderstood in the beginning.No man can conceal or violate his 

nature.It will be reflected in his day to day actions. He compares man’s life to the sailing 

of a big ship. When viewed from a distance the zig zag track is seen. In order to make 

headway, the ship must tack, or move in a zigzag line that eventually leads to an 

identifiable end. In the same way, an individual’s apparently contradictory acts or 

decisions show consistency when that person’s life is examined in its entirety and not 

in haphazard segments. We must “scorn appearances” and do what is right or 

necessary, regardless of others’ opinions or criticisms. 

Similarly our genuine actions will speak for itself. We must scorn appearances 

and the right thing for the moment.He says honour has its own tradition and pedigree. 

Emerson states the conformity and consistency is drawing to a close in the present 

society.It takes lot of time for great men to be born with the divine spark of genius. It 

has taken ages for the world to have people like Caesar,Christ,Hermit Antony 

,Fox,Wesley etc. So he states” let a man then know his worth and keep things under his 

feet.Let him not peep or steal ,or skulk up and down with the air of a charity –body ,a 

bastard,or an interloper in the world which exists for him”. Emerson takes the story of 

the sot who was treated as a duke to tell us that we people are also in the world like the 

drunken sot. Only rarely do we wake up and exercise true reason. Sycophancy rules the 

world today. 

3.4 The Importance of Self-Reliance. 

Emerson commences his essay on self reliance by asserting the importance of 

thinking for oneself rather than blindly accepting other people’s views. He states 

“To believe that what is true in your private heart is true for all men—that is genius.” 

The person who ignores personal intuition and, instead, chooses to rely on others’ 

opinions lacks the creative power necessary for healthy individualism. This absence 

of conviction results in the acceptance of the secondhand thoughts. 

Emerson wants us to learn “Trust thyself,” as a motto. To rely on others’ 

judgments is cowardice . A person with self-esteem, on the other hand, exhibits 

originality and is childlike—unspoiled by selfish needs—yet mature. It is to this 

adventure of self-trust that Emerson invites us: We are to be guides and adventurers, 

destined to participate in an act of creation modeled on the classical myth of bringing 

order out of chaos.Emerson feels that children provide models of self-reliant 

behavior because they are too young to be cynical, hesitant, or hypocritical. He 

69


draws an analogy between boys and the idealized individual: Both are masters of 

self-reliance because they apply their own standards to all they see, and because their 

loyalties cannot be corrupted. This contrasts with the attitude of cautious adults, 

who, are concerned with reputation, approval, and the opinion of others. 

Emerson then focuses his attention on the importance of an individual’s 

resisting pressure to conform to external norms, including those of society, which 

defeats self-reliance in its members. The process of “maturing” becomes a process of 

conforming. Commenting on the objection that devotedly following one’s inner 

voice is wrong because the intuition may be evil, he states, it is better to be true to an 

evil nature than to behave “correctly” because of society’s demands or conventions. 

The non-conformist in Emerson rejects many of society’s moral sentiments. 

For example, he claims that an abolitionist should worry more about his or her own 

family and community at home than about “blacks a thousand miles off,”. He also 

criticizes people who give money to the poor. He refuses to support morality through 

donations to organizations rather than directly to individuals. 

Emerson says it is better to live truly and obscurely than to have one’s 

goodness extolled in public. It makes no difference to him whether his actions are 

praised or ignored. The important thing is to act independently. There is a difference 

between enjoying solitude and being a social hermit.Outlining his reasons for 

objecting to conformity, Emerson asserts that succumbing to popular opinion wastes 

a person’s life. Those around us will never get to know our real personality. 

Conformity corrupts our lives and our every day actions.The followers of public 

opinion are recognized as hypocrites even by the awkwardness and falsity of their 

facial expressions. 

Emerson states that there are two enemies against the ideal individual. They 

are society’s disapproval or scorn, and the individual’s own sense of consistency. 

Although the scorn of “the cultivated classes” is unpleasant, it is, according to 

Emerson, relatively easy to ignore because it tends to be polite. However, the outrage 

of the masses is to be reckoned with. 

Using the metaphor of a corpse Emerson lashes against the individual who is 

afraid of contradiction. Maturing involves the evolution of ideas, which is the spring 

of creativity. It is most important to review constantly and to reevaluate past 

decisions and opinions., If necessity demands we must give up our old ideas like the 

biblical Joseph who fled from a seducer by leaving his coat in her hands. Citing 

cultures that traditionally frown on inconsistency, Emerson points out that history’s 

greatest thinkers were branded as outcasts for their original ideas—and scorned as 

such by their peers. Notable among them is Jesus Christ. 

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What appears to be inconsistency is often a misunderstanding based on 

distortion or perspective. Emerson develops this idea by comparing the progress of a 

person’s thoughts to a ship sailing against the wind: In order to make headway, the 

ship must tack, or move in a zigzag line that eventually leads to an identifiable end. 

In the same way, an individual’s apparently contradictory acts or decisions show 

consistency when that person’s life is examined in its entirety and not in haphazard 

segments. We must “scorn appearances” and do what is right or necessary, regardless 

of others’ opinions or criticisms. 

“A true man,” “belongs to no other time or place, but is the centre of all 

things. Where he is, there is nature.” Nature is not only those objects around us, but 

also our individual natures. And these individual natures allow the great thinker—the 

ideal individual—to battle for conformity and consistency. 

3.5 Self-Reliance and the Individual. 

The second section of “Self-Reliance” offers suggestions for the individual 

who wants to achieve the quality of self-reliance. Emerson states “Let a man then 

know his worth, and keep things under his feet.” Material objects, especially those 

that are imposing—Emerson takes the examples of magnificent buildings and heroic 

works of art, including costly books that often make people inferior. This is wrong 

because humans should determine an object’s worth, not vice versa. Emerson 

illustrates this point by relating a fable of a drunkard who is brought in off the street 

and treated like a royal personage; the unthinking man is like the sot living only half 

awake, until he comes to his senses by exercising reason and discovers that he is 

actually a prince. 

One cause for our not exercising reason is the uncritical manner in which we 

read. Complaining that we often enjoy reading about the adventures of famous 

people while ignoring or devaluing books about ordinary righteousness and virtue. 

Emerson wants to know why people view the acts of well-known individuals as 

more important than that of ordinary citizens. He condemns European monarchies 

for the, exaggerated respect accorded to them. 

Combined with the inferiority that an individual can feel when confronted by 

conformity, consistency, and commonality, Emerson wonders how people can 

remain confident in their abilities. The answer is provided by “that source, at once 

the essence of genius, of virtue, and of life, which we call Spontaneity or Instinct.” 

The wisdom that springs from spontaneous instinct is Intuition, or inner knowledge . 

All other knowledge is like tuition.It can be compared to secondhand beliefs 

received from others instead of a uniquely individual response that was sparked by 

the source itself. This notion of Intuition is closely related to a main idea of 

transcendentalism: An all-encompassing “soul” animates the universe and is the 

71


source of all wisdom and inspiration. Direct knowledge, or intuition, is gained as a 

gift from this overwhelming source. 

Emerson next introduces us to a contrasting idea to the portrait he has drawn 

of the intuitive individual: the characteristics and behavior of the “thoughtless man,” 

who cannot see the depth of truth being used by the self-reliant, intuitive person. 

Thoughtless people cannot understand self-reliant individuals’ seeming 

inconsistencies because thoughtless people are too worried about being consistent. 

This is the demand of a cultivated society.Transcendence is gained only through 

intuitive knowledge. Describing this transcendent quality is difficult, because words 

are not sufficient for explaining such an abstract state of mind. “And now at last the 

highest truth of this subject remains unsaid; probably cannot be said; for all that we 

say is the far-off remembering of the intuition.” This type of understanding does not 

come from any teacher it reaches us deeper than any kind of emotion, such as hope, 

gratitude, or even joy. 

Attempting to relate transcendence to what he has been saying about selfreliance, 

Emerson focuses on the important process of eternally evolving for the 

better. The self-reliant individual is not beholden to society: Although society may 

remain stagnant, the individual keeps on changing constantly growing more virtuous 

and noble. This person gains something that others in society do not: namely, the 

knowledge, by extension, the power of the permeating spirit that animates all things, 

whether they are natural objects,plants, animals, trees or social activities. 

In the concluding paragraphs of this section Emerson moves from analysis to 

offering suggestions on how we should act. Although everyone can become a model 

of a self-reliant individual for the improvement of society, he asserts that “we” the 

lazy, non-self-reliant individuals—are a “mob.” Too many people, he says, are led by 

suggestions, by desires, and by feelings of responsibility. Instead of practicing 

independent self-reliance, we give in to others’ demands. He urges us to place truth 

before politeness, value integrity more than comfort, and abandon hypocrisy in favor 

of honesty. Acknowledging that the self-reliant individual risks being misunderstood 

as merely selfish or self-indulgent, he vows that individuals who rigorously follow 

their consciences will be more “godlike” than individuals who follow society’s laws. 

3.6 Self-Reliance and Society. 

In the third section of “Self-Reliance,” Emerson considers the benefits of 

self reliance to the society .His examination of society reveals the need for a 

morality of self-reliance, and he lashes at his contemporary Americans for being 

followers rather than original thinkers. Timidity of many young people, whose 

greatest fear is failure is condemned by Emerson. He feels that urban, educated youth 

succumb to timidity when compared to farm lads . 

72


Then Emerson talks about four social arenas where self-reliant individuals are 

needed. They are religion, culture, arts, and society. 

Religion, Emerson says, could benefit from self-reliance because self-reliance 

turns a person’s mind from petty, self-centered desires to a benevolent wish for the 

common good. Religion’s main problem is its fear of individual creativity. So it opts 

for the art of mimicry: “Everywhere I am hindered of meeting God in my brother, 

because he has shut his own temple doors, and recites fables merely of his brother’s, 

or his brother’s brother’s God.” Any religion can introduce new ideas and systems of 

thought to an individual, but religious creeds are dangerous because they substitute a 

set of ready answers for the independent thought required of the self-reliant person. 

The person who travels “with the hope of finding greater than he knows . . . 

travels away from himself, and grows old even in youth among old things.” The 

reference to youth reminds us that the self-reliant individual is childlike and original, 

whereas a person who travels for the wrong reasons creates nothing new and chooses 

instead to be surrounded by “old things.” 

Emerson says the urge to travel is the result of our educational system’s 

failure, Because schools teach us only to imitate. Emerson argues He is that society 

does not necessarily improve from material changes. For example, advances in 

technology result in the loss of certain kinds of wisdom. The person who has a watch 

loses the ability to tell time by the sun’s position in the sky, and improvements in 

transportation and war machinery are not accompanied by corresponding 

improvements in either the physical or mental stature of human beings. He takes the 

example of the wave to illustrate this point. A wave moves in and out from the 

shoreline, but the water that composes it does not; changes occur in society, but 

“society never advances.” 

The last two paragraphs of “Self-Reliance” are concerned with his views on 

property and fortune. Emerson criticizes reliance on property. Instead of admiring 

property, the cultivated man is ashamed of it, especially of property that is not 

acquired by honest work. Respect for property leads to a distortion of political life. 

Society is corrupted by people who regard government as primarily a protector of 

property rather than of persons.Finally, Emerson urges the individual to take risks 

boldly. He says no external event, irrespective of whether it is good or bad, will 

change the individual’s basic self-regard. “Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. 

Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.” Self-reliance is the 

triumph of a principle. 

3.7 Glossary 

Ne te quaesiveris extra: Latin, meaning “Do not seek outside yourself.” In other 

words, “Look within.” 

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Beaumont, Francis (d. 1616): An English dramatist, he co-authored all of his major 

works, including The Maides Ragedy (1611), with John Fletcher. 

Fletcher, John (1579-1625): An English dramatist best known for his collaboration 

with Francis Beaumont; Fletcher was the sole author of at least fifteen plays. 

bantling: A baby. 

Plato (c. 427-347 B.C.): A Greek philosopher, he formulated the philosophy of 

idealism, which holds that the concepts or ideas of things are more perfect—and, 

therefore, more real—than the material things themselves. 

Milton, John (1608-74): The English poet renowned for his religious epic poem 

Paradise Lost (1667), which sought to “justify the ways of God to men.” 

piquancy: Appealingly provocative. 

the pit: In early theaters, the cheapest seats behind the orchestra, below the level of 

the stage. 

Lethe: In Greek mythology, the river of forgetfulness that flows between the world 

of the living and the underworld of the dead. 

Barbados: The easternmost island of the West Indies, Barbados was a British 

colony until it became independent in 1966; British legislation abolished slavery in 

the West Indies in 1833. 

Bible-society: One of a number of societies organized for translating and 

distributing bibles. 

blindman’s buff: A game in which a blindfolded player tries to catch and identify 

other players. 

Joseph and the harlot: A reference to the biblical Joseph, who refused the 

advances of an Egyptian officer’s wife (the “harlot”); the woman then falsely 

accused him of rape, and Joseph was thrown in jail, where he received his gift of 

dream interpretation. 

Pythagoras (sixth century B.C.): Greek philosopher; considered to be the first true 

mathematician. 

74


Socrates (d. 399 B.C.): A Greek philosopher, he initiated a question-and-answer 

method of teaching—called the Socratic method—as a means of achieving selfknowledge; 

opponents of Socrates’ method felt that he was undermining the 

authority of the state by teaching youths to question received knowledge. He was 

brought to trial, convicted of corrupting youth, and condemned to die; he carried out 

the sentence by drinking poison. 

Luther, Martin (1483-1546): A German theologian, Luther is credited with 

initiating the Protestant Reformation; he believed in the ability of educated lay 

people to form ethical and religious judgments based on their own interpretations of 

scripture. 

Copernicus, Nicolaus (1473-1543): The Polish astronomer who theorized that the 

earth revolves around the sun. 

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642): An Italian scientist, Galileo furthered the theories 

advanced by Copernicus through use of the telescope; his views were considered a 

threat to certain religious doctrines, and he was obliged to publicly retract some of 

his assertions. 

Newton, Sir Isaac (1642-1727): English mathematician and scientist; Newton is 

chiefly remembered for formulating the law of gravity. 

acrostic: A short poem in which the first, middle, or last letter of each line spells a 

word or phrase when read in sequence. 

Alexandrian stanza: A palindrome; an arrangement of words that reads the same 

backwards or forward—for example, “If I had a hi-fi.” 

Chatham, First Earl of (1708-78): More widely known as Willim Pitt the Elder, he 

supported the American colonists’ bid for independence in the British Parliament. 

Spartan fife: Refers to the fife, a small flute, used in tandem with drums to provide 

cadence for marching soldiers. 

Caesar, Gaius Julius (100-44 B.C.): A Roman general, statesman, and emperor, 

Caesar was given a mandate by the people to rule as dictator for life; he was stabbed 

to death by a group of republicans led by Brutus and Cassius. 

75


Monachism of the Hermit Anthony: The construction of the abbeys of St. Anthony 

marked the beginning of Christian monasticism. 

Reformation: A sixteenth-century movement in Europe to reform excesses and 

deficiencies in the Church, the Reformation eventually resulted in the separation of 

the Protestant churches from what then came to be known as the Roman Catholic 

Church. 

Quakerism: Officially called the Society of Friends; a group of Christians 

originating in seventeenth-century England under George Fox. They hold that 

believers receive direct guidance from a divine inner light. 

Fox, George (1624-91): The founder of the Society of Friends (1647), popularly 

called the Quakers, Fox preached equality between men and women, and pacifism. 

The Quaker doctrine of inner enlightenment is similar to transcendentalists’ 

emphasis on intuitive knowledge. 

Methodism: Founded by John Wesley (1703-91), Charles Wesley (1707-88), and 

others in England during the early 1700s, this Protestant religion emphasized 

doctrines of free grace and individual responsibility. 

Clarkson, Thomas (1760-1846): A pioneer of the British antislavery movement. 

Scipio Africanus the “Elder” (237-183 B.C.): Until Julius Caesar, he was the 

greatest Roman general, defeating the mighty Hannibal at Zama in 202 B.C. 

Alfred (d. 899): Alfred was the king (871-99) of what was then called West Saxony, 

in the southwest portion of England. 

Scanderbeg (d. 1468): Revolutionary leader and national hero of Albania. 

Gustavus (1594-1632): Gustavus was the Swedish king responsible for making 

Sweden a major European power; after his troops marched through Germany, he 

became known as the “Lion of the North.” During his reign, a short-lived Swedish 

colony—the only one in the Americas—was founded in what is now Delaware. 

David (d. 962 B.C.): The second king of Judah and Israel, David is the reputed 

author of many of the Psalms; the most famous stories about David concern his 

success as a young shepherd boy over the great Philistine warrior Goliath, and his 

love for the king’s son, Jonathan, who loved David with a love that “was wonderful, 

surpassing the love of women” (I Samuel 17:48; 11 Samuel 1:26-27). 

76


Jeremiah: Hebrew prophet during the period 626 B.C. to the fall of Jerusalem in 

586 B.C.; his texts are compiled in the Book of Jeremiah, also called Lamentations. 

Paul (c. first century): Termed the Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul was a Hebrew who 

had Roman citizenship; while on the road to Damascus, he saw a vision of Christ and 

was converted to Christianity. His writings in the New Testament articulate the 

foundations for most Christian beliefs. 

Judas Iscariot (d. 33): Judas Iscariot was one of the Twelve Apostles and the 

betrayer of Christ. 

Thor: In Norse mythology, the god of thunder; he is commemorated in the name of 

the fifth day of the week, Thursday. 

Woden: The Anglo-Saxon form of Odin, chief among the Norse and Germanic 

gods. 

Saxon breasts: Part of the American construction of race in the 1800s was the 

development of the notion of a “Saxon” or “Anglo-Saxon” race, supposedly derived 

from the Teutonic conquerors of England following the Roman Empire; Americans 

who wished to maintain an elite class of descendants of northern European 

Protestants excluded Irish, eastern and southern Europeans, and people of color from 

the notion of “true” Americans. 

antinomianism: Belief in the religious doctrine that promotes faith rather than 

adherence to moral laws. 

Zoroaster (sixth century B.C.): The Persian prophet who founded a religious 

system that taught that life was a continual struggle between the forces of light and 

dark. 

Locke, John (1632-1704): An English philosopher, Locke developed a theory of 

cognition that denied the existence of innate ideas and asserted that all thought is 

based on knowledge received from our senses. His works influenced American 

Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards, who modified Puritan doctrine to allow for more 

play of reason and intellect, building a foundation for Unitarianism and, eventually, 

transcendentalism. 

Lavoisier, Antoine Laurent (1743-94): French chemist; regarded as the founder of 

modern chemistry 

77


Hutton, James (1726-97): A Scottish geologist, he advanced the hypothesis that 

geologic changes in the earth’s surface occur slowly over long periods of time. 

Bentham, Jeremy (1748-1832): British philosopher; recognized as the official 

founder of utilitarianism, which holds that the chief purpose of human social 

existence is to secure the greatest good for the greatest number of people. 

Fourier, Francois Marie (1772-1837): French social theorist. 

Calvinism: A Christian theological perspective associated with the work of John 

Calvin (1509-64), who advocated the final authority of the Bible and salvation by 

grace alone. 

Swedenborgism: The philosophical system derived by the Swedish philosopher 

Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772); emphasizes mystical insight and an idealistic 

vision of human nature. 

pinfold: An enclosure for stray animals; to confine. 

Thebes: An ancient city in Egypt, it was a major center of national life and culture 

at the time of the Pharaohs; many of its magnificent monuments had fallen into ruin 

by Emerson’s time. 

Palmyra: An ancient city in the Middle East, north of Damascus. 

Doric: The earliest and simplest of Greek architecture, characterized by fluted 

pillars with plain, square tops. 

Gothic: A European style of architecture noted for its pointed arches and flying 

buttresses. 

Franklin, Benjamin (1706-90): An American scientist, inventor, diplomat, writer, 

and philosopher; one of the most important figures in the transformation of the 

American colonies into the United States of America. 

Bacon, Francis (1561-1626): English essayist, statesman, and philosopher; he 

proposed a theory of scientific knowledge based on observation and experiment that 

came to be known as the inductive method. 

78


Phidias (c. fifth century B.C.): A great Athenian sculptor, none of whose works 

survive. 

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321): The Italian poet renowned for The Divine Comedy, 

completed in 1321. 

Greenwich nautical almanac: Initiated in 1767, the Nautical Almanac, published 

by the Royal Greenwich Observatory in England, was indispensable to ship captains 

and navigators, 

solstice: The two times of the year when the sun reaches its most northerly 

(summer) and southerly (winter) positions, with reference to the equator. These are 

the longest and shortest days, respectively, of the year. 

equinox: The two times during the year when the sun crosses the celestial equator, 

and day and night are of equal length. 

Stoic: One who approaches life rationally, indifferent to pleasure and emotional 

pain. 

Plutarch (c. 46-120): Greek biographer; his Parallel Lives was a source for much of 

English literature, including several works by Shakespeare. 

Phocion (402-318 B.C.): A ruler of Athens and a former pupil of Plato. 

Anaxagoras (d. 428 B.C.): Greek philosopher; he believed that matter was 

composed of atoms. 

Diogenes of Sinope (c. fourth century B.C.): Diogenes was the most famous of the 

Cynics, a group of Greek philosophers who considered virtue to be the only good and 

esteemed self-sufficiency. 

Hudson, Henry (d. 1611): The English explorer who sailed up the river now 

bearing his name and established an English claim to it; he died after being set adrift 

by a mutinous crew in the Canadian bay that was later named for him. 

Bering, Vitus (d. 1741): Danish explorer. 

Parry, Sir William Edward (1790-1855): A pioneer explorer of the Arctic Ocean. 

79


Franklin, Sir John (1786-1847): An Arctic explorer from England. 

Napoleon I (1769-1821): The emperor of France from 1804 to 1814, Napoleon I is 

remembered as one of the greatest military strategists of all time. 

bivouac: A camp without tents. 

Las Casas, Emmanuel (1766-1842): French historian; best known for recording 

Napoleon’s last conversations on the island of St. Helena. 

Caliph Ali (d. 661): The fourth caliph—or leader—of the Muslim community, 

Caliph Ali’s descendants are regarded as the true successors to the prophet 

Mohammed. 

Whigs: Naming themselves after the British party of the common people (as 

opposed to the aristocratic Tories), the Whig party in the United States was active 

from 1834 to 1854. 


The Philosophy of Composition 

- Edgar Allen Poe 

Edgar Allen Poe was born on 19 th January,1809. He was the second child of actress 

Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe and actor David Poe, Jr. Edgar Poe had an elder brother, 

William Henry Leonard Poe, and a younger sister, Rosalie Poe. His father abandoned 

their family in 1810. His mother died a year later from "consumption". He was brought 

up by foster parents John and Frances Allan of Richmond, Virginia. Poe's publishing 

career began humbly with an anonymous collection of poems called Tamerlane and 

Other Poems (1827), credited only "by a Bostonian". He soon moved to Baltimore to live 

with blood-relatives and switched his focus from poetry to prose. He would spend the 

next several years working for various literary journals and periodicals and moving 

between several cities, including Philadelphia and New York City, becoming known for 

his own style of literary criticism. He also married Virginia Clemm, his 13-year old 

cousin in 1835 and began making plans to produce his own journal, The Penn. 

In January 1845, Poe published " The Raven" to instant success, but his wife died 

of tuberculosis only two years later. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym was published 

and widely reviewed in 1838. In the summer of 1839, Poe became assistant editor of 

Burton's Gentleman's Magazine. He published a large number of articles, stories, and 

reviews, enhancing the reputation as a trenchant critic that he had established at the 

Southern Literary Messenger. Also in 1839, the collection Tales of the Grotesque and 

Arabesque was published in two volumes. Though not a financial success, it was a 

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milestone in the history of American literature, collecting such classic Poe tales as " The 

Fall of the House of Usher", " Berenice", " Ligeia" and " William Wilson". Poe left 

Burton's after about a year and found a position as assistant at Graham's Magazine. Poe 

died on 7 th October,1849 in Baltimore. The cause of his death is has been attributed to 

alcohol, drugs, cholera, rabies, suicide, tuberculosis, heart disease, brain congestion 

and other agents.Edgar Allen Poe was an influential writer during his time. He is 

heralded as the best literary critic of his time.His Philosophy of composition was a new 

force in the history of Americaan criticism.He has several critical essays to his credit.He 

was eulogized by Henry James and T.S.Eliot. 

The Philosophy of Composition 

The Philosophy of composition is chiefly concerned about how Poe composed his 

well acclaimed poem “The Raven”.The poem describes a scholar’s experiences on a 

stormy night.One night a wild storm is raging outside and a scholar is trying frantically to 

free himself from the haunting memoties of his lost love.Her name is Lenore.At that time 

there is a tap on his window and the scholar thinks it is the ghost of his lady love. He 

opens the window and discovers that it is a raven and not a ghostly presence of his lady 

love. He lets the bird into his room and it perches on the head of a bust of Pallas Athena( 

chest level statue).The fact that the bird has perched on the bust inspires humour. 

Surprisingly the bird seems to have mastered one utterance “Nevermore” which it keeps 

repeating. To add humour to the situation the scholar kept posing questions to the bird . 

All the questions were of the nature where the answer would be “Nevermore”. Finally he 

asks the birb if he would ever see his lost love Lenore. When the bird answers 

“Nevermore” he shrieks out in anguish and despair. The pain keeps wrenching his heart. 

He feels as if the bird’s beak is impaled into his heart and he appeals “ Take thy beak out 

from my heart”.The raven replies “ Nevermore”.The scholar ‘s soul is branded by the 

shadow cast by the bird and it will “Nevermore be lifted”. Critics are of the opinion that 

“The Raven” centers around the human’s thirst for self-torture because the scholar 

purposely asks questions which will invoke the answer “Nevermore”. Sorrow is a luxury 

in which the scholar wants to indulge in.Poe has achieved a perfect blend of the 

supernatural and abnormal psychy in “The Raven”. 

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3.9 Poe’s Views on Plot 

Stating his views on plot Pope says every plot must be elaborated in its 

denoument. He says “only with the denouement constantly in view that we can give a 

plot its indispensable air of consequence or causation” the denouement according to Poe 

is connected to the overall effect of the work. He states that the heart or intellect is 

affected by numerous expressions of which a writer should choose the best one for the 

ocassion. The writer should decide whether that expression or effect can best be created 

by incident or tone. So ‘effect’ is a combination of both tone and incident. There are 

several such combinations namely: 

· Ordinary events plus peculiar tone 

· Peculiar events plus ordinary tone 

He says such combinations are ideal for a romantic tale. The formula of ordinary events 

plus ordinary tone which is a formula for the late 19 th century realism is not favoured by 

Poe. He feels that despite heightening everything in such combination is accountable and 

within limits. 

3.10 Poe’s Views on Poetry 

Poe is emphatic in stating that poets should explain to the readers how they 

compose their poems by writing articles in literary journals .Poets usually don’t 

explain to the readers the method or scheme they followed for writing their poems. 

Poe tells us that their vanity might have prevented them from doing so or they might have 

felt that the object of their inspiration does not require any explanation.Yet he has 

decided to reveal to the readers how he composed “The Raven”.Thouh romantic in his 

viewpoint, Poe makes a staunch attack on the romantic belief in inspiration. He believes 

that the poet is a deliberate creator who devises all his efforts to create the effect of 

every single poem. He states that ‘the creative process is an interlocked series of 

conscious choice’. For possessing such an anti -romantic attitude he is clubbed with the 

modern writers.Commenting on the length of a poem Poe says it should not be very long 

or too short.It should definitely not be longer than what can be covered in one sitting 

because the mood of the reader and the effect created by the poet will be lost.He says 

what we call a lengthy poem is in fact a continuation of brief poems.For example 

“Paradise Lost” .We find in Poe a blend of the romantic and anti-romantic because he 

says the province of poetry is “The Beautiful”.He opines that poets must concentrate on b 

‘Beauty ‘ and it will give them intense pleasure.The intensity and elevation does not 

appeal to the intellect but to the soul.Commenting on tone Poe says melancholy is the 

best suited.He states” Beauty of whatever kind,in its supreme development,invariably 

excites the sensitive soul to tears.Melancholy is thus the most legitimate of all the 

poetical tones”. 

Next Poe shifts his attention on the central point or pivotal point on which the 

entire structure of the poem leans upon.According to him “ Refrain” is the central point 

or pivot of the poem. The refrain is employed by poets universally and this assures the 

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intrinsic value of using the ‘refrain’.Concentrating on the nature of the refrain Poe feels 

that it should be brief. A single word refrain he says will be best for a poem and hat 

single word should close every stanza. Each stanza will have force if that single 

word(refrain) is sonorous and has a potential for protracted emphasis. Example 

‘Nevermore’ in “The Raven”. 

Here the long ‘O’ is the most sonorous vowel with the consonant ‘r’ it is 

effective.Since the word ‘Nevermore ‘ cannot be spoken by a human being continuously 

he selected a bird to voice it. The bird uttering the world combined with the melancholic 

tone adds to the ‘effect ‘of the poem. Poe has chosen the raven, a bird that signifies ill 

omen to repeat the refrain ‘Nevermore’ at the conclusion of each stanza. Commenting on 

melancholic topics,Poe says ‘Death’ is the most melancholic of all. He feels that death of 

a very beautiful woman is definitely the most ideal topic for a poem and the person best 

suited to express maximum melancholic effect is the bereaved lover. 

The next step in writing the poem is to relate the refrain to the lover’s questions. 

The melancholic or somber effect is created when the lover keeps on posing questions 

that require “Nevermore” as the response. The lover (scholar) does not think that the 

bird’s replies are of prophetic quality but he experiences a kind of pleasure in self 

torture. The repetition of “Nevermore” provides an opportunity to present the climax of 

bereavement. It is with this desperate sorrow that Poe begins to compose his poem. 

3.11 Poe’s Views on Versification 

Commenting on the technique of versification Poe says that originality is the vital 

factor. He feels originality has been neglected for the past few centuries. Poe says that 

originality is not composed of impulse or intuition. Elaborating on “The Raven” he says 

the originality of the poem does not lie in the metre or rhythm .The first line of each 

stanza in “The Raven” contains eight feet, the second line seven and a half feet: the third 

eight feet, the fourth and fifth seven and a half feet and the last three and a half feet. The 

combination of these features into stanzas has made the rhythm and metre original. Such 

a combination has not been explored yet. The language used by Poe exudes pedantry. 

The next step for the poet is to unite the lover and the bird on some plane and 

create intensity simultaneously. This is achieved by choosing the best ‘locale’. As far as 

locale is concerned Poe prefers the lover’s chamber to a wood. He feels the lover may 

regard the chamber a sacred place because his lady love might have visited him there 

several times. Everything in the room, including furniture contributes to the beauty and 

richness of the poem. 

The most vital element in the poem is the bird’s entry into the lover’s chamber. 

The bird can enter in only through the window.A stormy night is apt for the purpose. The 

flapping of the bird’s wings seems to sound like taps on the window.The lover’s sorrow 

is in stark contrast with the atmosphere outside.The lover opens the door and lets the bird 

in .The bust of Pallas symbolizes the lover’s scholarship. Drawing a picture of the final 

scene Poe states the scholar calls it a grim,ghasty ominous bird of yore which has burnt 

its way into the core of his bosom with its fiery eyes. Such a fanciful thought invokes awe 

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in the reader also.Thus the denouement is brought out directly.The height of self torture 

is terminated by “Nevermore”. 

In conclusion Poe says two things are essential for an artistic creation.Primarily 

complexity or adoption and secondly some amount of suggestive ness and undercurrent. 

He does not support the transcendentalist view of artistic creation.Poe says they give 

importance only to the theme’s upper current. 

3.12 To Sum Up 

This lesson presents the students with master pieces of Philosophy extolled by 

pioneers in American Literature. Thus the students will be able to understand that all 

the three sections of Emerson’s essay concentrate on self-reliance as an ideal. 

Emerson calls self- reliance a virtue, and contrasts it with various modes of 

dependence. The lesson on Philosopy of Composition educates the budding 

literature postgraduates to get an idea of the components involved in composing 

poems. 


1) Emerson is a champion of self reliance- Elucidate . 

2) Write a note on Emerson’s views on “Self-Reliance and Society”. 

3) Elaborate Emerson’s views on “Self-Reliance and the individual”. 

4) What is a refrain? Explain Poe’s views on refrain. 

5) Comment on Poe’s views on versification. 

6) Attempt an analysis of Poe as a critic. 

7) Explain Poe’s stand on ‘effect’ and ‘denouement’. 


1. ‘God can only be felt but can not be understood’ : Discuss this idea with 

reference to Self-Reliance by Emerson. 

2. Discuss the components involved in composing poems. 


1. Emerson Handbook- Carpenter Fredric Ires,hendicks House, NY,1957Edgar 

2. Allen Poe –A Critical Study –Edward H. Dacidsori,1957 

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UNIT – IV 

FOUR FICTION 

Contents 



4.2 Summary of THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA 

4.3 Chapter Summaries 

4.4 Chief Characters in the Novel 

4.5 Themes, Motifs & Symbols in the Novel 

4.6 Symbols 

4.7 Nathaniel Hawthorne 

4.8 General Introduction to the novel 

4.9 The Custom House: Introductory 


4.11 Conclusion 

4.12 Major Characters 

4.13 Minor Characters 

4.14 Themes 

4.15 Symbols 

4.16 Let us Sum Up 





· To make the students get a glimpse of American Fiction. 

· To promote active and reflective reading. 

· To induce the creative process. 

· To create awareness of cultures. 

· Enable students to make a formal analytical essay on the use of figurative 

language. 

· Introduce students to the art of comparing and contrasting characters and 

situations. 

THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA 

-Ernest Hemingway 


Ernest Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois, in 1899. He was the son of a 

doctor and a music teacher. He began his career as a reporter for the Kansas City Star. At 

85


eighteen, he volunteered to serve the Red Cross as an ambulance driver in World War I 

and was sent to Italy, where he was badly injured by shrapnel. The experiences that got 

during the war found expression in his “A Farewell to Arms”. In 1921, Hemingway 

moved to Paris, where he served as a correspondent for the Toronto Daily Star. Here he 

moved with a group of American and English expatriate writers including F. Scott 

Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, and Ford Madox Ford. In the early 1920s, 

Hemingway began to achieve fame as a chronicler of the disaffection felt by many 

American youth after World War I—a generation of youth whom Stein memorably 

dubbed the “Lost Generation.” His novels The Sun Also Rises (1926) and A Farewell to 

Arms (1929) established him as a dominant literary voice of his time. 

He wrote “For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940). In the 1930s, Hemingway lived in 

Key West, Florida, and later in Cuba, and his years of experience fishing the Gulf Stream 

and the Caribbean provided an essential background for the vivid descriptions of the 

fisherman’s craft in The Old Man and the Sea ,(published in 1952).It brought him great 

success .He committed suicide in 1961 in Ketchum, Idaho. 

4.2 Summary of THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA 

The Old Man and the Sea is the story of the struggle between an old, seasoned 

fisherman and a fish that happened to be the greatest catch of his life. For eighty-four 

days, Santiago, an old Cuban fisherman had been going to fish in the sea only to return 

empty handed again and again. He has a young assistant called Manolin. The boy’s 

parents are of the view that that Santiago is an unlucky fisherman. So they force the boy 

to leave the old man and fish with a more prosperous fisherman. Even then the boy 

continues to care for the old man after returning from his fishing trip each night. He 

helps the old man to get his fishing equipment into his dilapidated hut. He also secures 

food for the old man and spends time discussing the latest developments in American 

baseball, especially the exploits of the old man’s hero, Joe DiMaggio. During the 

meetings Santiago is confident that his unlucky season for eighty four days will soon 

come to an end. One night Santiago resolves to sail out farther than usual the following 

day. 

On the eighty-fifth day of his fishing Santiago goes as decided, sailing his skiff 

far beyond the island’s shallow coastal waters and ventures into the Gulf Stream. He 

prepares his lines and drops them. He keeps on waiting. At noon, a big marlin marlin, 

takes the bait that he has placed one hundred fathoms deep in the waters. The old man 

expertly hooks the fish, but he is not able to pull it. Soon the fish begins to tug the boat. 

Santiago is not in a position to tie the line fast to the boat because he is afraid that 

the fish would snap the taut line. He bears the strain of the line with his shoulders, back, 

and hands, waiting ready to give slack if the marlin makes a swift run. The fish pulls the 

boat throughout the day, all through the night,and throughout another day, and through 

another night. It swims steadily northwest until at last it becomes very tired and swims 

east with the current. All Through the two days Santiago bears the constant pain from 

the strain of the fishing line. Each time the fish lunges, leaps, or makes a dash for 

86


freedom, the cord cuts him badly. Although wounded and weary, the old man feels great 

admiration for the marlin.He considers the fish his brother in suffering, strength, and 

resolve. 

On the third day the fish tires, and Santiago, who is bereft of sleep, full of ache, 

and nearly delirious, manages to pull the marlin in close enough to kill it by thrusting a 

harpoon. The marlin dies beside the skiff. This marlin is the largest Santiago has ever 

seen of its kind . He secures it to his boat, raises the small mast, and sets sail for home. 

While Santiago is excited about the price that the marlin will fetch for him at the 

market, he is also concerned that the people who will eat the fish are unworthy of its 

greatness. 

As Santiago sails on with the fish, the marlin’s blood leaves a trail in the water 

and attracts sharks. The first to attack them is a great mako shark, which Santiago 

manages to kill with the harpoon. In the struggle, the old man loses the harpoon and 

valuable rope. This leaves him vulnerable to the attack of other sharks. The old man 

continues to fight with the attacking sharks by stabbing them with a crude spear he 

makes by attaching a knife to an oar, and even hitting them with the boat’s tiller. 

Although he kills several sharks in the process more and more keep appearing , and by 

the time night falls, Santiago’s continued fight against them is useless. The sharks 

devour the marlin’s precious meat, leaving only the skeleton, head, and tail intact. 

Santiago feels that it is wron to have gone “out too far,” and for sacrificing his great and 

worthy opponent. Finally he reaches home before daybreak. Too weak to move he 

stumbles back to his shack, and falls into a deep sleep. 

The next morning, a crowd of amazed fishermen gather around the skeleton of the 

fish, which is still secured to the boat. They are not aware of the old man’s struggle. 

Tourists who are at a nearby café look at the remains of the giant marlin and mistake it 

for a shark. Manolin, who has been worried about the old man’s absence for two days , is 

moved to tears when he finds Santiago safe in his bed. The boy fetches the old man some 

coffee and the daily papers with the baseball scores, and watches him sleep. When the old 

man wakes, the two agree to fish together once more. The old man returns to sleep and 

dreams his usual dream of lions playing on the beaches of Africa. 


Day One 

Santiago, an old fisherman, has gone into sea for eighty-four days without 

catching a fish. For the first forty days, a boy named Manolin has assisted him but 

Manolin’s parents call Santiago unlucky and force him leave the old man.Manolin loves 

the old man and keeps him company though he fishes with other prosperous fishermen to 

please his parents.Santiago announces his plans to go “far out” in the sea the following 

day.Manolin and Santiago discuss baseball. Santiago is a huge admirer of “the great 

DiMaggio,” whose father was a fisherman. After discussing with Santiago the greatest 

ballplayers and the greatest baseball managers, the boy declares that Santiago is the 

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greatest fisherman Finally, the boy leaves, and the old man goes to sleep. He dreams his 

sweet, recurring dream, of lions playing on the white beaches of Africa. 

Day Two 

The next morning, Manolin’helps the old man to carry the fishing 

equipment to the old man’s boat .Santiago has slept well and is confident about the day’s 

prospects. He and Manolin part on the beach, wishing each other good luck. 

The old man rows steadily away from shore, toward the deep waters of the Gulf Stream. 

Rowing farther and farther out, Santiago follows the seabird that is hunting for fish, using 

it as a guide. Soon, one of the old man’s lines goes taut. He pulls up a big tuna, which, he 

keeps for a bait. Suddenly the projecting stick that marks the top of the hundred-fathom 

line dips sharply, Santiago is sure that the fish tugging on the line is of a considerable 

size, and he prays that it will take the bait. The marlin plays with the bait for a while, and 

when it does finally take the bait, it starts to move with it, pulling the boat. The old man 

gives a mighty pull, then another, but he gains nothing. The fish drags the skiff farther 

into the sea. No land at all is visible to Santiago now. 

All day the fish pulls the boat and the struggle goes on all night, as the fish continues to 

pull the boat. The old man wishes he had the boy with him. The sun rises and the fish has 

not become tired. He pledges his love and respect to the fish, but he nevertheless 

promises that he will kill it before the day ends. 

Day Three 

The marlin continues its struggle and Santiago notices that his hand is 

bleeding from where the line has cut it.Santiago is angered and frustrated by the 

weakness of his own body. He eats to maintain his strength and as he eats, he feels a 

brotherly desire to feed the marlin too. 

While waiting for the cramp in his hand to ease, Santiago looks across the vast waters 

and thinks himself to be completely alone. Suddenly, the fish leaps magnificently into the 

air, and Santiago sees that it is bigger than any he has ever seen. By noon, the old man’s 

hand is uncramped, and though he claims he is not religious, he says ten Hail Marys and 

ten Our Fathers and promises that, if he catches the fish, he will make a pilgrimage to the 

Virgin of Cobre. As dusk approaches, Santiago’s thoughts turn to baseball and its hero Di 

maggio. He wonders if DiMaggio would stay with the marlin. To boost his confidence, 

the old man recalls the great all-night arm wrestling match he won as a young man. 

The stars come out. Santiago considers the stars his friends, as he does the great marlin. 

He decides to “rest,” which really just means putting down his hands and letting the line 

go across his back, instead of using his own strength to resist his opponent. 

He has several dreams: a school of porpoises leaps from and returns to the ocean; he is 

back in his hut during a storm; and he again dreams of the lions on the beach in Africa. 

Day Four 

The fish jumps out of the water again and again, and Santiago is thrown into the 

bow of the skiff, facedown in his dolphin meat. The line feeds out fast, and the old man 

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brakes against it with his back and hands. His left hand, especially, is badly cut. Santiago 

wishes that the boy were with him to wet the coils of the line, which would lessen the 

friction.As the marlin continues to circle, Santiago adds enough pressure to the line to 

bring the fish closer and closer to the skiff. The old man thinks that the fish is killing him. 

Eventually, he pulls the fish onto its side by the boat and plunges his harpoon into it and 

as it dies its blood stains the waves. 

The old man pulls the skiff up alongside the fish and fastens the fish to the side of the 

boat. He thinks about how much money he will be able to make from such a big fish. 

Mako sharks smell the marlin’s blood and tug at the marlin for meat. Later, a pair of 

shovel-nosed sharks arrive and Santiago makes a noise likened to the sound a man might 

make as nails are driven through his hands. The sharks attack, and Santiago fights them 

with a knife that he had lashed to an oar as a makeshift weapon. 

Around midnight, more sharks arrive.. No meat is left on the marlin. 

He feels he has gone out too far.When he reaches the harbor, all lights are out and no one 

is near. He notices the skeleton of the fish still tied to the skiff. He stumbles home and 

falls asleep. 

Day Five 

Early the next morning, Manolin sees the old and fetches him some 

coffee. Fishermen have gathered around Santiago’s boat to see the carcass of the 

eighteen feet marlin. Manolin waits for the old man to wake up and when he, and 

Manolin talk warmly. Santiago says that the sharks beat him, and Manolin insists that he 

will work with the old man again, regardless of what his parents say. He reveals that there 

had been a search for Santiago involving the coast guard and planes. Santiago is happy to 

have someone to talk to, and after he and Manolin make plans, the old man sleeps again. 

Manolin leaves to find food and the newspapers for the old man. Manolin continues to 

watch over the old man as he sleeps and dreams of the lions. 

4.4 Chief Characters in the Novel 

Santiago 

He is the old man mentioned in title of the novel. Santiago is a fisherman 

from Cuba. He has been having an extended run of bad luck in fishing for eighty four 

days. He has rich experience at sea, inspite of his expertise, he has been unable to catch 

a fish for eighty-four days. He is humble, yet exhibits a justified pride in his abilities. His 

knowledge of the sea and its creatures, and of his craft, cannot be compared with any 

other fisherman. His skill helps him preserve a sense of hope regardless of 

circumstances. Throughout his life, Santiago has been presented with contests to test his 

strength and endurance. The marlin with which he struggles for three days represents his 

greatest challenge. Paradoxically, although Santiago ultimately loses the fish, the marlin 

is also his greatest victory. Santiago and the fish can be considered as a symbol of 

Christ’s struggle for the betterment of mankind. Santiago endures a long and grueling 

struggle with the marlin only to see his prize catch destroyed by sharks. Yet, the 

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destruction enables the old man to undergo a remarkable transformation. Even in defeat 

he seems to triumph. Santiago is an old man whose physical existence is almost over, but 

we are assured that Santiago’s spirit will persist through Manolin, his assistant. Thus 

Santiago manages, the miraculous feat of prolonging prolong his life after death through 

Manolin. 

Santiago’s commitment to sailing out farther than any other fisherman testifies 

his skill, spirit and pride. It also shows his determination to change his luck. Later, after 

the sharks have destroyed his prize marlin, Santiago chastises himself for his pride 

claiming that it has ruined both the marlin and him. Santiago’s pride also enables him to 

achieve his most true and complete self. It helps him to earn the respect of the village 

fisherman and secures him the companionship of the boy.Santiago’s pride is what enables 

him to endure, the struggle . Endurance is of chief importance in Hemingway’s 

conception of the world, a world in which death and destruction, as part of the natural 

order of things and unavoidable. Hemingway seems to believe there are only two 

options: defeat or endurance until destruction; Santiago clearly chooses the latter. His 

determination is nearly Christ-like in proportion. For three days, he holds fast to the line 

that links him to the fish, even though it cuts deeply into his palms, causes a crippling 

cramp in his left hand, and ruins his back. This physical pain allows Santiago to cement a 

connection with the marlin that goes beyond the literal link of the line: his bodily aches 

tell him that the fish is a worthy opponent, and that he himself, because he is able to fight 

so hard, is a worthy fisherman. This connectedness to the world around him eventually 

elevates Santiago beyond what would otherwise be his defeat. Like Christ, to whom 

Santiago is compared at the end of the novel, the old man’s physical suffering leads to a 

significant spiritual triumph. 

The Marlin 

It is the big fish that picks up the bait let down by Santiago.Santiago hooks the 

marlin, which measures eighteen feet, on the first afternoon of his fishing expedition. 

Because of the marlin’s great size, Santiago is unable to pull the fish in. Both he and the 

fish become engaged in a kind of tug-of-war that tires Santiago. At the same time there is 

a bond between Santiago and the marlin because they are united in the struggle.The 

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fishing line serves as a symbol of the fraternal connection Santiago feels with the fish. 

When the captured marlin is later destroyed by sharks, Santiago feels destroyed as well. 

Like Santiago, the marlin is implicitly compared to Christ. 

Manolin 

He is an adolescencet boy who assists Santiago in his fishing expeditions. The 

old man first took him out on a boat when he was merely five years old. Due to 

Santiago’s continuous bad luck at sea for eighty four days Manolin’s parents forced the 

boy to go out on a different fishing boat. Manolin, however, still cares deeply for the old 

man, to whom he continues to look as a mentor. His love for Santiago is unmistakable as 

the two discuss baseball and as the young boy recruits help from villagers to improve the 

old man’s impoverished conditions. Manolin is present only in the beginning and at the 

end of the novel. Manolin demonstrates his love for Santiago openly. He makes sure that 

the old man has food, blankets, and can rest without being disturbed. Despite 

Hemingway’s insistence that his characters were a real old man and a real boy, Manolin’s 

purity and singleness of purpose elevate him to the level of a symbolic character. 

Manolin’s actions are not influenced by worldliness. Instead, he is a companion who 

feels nothing but love and devotion. By the end of the book, however, the boy abandons 

his duty to his father, swearing that he will sail with the old man regardless of the 

consequences. In the end of the novel he stands, as a symbol of uncompromised love and 

fidelity. As the old man’s apprentice, he also represents the life that will follow from 

death. His dedication to learning from the old man ensures that Santiago will live on. 

Joe DiMaggio 

DiMaggio does not take active part in the action but he plays a significant role in 

the novel. Santiago worships him as a model of strength and commitment, and his 

thoughts turn toward DiMaggio whenever he needs to reassure himself of his own 

strength. Despite a painful bone spur that might have crippled another player, DiMaggio 

went on to secure a successful career. He was a center fielder for the New York Yankees 

from 1936 to 1951, and is often considered the best all-around player at that position. 

Perico 

Perico does not have an active role in the story .He owns the bodega in 

Santiago’s village. He serves an important role in the fisherman’s life by providing him 

with newspapers that report the baseball scores. This act establishes him as a kind man 

who helps the aging Santiago. 

Martin 

Martin is the café owner in Santiago’s village. He does not appear in the story. 

The reader learns about him through Manolin. Manolin often goes to Martin for 

Santiago’s supper. As the old man says, Martin is a man of frequent kindness who 

deserves to be repaid. 

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4.5 Themes, Motifs & Symbols in the Novel 

Themes 

Struggle, Defeat & Death 

From the beginning , Santiago is characterized as someone struggling against 

defeat. He has gone eighty-four days without catching a fish.But the old man refuses 

defeat at every turn. He resolves to sail out beyond the other fishermen to where the 

biggest fish is promise to be. He manages to hook the marlin, engages in a two day fight 

,and he continues to ward off sharks from stealing his prey, even though he knows the 

battle is useless. 

Because Santiago fights against the creatures of the sea, some critics view the tale 

as a tale of man’s battle against the natural world. The novel is actually, the story of 

man’s place within nature. Both Santiago and the marlin display qualities of pride, honor, 

and bravery, and both are subject to the same eternal law. They must kill or be killed. The 

world is filled with predators, and no living thing can escape the inevitable struggle that 

will lead to its death. Santiago lives according to his own observation: “man is not made 

for defeat . . . man can be destroyed but not defeated.” In Hemingway’s portrait of the 

world, death is inevitable, but the best men (and animals) will nonetheless refuse to give 

in to its power. As per the law of nature man and fish will struggle till the death, of one 

and the hungry sharks will turn into waste the old man’s prize catch. 

Only through the effort to battle the inevitable that a man can prove himself to be above 

defeat.Man can prove this determination through the worthiness of the opponents he 

chooses to face. Santiago finds the marlin worthy of a fight, just as he once found “the 

great negro of Cienfuegos” worthy. His admiration for these opponents brings love and 

respect along with death.Their destruction becomes a point of honor and bravery that 

confirms Santiago’s heroic qualities. Santiago, though destroyed at the end of the novel is 

never defeated. Instead, he emerges as a hero. 

Pride & Determination 

Pride is Santiago’s fatal flaw and he is keenly aware of it. After the sharks have 

destroyed the marlin, the old man apologizes again and again to his worthy opponent. He 

has ruined them both, by sailing beyond the usual boundaries of fishermen. While it is 

certainly true that Santiago’s eighty-four-day s of bad luck is a blow to his pride as a 

masterful fisherman, he is determined to bear out his skills by sailing far into the gulf 

waters. Hemingway does not condemn his hero for being filled with pride. Santiago 

stands as proof that pride motivates men to greatness. Pride becomes the source of 

Santiago’s greatest strength. Without pride, the battle would never have been fought. 

Santiago’s pride also motivates his desire to transcend the destructive forces of 

nature. Throughout the novel, no matter how woefull his circumstances become, the old 

man exhibits an undaunted determination to catch the marlin and bring it to shore. The 

old man meets every challenge with the same unwavering determination.He is willing to 

die in order to bring in the marlin, and he is willing to die in order to battle the feeding 

sharks. It is this conscious decision to act, to fight, to never give up that enables Santiago 

to avoid defeat though he returns without the trophy of his long battle. Hemingway seems 

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to suggest that victory is not a prerequisite for honor. Instead, glory depends upon one 

having the pride to see a struggle through to its end, regardless of the outcome. Even if 

the old man had returned with the marlin intact, his moment of glory, like the marlin’s 

meat, would have been short-lived. The glory and honor of Santiago is a result of his 

determination and pride. 

4.6 Symbols 

The Marlin 

The marlin symbolizes the ideal opponent in a world in which “everything kills 

everything else in some way or the other.Santiago feels genuinely lucky to find himself 

matched against a creature that brings out the best in him his strength and courage, his 

love and respect. 

The Shovel-Nosed Sharks 

The shovel-nosed sharks are symbols of the destructive laws. They attack the 

marlin thoughtlessly and gracelessly . As opponents for the old man, they stand in 

contrast to the marlin, which is worthy of Santiago’s effort and strength. Because they are 

base predators, Santiago wins no glory from battling them. 

The Lions on the Beach 

Santiago dreams his pleasant dream of the lions at play on the beaches of Africa 

three times. The first time is the night before he departs on his three-day fishing 

expedition, the second occurs when he sleeps on the boat for a few hours in the middle of 

his struggle with the marlin, and the third takes place at the very end . They symbolize 

youth and suggest the circular nature of life. Additionally, because Santiago imagines the 

lions, fierce predators, playing, his dream suggests a harmony between the opposing 

forceslife and death, love and hate, destruction and regeneration of nature. 

The Scarlet Letter- Nathaniel Hawthorne 

4.7 Nathaniel Hawthorne 

He was an introvert, almost a recluse, this native son of Salem, Massachusetts. 

After graduating from Bowdoin College, he spent close to twelve years at home in his 

room, reading and learning his writer's craft. For subject matter, he turned not to life but 

to books and to his own family history. When he was a boy, his Puritan ancestors had 

haunted his imagination. 

4.8 General Introduction to the novel 

The novel begins with a lengthy description of how the novel was written. The 

narrator is the surveyor of the customhouse in Salem, Massachusetts. In the customhouse 

while searching among the rabble in the’s attic, he discovered a number of documents. 

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Among them a manuscript that was bundled with a scarlet, gold-embroidered patch of 

cloth in the shape of an “A” attracted his attention. It was the work of a past surveyor, 

which told the story of people who lived more than two hundred years before the 

narrator’s time. When the narrator lost his customs post, he decided to write a fictional 

account of the events recorded in the manuscript and The Scarlet Letter is the result. 

The story is set in seventeenth-century Boston, then a Puritan settlement. A young 

woman, ( Hester Prynne), is led from the town prison with her infant daughter, ( Pearl), in 

her arms to the town scaffold. A scarlet letter “A” is evident on her breast. A man in the 

crowd tells an old onlooker that Hester is being punished for adultery. Hester’s husband, 

a scholar much older than she, sent her ahead to America, but he never arrived in Boston. 

It was generally believed that he was lost at sea. While waiting for her husband, Hester 

had, had an affair, and given birth to a child. Since she does not reveal her lover’s 

identity she is punished. The scarlet letter is worn by Hester as a mark of punishment and 

public shaming, for sin and secrecy. 

In truth the old onlooker is Hester’s missing husband. He is now practicing 

medicine and calls himself Roger Chillingworth. He settles in Boston, intent on revenge. 

He reveals his true identity to no one but Hester, whom he has sworn to secrecy. Several 

years pass. Hester supports herself by working as a seamstress, and Pearl grows into a 

willful, impish child. Shunned by the community, they live in a small cottage on the 

outskirts of Boston. Community officials try to take Pearl away from Hester, but, with 

the help of Arthur Dimmesdale, a young and eloquent minister, the mother and daughter 

manage to stay together. Dimmesdale, however, appears to be wasting away and suffers 

from a mysterious heart trouble, caused by psychological distress. Chillingworth attaches 

himself to the ailing minister and eventually moves in with him so that he can provide his 

patient with round-the-clock care. Chillingworth also suspects that there may be a 

connection between the minister’s torments and Hester’s secret, and he begins to test 

Dimmesdale to see what he can learn. One afternoon, while the minister sleeps, 

Chillingworth discovers a mark on the man’s breast (the details of which are suspense to 

the reader), which convinces him that his suspicions are correct. 

Dimmesdale’s psychologicaldisturbances increase , and he invents new tortures for 

himself. In the meantime, Hester’s charitable deeds and quiet humility have earned her 

some relief from the scorn of society.One night, when Pearl is about seven years old, she 

and her mother are returning home from a visit to a deathbed when they encounter 

Dimmesdale on top of the town scaffold, trying to punish himself for his sins. Hester and 

Pearl join him, and the three link hands. Dimmesdale refuses Pearl’s request that he 

acknowledge her publicly the next day, and a meteor marks a dull red “A” in the night 

sky. Hester can see that the minister’s condition is worsening, and she resolves to 

intervene. She goes to Chillingworth and asks him to stop adding to Dimmesdale’s selftorment. 

Chillingworth refuses. 

Hester arranges an encounter with Dimmesdale in the forest because she is aware 

that Chillingworth has probably guessed that she plans to reveal his identity to 

Dimmesdale. The former lovers decide to flee to Europe, where they can live with Pearl 

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as a family. They will take a ship sailing from Boston in four days. Both feel a sense of 

release, and Hester removes her scarlet letter and lets down her hair. Pearl, playing 

nearby, does not recognize her mother without the letter. The day before the ship is to 

sail, the townspeople gather for a holiday and Dimmesdale preaches his most eloquent 

sermon ever. Meanwhile, Hester has learned that Chillingworth knows of their plan and 

has booked passage on the same ship. Dimmesdale, leaving the church after his sermon, 

sees Hester and Pearl standing before the town scaffold. He mounts the scaffold with his 

lover and his daughter, and confesses publicly, exposing a scarlet letter seared into the 

flesh of his chest. He falls dead, as Pearl kisses him. 

Frustrated in his revenge, Chillingworth dies a year later. Hester and Pearl leave 

Boston, and no one knows what has happened to them. Many years later, Hester returns 

alone, still wearing the scarlet letter, to live in her old cottage and resume her charitable 

work. She receives letters from Pearl, who has married a European aristocrat and 

established a family of her own. When Hester dies, she is buried next to Dimmesdale. 

Both share a single tombstone, with a scarlet “A.” 

THE STORY 

4.9 THE CUSTOM HOUSE: INTRODUCTORY 

"The Custom House" is not really an integral part of the novel proper. It was 

added by Hawthorne as an afterthought on the advice of his publisher. It was supposed to 

add a light touch to increase sales. 

"The Custom House" aims to be an explanation of how Hawthorne came to write The 

Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne was fired from his job as Custom House Surveyor when the 

election of 1849 ousted his party from office. As the Custom House was a political 

appointment which depended on the good graces of the administration, Hawthorne was 

out of work. In a way, the Custom House job did lead Hawthorne to The Scarlet Letter. 

Salem had a firm hold on Hawthorne, even if it was a hold he sometimes struggled to 

break. The place had been native soil to his family for generations. Hawthorne's father 

had been born there, and his father before him-sailors all, who helped to build the great 

New England shipping trade. The Custom House itself was a repository of the past. On 

the second floor, a little-used cobweb-covered room housed a collection of ancient 

records. One day, while rummaging through the rubbish heaps, Hawthorne found a small 

package, neatly wrapped in yellowing parchment. It had apparently been overlooked by 

generations of previous Custom House employees. Unwrapping the package, Hawthorne 

found "a certain affair of fine red cloth," shaped like the letter A. And along with that 

curious piece of cloth, he discovered a manuscript, which upon examination proved to 

date from Colonial times, recording the story of Hester Prynne. 

Such, is the story Hawthorne tells, for the discovery of the letter and the 

manuscript is a fabrication. 

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Grim the characters may be and forbidding, severe even to cruelty in their 

treatment of Hester Prynne. But they keep their sights not on receipts of purchase, but on 

the eternal truths revealed to them by God. 

The Puritans have belief, conviction, faith-choose whatever word you like to convey that 

inner force which makes a human being stand for something larger than himself. Perhaps 

you will say the Puritans have soul, if you mean by that an inviolate spirit. 

4.10 CHAPTER SUMMARIES 

CHAPTER 1: THE PRISON-DOOR 

Hawthorne opens The Scarlet Letter just outside the prison of a, village in Boston 

of 1640s. We begin to expect a story of a crime already committed, of characters whose 

lives are already darkened by guilt and disgrace. "The sad- colored garments" of the 

spectators; the prison-door , "heavily timbered with oak and studded with iron spikes 

create a somber mood and paint a cheerless picture. And they hint, as well, at a society 

that places punishment far above forgiveness on its scale of values. A wild rose bush 

blossoms by the prison door adding color to the setting. A natural thing, the rose bush 

suggests a world beyond the narrow confines of the Puritan community, where beauty 

and vibrant color flourish and crime finds tolerance and pity. Here Hawthorne marks the 

thematic boundaries of his novel: law and nature, repression and freedom. 

CHAPTER 2: THE MARKET-PLACE 

"The Market-Place," is an important setting for the story . in puritan Boston an 

adultress is made to stand on the scaffold in the market place. The woman has been 

brought to the scaffold for an ordeal of shaming, an ordeal she endures with stubborn 

pride. She does not drop her gaze, but instead responds to the angry stares of the crowd 

with quiet defiance. In her arms, the woman carries an infant, an emblem of her sin. On 

her breast, she wears another: a scarlet letter A (for Adulteress), intended by the 

magistrates to be a badge of shame, but already the subject of curious speculation. On a 

nearby balcony, seated in a place of honor among the judges, is the woman's lover, the 

man who is supposed to be standing on the scaffold by her side. Among the crowd an 

interested observer, the woman's secret husband, watches, his keen eyes searching for his 

rival, his thoughts already turned to revenge. 

In this first encounter in the market-place, the young woman, Hester Prynne, and 

the Puritan community are in fierce conflict. On one side is a woman who has violated a 

strict social and religious code, and on the other side is a grim and forbidding crowd.The 

crowd has severe expressions on the face. One hard-faced matron suggests branding 

Hester Prynne's forehead with a hot iron as a more appropriate punishment than the 

wearing of the scarlet letter. And a second woman goes further, calling for the death 

penalty. Hester Prynne walks into their midst with a radiance undimmed by her stay in 

prison. She carries herself with a stately, natural grace. Hester is beautiful, of course. And 

her rich, deep complexion and her glossy black hair suggest a sensuality. 

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Under such pressure any other woman might have burst into tears or appealed 

for mercy but Hester does not speak. Pride dominates her expression, her clothing is rich 

beyond the allowance of the colony's laws; and the scarlet letter, sewn by Hester in prison 

and worn this day by order of the Governor and the ministers. And what a letter it is! 

Made not out of simple red flannel used for colds and rheumatism, as one woman 

observes, but elaborately embroidered with threads of gold. A badge of shame that looks 

more like a sign of defiance, thrown in the magistrates' teeth. 

She is extraordinary, as she stands there on the scaffold. She is the daughter of 

impoverished English gentry, wed as a girl to an old, misshapen scholar who spent his 

days poring over dusty books. Sent on ahead of her husband to the New World, she found 

herself neither widow nor wife in a rugged frontier community where a woman alone had 

no place and no life. When we first encounter Hester, she has spent two years waiting for 

a man who may never come, a man whose arrival, in any case, is not welcome to her. 

CHAPTER 3: THE RECOGNITION 

As Hester Prynne stands on the scaffold, her husband appears before her startled 

eyes at the edge of the crowd.The shock or dismay he may feel at seeing his wife on the 

scaffold, with another man's child in her arms, he immediately suppresses his emotions 

and keeps his face calm. 

By the time Hester's eyes meet his own, he has plotted his course of action. He 

indicates, secrecy to his wife by raising a finger to his lips. 

The glance he fixes on Hester Prynne is keen and penetrative. Chillingworth looks 

like a man who has cultivated his mind at the expense of an other faculties-a perilous 

enterprise, in Hawthorne's view. Where his overbearing intellect will take him, we will 

see in later chapters. Chillingworth's finger raised to his lips, commanding Hester's 

silence, begins a pattern of secrecy that is the mainspring of the novel's plot.He assumes 

total ignorance of Hester and her situation. He takes on a new identity, that of a recently 

arrived physician, seeking the shelter of civilization after a stay among the savages. 

As Chillingworth's conversation with the townsman indicates, he will use his new 

position to solve the mystery that confronts him: the identity of his wife's lover. In this 

chapter we now have two characters in hiding, a concealed husband and a concealed 

lover. We are hearing a lot of proud talk in this market-place about the godly colony of 

Massachusetts, where "iniquity is dragged out into the sunshine." Turning to Hester 

Prynne, the magistrates attempt to make her reveal the name of her partner in sin. In a 

ringing voice that echoes through the crowd, the Reverend John Wilson, religious head of 

the colony, calls upon the adulteress to forego her "hardness and obstinacy" and identify 

the man who led her into error. But encountering only silence, Wilson admits defeat. He 

turns to Arthur Dimmesdale to second his appeal. 

Wilson's words turn our attention to Arthur Dimmesdale, seated on the balcony 

with the magistrates, but somehow apart from the rest. Dimmesdale is younger than the 

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men who surround him, and softer. Against the icy sternness of the Puritan elders, he 

appears too sensitive. The magistrates, we note, are men of action. Dimmesdale is a 

scholar, fresh from the great English universities. He is not at home in the market-place. 

He prefers the seclusion of his study. Right now, he would give a lot to be at home with 

his books. The minister seems to be frankly troubled to be witness to this spectacle at all. 

His presence has been required; it has not been a matter of choice. His intervention in the 

proceedings is also involuntary. He speaks to Hester Prynne only at Wilson's insistence. 

His call for confession leaves some freedom of choice. "If thou feelest it to be for thy 

soul's peace," he tells Hester, "I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow sinner." 

Dimmesdale's arguments are also more personal than Wilson's, presumably closer 

to the heart of a woman in love. He urges Hester to confess for her lover's own good. It is 

a moving appeal, a compelling line of reasoning, and a totally amazing speech, once we 

realize that Dimmesdale is talking against himself. Every word the minister utters is 

charged with double meaning. Each inflection of his voice has one significance for the 

crowd of spectators, another for Hester Prynne who alone knows that Dimmesdale 

himself is the man the magistrates so urgently seek. Dimmesdale is in a tight corner, he is 

a public official, under orders to elicit Hester's confession. He is also the private lover 

who benefits from her silence. 

As Hester's pastor, Dimmesdale has a moral obligation to seek the salvation of her 

soul. Hester maintains silence. Her refusal to speak gives us an opportunity to measure 

her generosity of spirit. Wilson states that confession may remove the scarlet letter from 

her breast. Hester has understood, better than the magistrates, the meaning of the badge 

of shame they have forced upon her. She claims the letter for her own, clutching it to 

herself with a mixture of pride and despair. "Never!" she answers Wilson, "The letter is 

too deeply branded. Ye cannot take it off." 

CHAPTER 4: THE INTERVIEW 

"The Interview" brings together the estranged husband and wife in the Boston 

prison. Chillingworth has come to the prison in the role of a physician sent for by the 

jailor who can no longer control his overwrought charges, Hester and Pearl. When Hester 

sees Chillingworth, she becomes as still as death. Her heart leaps into her throat. Hester 

has steeled herself to bear the day's trials, but her husband's unlooked-for arrival throws 

her completely off base. Hester’s bravery in the market place is not evident now.She can 

barely look Chillingworth in the face. She feels all the shame and terror she never felt 

before the magistrates. Hester, in fact, believes that Chillingworth has come to the prison 

with murder in his heart. When the physician hands her a draught of medicine to calm her 

down, Hester visibly hesitates, wondering if there is poison in the cup. 

He takes on himself a share of the blame for his wife's downfall. "It was my 

folly, and thy weakness. I,- a man of thought,- the bookworm of great libraries,- a man 

already in decay,- what had I to do with youth and beauty like thine own!"Chillingworth's 

real purpose is revenge, though not against Hester. It is her lover he seeks. Chillingworth 

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has come to the prison to ask the man's name. "I will keep thy secret, as I have his," 

Hester swears to Chillingworth. 

CHAPTER 5: HESTER AT HER NEEDLE 

For Hester's violation of the Puritan code, the magistrates inflict two punishments: 

first, the hours of shame on the scaffold; and second, the life-long burden of the scarlet 

letter. In this chapter, Hawthorne turns to the long, gray years following the turbulent 

scene in the market-place. Many readers of The Scarlet Letter see the start of a great 

change in Hester, a move away from the fierce defiance of the opening chapters towards 

a growing acceptance of her fate. Hester turns her back on these escape routes. She stays 

in the settlement, shackled, as if by an iron chain of guilt, to the scene of her crime and 

punishment. Hester has changed the rich clothing of the scaffold scene for a modest, 

nondescript dress. In her rejection of finery, she is more severe than her Puritan 

neighbors, who employ Hester's needle for such occasional luxuries as christening robes 

and gorgeously embroidered gloves. 

Hester uses her spare hours not for the detailed work she loves, but in the making 

of coarse garments for the colony's indigent. It is an act of penance for which she gets 

small thanks. The poor receive her gifts with insults. Hester now moves quietly and 

usefully through the community, bowing her head as indignities are heaped upon it. 

Hester has chosen to stay in the Puritan settlement for a reason she dares not admit, even 

to herself: the man she loves is there. Here is the tie she feels to Boston, an unblessed 

union to be recognized in the next world, if not in this one. Hester subdues her taste for 

the beautiful out of a guilty conscience. Hester's acts of charity are a camouflage for 

anger and bitterness. Though she sews for the poor, she wishes them to the devil. She 

may show outward patience when insulted and abused, but inwardly she is stung to the 

quick. It is a narrow foothold that Hester maintains in a community that offers her no 

support or human warmth, but that does not entirely cast her off. 

CHAPTER 6: PEARL 

Pearl is half child, half literary symbol. The product of a broken rule, she does not 

obey rules herself and has a wild and stormy nature. Pearl's high coloring and warm 

complexion are the gifts of her mother. They also suggest the fiery state of Hester's 

emotions during her term of imprisonment. Pearl's uncontrolled rages at her Puritan 

peers-priggish little brats that they are-and the hostile playmates she invents with her 

fertile imagination, express her sense of alienation, her recognition that she is an outcast's 

child. With her outbursts of temper, Pearl is a constant reproach to Hester for bringing an 

innocent being into an adverse world. She is a reminder of the far-reaching, unthought-of 

consequences of sin. But nothing that Pearl does causes Hester so much anguish as the 

child's fascination with the scarlet letter. 

The letter is the first object of Pearl's consciousness. As her infant hands reach for 

the threads of red and gold her face takes on a knowing smile. The letter is the subject of 

her play. She makes it a target for flowers which she hurls at her mother, jumping up and 

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down with glee.The effect of Pearl's behavior, whatever the cause, keeps Hester's sense 

of shame fresh and acute. The wound is not allowed to heal. Even in the privacy of her 

cottage, away from the prying eyes of the community, Hester is not for a moment safe. 

CHAPTER 7: THE GOVERNOR'S HALL 

Hawthorne describes the house first, as if it were right there before him, a 200year-old 

mansion. And then he imaginatively strips it of the accretions of time-the moss, 

the dust, the emotional residue of lives-to show us the house as it was in 1640, sparkling, 

clean, and new. Inside the mansion, the Chronicles of England lies open on the window 

seat, as if someone has been called away in the middle of a page. A large pewter tankard 

has a foamy bit of ale in it, as if someone has just taken a draught and put it down. A suit 

of armor, fresh from the London armorer, stands polished and ready for use. 

Hester has come to Bellingham's home, disturbed by rumors of a movement afoot 

to take Pearl away from her. The leaders of the community, the Governor chief among 

them, have decided that the child's welfare would be better served if she were placed in 

worthier hands. Hester arrives determined to fight for her rights as a mother. But the 

outfit in which she has clothed Pearl is a doubtful argument in her favor. Pearl wears a 

crimson velvet tunic, embroidered with gold. It is, to put it mildly, an outlandish costume 

in a society where black and gray are the going colors. Bellingham will find in the child's 

outfit all the more reason to place Pearl in a home where she will be "soberly clad."Pearl 

is the scarlet letter "come to life." Hester has lavished all her skill as a seamstress on a 

dress that points out the likeness between the two emblems of her sin. 

CHAPTER 8: THE ELF-CHILD AND THE MINISTER 

In this chapter, there is a contest between Hester Prynne and the magistrates over 

Pearl. Hester is so strong in her sense of the right of a mother to her child-that she seems 

almost a match for these stern and rigorous law makers. At the first sight of Pearl, the 

magistrates gathered in the Governor's hall are taken aback. They don't know what to 

make of the high-spirited child. In her red velvet tunic, Pearl seems to them like an 

apparition from another-and an older and gayer-world. She reminds Wilson of the 

glowing reflections cast by the stained glass windows of the high Gothic cathedrals in 

Europe. She recalls to Bellingham the unruly children of the English court theatricals. 

The old men are kindly to Pearl, but clearly disapproving. When the child fails to recite 

her catechism properly, they consider the question of Hester's continued custody to be 

closed. Pearl will be taken from her mother. 

In their decision to put Pearl in a proper, God-fearing home, the Governor and 

Wilson have not reckoned with Hester Prynne. The mother is prepared to fight ,clutching 

Pearl tightly in her arms, Hester cries out her defiance. Hester's entreaties, however, fall 

on deaf ears. She turns in desperation to her one possible source of help. She has spied, in 

Arthur Dimmesdale, a potential ally in the enemy camp. Hester has sensed Dimmesdale's 

presence all along, though she has not acknowledged it until now. The second private 

exchange between Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale takes place in full view of an 

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uncomprehending audience. Hester is addressing Dimmesdale, of course, not as her 

pastor, but as the unnamed father of her child. Although she does not explicitly threaten 

to give Dimmesdale away, the implication is there. Dimmesdale, honestly moved by 

Hester's distress and perhaps just as honestly frightened by her implied threats, comes 

forward to intervene on her behalf. Dimmesdale succeeds in swaying Bellingham and 

Wilson where Hester has failed. 

CHAPTER 9: THE LEECH 

In past centuries doctors were known as leeches because of their common 

practice of bleeding patients. The title of this chapter is characteristically ambiguous. It 

points, on the one hand, to Chillingworth's newly assumed career as a doctor, and, on the 

other hand, to his role as emotional parasite. He is now a man who lives off another's 

suffering. Like Chillingworth himself, the title has a surface meaning as well as a deeper 

one. As a doctor, Chillingworth is professional. He does not seek Dimmesdale out 

aggressively When Dimmesdale, denying his need for a doctor's care, says that he would 

be well content to die if it were God's will, Chillingworth is quick to attribute to the 

minister only the best, and least personal, of motives. 

By careful handling of Dimmesdale, Chillingworth manages to build a bond of 

intimacy with him. He becomes a sounding board for the minister's ideas, a recipient of 

confidences-medical and otherwise. Chillingworth's motives, as we know, are entirely 

malevolent. Chillingworth is guilty of more than a betrayal of friendship or an abuse of a 

doctor's privilege. He is trespassing on holy ground, entering with irreverent curiosity the 

sacred precincts of another man's soul. He is also shoveling away all of Dimmesdale's 

virtues to find the lode of evil he suspects. And while he is digging, he begins to show 

signs of getting dirty. Rumors are rife in Boston. Chillingworth is an arch villain or even 

a fiend. Chillingworth, after all, has made his own life dependent on Dimmesdale's. 

Revenge is his sole reason to exist. 

CHAPTER 10: THE LEECH AND HIS PATIENT 

Chillingworth has worked his way to the position of Dimmesdale's friend and 

counselor. The doctor now shares the minister's quarters to keep his patient under his 

wing. The doctor goes to Dimmesdale with an ugly weed plucked from a nearby 

graveyard. He tells Dimmesdale that the weed represents some guilty secret that was 

buried with the corpse. Dimmesdale takes the bait. In his experience, the minister says, 

men find great comfort in confession. Undoubtedly, the dead man longed to tell his 

secret, but could not do so. The minister begins to talk, not about men in general, but 

about himself. He offers a justification for silence that lies close to his heart. Perhaps men 

shrink from confession, Dimmesdale says, because once they have sullied their 

reputations, they no longer have a hope of redeeming past evil with future good deeds. 

Confessed sinners put themselves beyond the pale of society, where they can no longer 

serve God or their fellow men. 

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The tense discussion between Dimmesdale and Chillingworth is interrupted by the 

merry laughter of Pearl that comes floating in through the window. The child is up to her 

usual tricks. She is playing with the scarlet letter, outlining the red token on Hester's dress 

with burrs that prick less than her own cool indifference. There is a look of pain on 

Hester's face. The two men have reached a critical point in their relationship. For a 

moment, Dimmesdale has seen the malice in Chillingworth's eyes. He has recognized his 

enemy. But he backs down, filled with self-doubt. Chillingworth, too, has had a glimpse 

of what lies beneath the veil. He has penetrated Dimmesdale's reserve and found the 

streak of passion he's always suspected in the man. And he finds something else. Coming 

upon Dimmesdale in deep sleep Chillingworth thrusts aside a piece of cloth that, up to 

now, has always hidden the minister's chest from sight and sees a letter over the 

minister's heart that corresponds to the one on Hester's dress. 

CHAPTER 11: THE INTERIOR OF A HEART 

This chapter explores the widening gap between the saintly minister perceived by 

the community and the sinner Dimmesdale knows himself to be. The title of the chapter 

is important because the interior of a heart is where reality lies. It is a dark interior in 

these guilt-stricken characters of Hawthorne. The author leads us into the dim recesses of 

the minister's mind. His mind is filled with gloom,despair and self loathing.He is living a 

lie in the sight of a God who knows and loves the truth. As a priest, Dimmesdale must 

guide his thoughts and actions by a higher, clearer light than other men. Dimmesdale's 

agony is only intensified by the irony of his situation. The worse he feels, the better he 

appears in the eyes of his congregation. Dimmesdale grows pale and thin. His sermons 

take on a new and moving note and the people of Boston thank , Heaven for their 

minister. 

Dimmesdale ‘s self-contempt only increases with every half-hearted attempt he 

makes to set himself right. He indulges in some morbid forms of penance. He takes up 

fasting and fasts until he faints. He takes a whip to his shoulders and beats himself until 

he bleeds. Life for the minister has become unbearable.The very objects of his 

bedchamber-the heavy leather Bible, the thick oak table-have lost their and solidity. 

Dimmesdale begins to see through things, almost to walk through them, like a ghost. 

CHAPTER 12: THE MINISTER'S VIGIL 

In this chapter Dimmesdale comes to the scaffold to stand where Hester Prynne 

stood, in a frank and open declaration that he is the man who belonged by her side seven 

years before. He makes a frank and open declaration in the middle of the night, when no 

one can see. Some people come along, and the first person to pass unsuspectingly by is 

Reverend John Wilson, on his way home from Governor Winthrop's deathbed. Hester 

and Pearl, also returning from Winthrop's bedside, mount the scaffold at Dimmesdale's 

pressing invitation. The three figures, outlined against the night sky, make a dim, obscure 

picture, a shadow show of the real scene of confession which should take place in 

daylight. The shadow show is enough for Dimmesdale, giving him the first measure of 

peace he has known in years. But it is not enough for Pearl. 

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Twice the child demands of the minister, will he take her hand and her mother's 

"tomorrow noontide"? On hearing Dimmesdale's reply-no, not in the light of this world- 

Pearl struggles to withdraw her hand from the minister's and run away. Pearl's departure 

is halted by a meteor that floods the night sky with an unearthly light. The figures on the 

scaffold stand illuminated now, as if on the Day of Judgment-the minister with his hand 

over the A on his heart, Hester wearing her scarlet A; and Pearl, herself a symbol, 

between them-under a fiercely glowing A in the sky. It is a perfect symbolic picture. 

Dimmesdale has read the dull red lines of the letter in the meteor's trail, but "another's 

guilt might have seen another symbol in it." 

CHAPTER 13: ANOTHER VIEW OF HESTER 

This chapter brings a second portrait of Hester. On the surface, Hester's 

submission to society has deepened. She lives within conformity with the rigid Puritan 

code. With no reputation to lose, Hester has conducted herself in such a manner that not 

the busiest gossip in Boston can find a hint of scandal to report. Hester's charity to the 

poor continues, and she accepts, without complaint, the insults she receives at their 

hands. She has become a self-ordained Sister of Mercy. Her new role is that of tender and 

competent nurse to the colony's ill and dying. The scarlet letter has become a sign of 

Hester's community with people in trouble. In households darkened by sorrow, the red 

token glimmers with comfort. A grateful, if fickle, public has invested the scarlet letter 

with a new meaning. The A no longer stands for "Adulteress." It now means "Able." 

Condemned as an adulteress, Hester has become a free thinker, something far more 

dangerous in this stuffy, illiberal world. Once she was a dissenter, a person who broke 

with her society over a single law. Now she is a heretic, a person who questions the basis 

of every law. 

Someone like Hester, an outcast from society who lives on the edge of the 

wilderness, has no recourse to other minds and ideas, even in books. She has nothing to 

go on but her own experience, her admittedly distorted view of life. We should note that 

Hester's criticism of society ends in speculation and stops short of action. She never 

becomes a reformer or what we might call an advocate of women's liberation. Hester's 

emotions are crushed, or buried deep within her. Her ideas in her society are literally 

unspeakable. As a result, Hester, like Dimmesdale and Chillingworth, is leading a double 

life. 

CHAPTER 14: HESTER AND THE PHYSICIAN 

The sight of Dimmesdale on the scaffold has given Hester a shock. She never 

knew the minister was so demoralized. She realizes now that, by her silence, she has left 

Dimmesdale far too long under Chillingworth's evil influence. She will seek out her 

husband to prevent what further damage she can. She has imagined him in a cozy 

position of honor and respect, while she was all the while suffering disgrace. She realizes 

now that she has misread the man. Clearly Dimmesdale has been suffering, too. If Hester 

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has grown, Chillingworth has diminished. The years have shriveled him up. He stoops 

now when he walks, and his face has a dark, furtive look. 

Hester, noting the change in her husband, is stricken with guilt. She believes 

Chillingworth's deterioration is, in part, traceable to herself. She has given Chillingworth 

a promise of silence that she now regrets. She has left her husband in a position to watch 

Dimmesdale day and night, to poison the minister's thoughts, to play on his heartstrings. 

She will retract that promise now. Chillingworth, at first, denies Hester's accusation. 

"'What evil have I done the man?'" Chillingworth asks. Why, no evil at all. In fact, 

Chillingworth asserts, he has lavished on Dimmesdale medical care fit for a king. It is 

only thanks to the physician's care that Dimmesdale is still alive. 

Contemplating just how far he has fallen from grace, Chillingworth knows there 

is no turning back. Once he was a decent man, kindly, honest, just. But now he is a 

hellish creature, given over to another's torment. Overwhelmed by a sense of futility, 

Hester gives way to despair. She will not stoop to plead with such a creature as 

Chillingworth, even for Dimmesdale's life. She will do as she must. She will go to the 

minister and reveal her husband's secret, though all the while she will expect the worst. 

Chillingworth's eyes light up at the sheer magnificence of Hester's despair. He feels a 

thrill of admiration for her capacity to look truth so cooly in the face. What a woman, he 

thinks to himself. Chillingworth closes the chapter with a moral shrug of the shoulders. 

He cannot change, he will not pardon. For the desperate straits in which he, Hester, and 

Dimmesdale now find themselves, there is really no one to blame. It has all been fate, or 

"dark necessity." 

CHAPTER 15: HESTER AND PEARL 

One day watching Chillingworth go, Hester makes one of the private judgments 

that mark her lately as an independent thinker: "'Be it sin, or no,'... 'I hate the man!'" She 

knows that she has no business hating anyone, especially a man she has wronged. 

Moreover, she has just described pardon to Chillingworth as a "priceless benefit." She 

knows she should be searching for that golden vein of forgiveness within herself. But the 

bitter memories that come flooding in are too strong for Christian doctrine. Hester recalls 

with horror the early days of her marriage, when she and Chillingworth would sit by the 

fire, exchanging smiles that represented lukewarm affection, perhaps, but surely not love. 

She believes it her own worst sin that she consented to a marriage of contentment-or 

worse, convenience. And she judges it Chillingworth's foulest crime that he cheated her, 

when she was too young to know better, into thinking herself happy at his side. 

Hester accepts responsibility for Chillingworth's deterioration. Now she is 

blaming him for her own mistakes. "'He betrayed me!'" she says to herself. "'He has done 

me worse wrong than I did him!'" Pearl has, as usual, been thinking about the scarlet 

letter and incorporating it in her games. But this time, there is a special earnestness in her 

manner that makes Hester wonder whether Pearl has reached the age to be trusted with 

some of the truth. Holding her mother's hand and looking with unusual thoughtfulness 

into her mother's eyes, Pearl asks the two questions that have troubled her all her 

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life.Hester hesitates, tempted to tell her daughter something of the story of her sin. But at 

the last moment, she backs down. She gives the child a shamefully false and silly answer. 

Hester tells Pearl she wears the scarlet letter for decoration, for the "sake of its golden 

thread." . Pearl repeats her questions day and night until Hester is driven half-mad. 

Plagued by these constant reminders of her cowardice she threatens to lock the child in a 

closet. Hester's unaccustomed harshness suggests she regrets the lost opportunity. The 

moment of trust and closeness may not come again. 

CHAPTER 16: A FOREST WALK 

Having failed to prevent Chillingworth from his revengeful attitude, Hester 

decides to seek out Dimmesdale and reveal to the minister himself the true identity of 

Chillingworth. She has learned that Dimmesdale has gone to visit the Apostle Eliot, a 

missionary among the Indians. She decides to meet the minister in the forest on his 

return.The woods are dark and somber, but Hester welcomes the darkness as an 

assurance of privacy. She has come here to meet Arthur Dimmesdale far away from 

prying eyes. 

To Pearl, the forest is a friendly place. The brook babbles to her like a playmate. 

The forest , is free nobody watches in the woods to report misbehavior to the magistrates. 

Here people do as they like. And what they like is breaking rules.Hester will soon 

respond to that wild note of the forest. In the meantime, we discover, Pearl has heard 

more than a general tale of devils and witches from that old crone in the chimney corner. 

She has heard a very specific reference in the story to her mother. Is it true, Pearl asks, 

that the scarlet letter is the Black Man's mark? And does it glow red at night when Hester 

meets him in the forest? 

Hester responds to Pearl's question with one of her own: has Pearl ever awakened 

at night and found her mother gone from the cottage? It is possible that Hester is being 

evasive, answering one question with another. But more likely, she is claiming simple 

justice from her daughter. We remember that Hester has, in fact, been invited to the forest 

by Mistress Hibbins. And she declined the invitation, choosing instead to stay at home 

with Pearl. In any case, Pearl will not be put off, she repeats her questions. And this time, 

Hester does not lie to her daughter. She answers with something at least like the truth. 

"'Once in my life I met the Black Man! The scarlet letter is his mark!'" 

CHAPTER 17: THE PASTOR AND HIS PARISHIONER 

In this chapter there is a meeting of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. It is a 

reunion that dominates the next three chapters. Seven years have passed since the lovers 

have met in privacy.Time has taken a frightful toll on the minister, and disciplined 

Hester. They enquire about each other.Dimmesdale asks Hester if she has found 

peace.He tells Hester that he is sick of his false position. He is doubtful of the efficiency 

of his work and bitter in his soul at the contrast between what he is and what he seems. 

Hester has come to the forest expressly to tell Dimmesdale that he has an enemy. She 

speaks with great fear. She believes that her deception of the minister has been a dire 

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wrong. As she confesses it, she throws herself, in an unusually demonstrative gesture, at 

Dimmesdale's feet. 

He turns to Hester in anger, accusing her of nothing short of betrayal. The raging 

minister tells Hester she has left him indecently exposed to his enemy. Thanks to her, his 

suffering has been witnessed by the very eye that would gloat over it. Dimmesdale might 

have remembered that Hester has had her own trials to bear, trials in which he offered her 

no aid. But Dimmesdale's fit of anger passes, leaving him quieter than before. He is now 

willing to make a kinder judgment on both Hester and himself. He says that both of them 

are not the worst sinners in the world. Chillingworth’s revenge has been blacker than 

their sin because he has violatedthe sanctity of a human heart.'" 

Dimmesdale states that Chillingworth is guilty of a premeditated crime. The old 

man has turned the cold light of his intellect on human suffering and, what's more, has 

sought to increase it. Dimmesdale's sin, on the contrary, is the result of runaway passion. 

For once, guided by Hester and not by Chillingworth, Dimmesdale can see the human 

element in his situation. He can offer himself a small measure of forgiveness. Hester 

confirms Dimmesdale's judgment. She pushes the minister further than he is ready to go. 

Hester and Dimmesdale sit quietly for a while, grateful for this brief respite in their 

troubles. The path lies before them back to the settlement where Hester must take up her 

burden of shame and Dimmesdale his life of hypocrisy. They linger in the gray twilight 

of the forest. Dimmesdale is the first to break the spell. He comes back to reality with a 

start and asks Hester,what he can do about Chillingworth. Now that he knows the 

physician's true identity, he can no longer live under the same roof with the man but he 

sees no escape except to crawl under the leaves and die. The deterioration in Dimmesdale 

becomes evident now. He is childish in his confusion, too weak to make the most basic 

decisions about life. He turns to Hester as a small boy might turn to his mother, placing 

all responsibility in her hands. Hester is shocked by her lover's disintegration, but she 

accepts the opportunity his weakness provides. She advices Dimmesdale to leave the area 

of torment and go into the far world out of reach of Chillingworth and begin a new life. 

Dimmesdale protests that he is too weak to start a new life. He has moral 

objections, too. He would feel like a sentry deserting his post. But his protests are feeble. 

He is all the while angling for something. Twice he says to Hester that he is unable to 

consider such a venture alone. Hester is at the starting gate, waiting for him. It is the 

invitation, even if only half-expressed, that she has been hoping for. She whispers to her 

minister, "'Thou shalt not go alone!'" 

CHAPTER 18: A FLOOD OF SUNSHINE 

Hester's words echo in Dimmesdale's mind and he is very happy.. However 

Dimmesdale, is not calm to come up with a rational decision. He is exhausted and 

emotionally spent. He is wide open to the power of suggestion. He will grasp at any 

solution Hester offers him. Taking off her cap, Hester unlooses her hair. As the dark 

strands cascade down her back, she becomes a woman again. Her eyes grow radiant. A 

flush comes to her cheek. The sunlight, which previously shunned Hester, now seeks her 

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out. In her present state, she is at one with nature. The forest glows in the golden light, 

rejoicing with the lovers, sharing their mood. We sense that something vitally important 

has happened in this scene, a possibility barely even hinted at before. Hester and 

Dimmesdale have come to life again. The minister, half-dead when he first lay down in 

the forest, is buoyed up, hopeful, energetic. The woman of marble that was Hester Prynne 

only a few pages ago is now all tenderness and fire. There is an unfitting element in their 

scheme .It is Pearl she does not fit with the lovers. 

CHAPTER 19: THE CHILD AT THE BROOK-SIDE 

Hester tells Dimmesdale, that he should get to know his daughter. Pearl has 

wandered off in the woods somewhere. She is busy picking flowers and playing. 

Dimmesdale, is not a proud father as Hester had hoped. Selfish as always, he worries 

that people may have noticed the striking resemblance betweenpPearl and himself. 

Hester, reminds him that, in future he need not be afraid to be recognized as Pearl's 

father. Yet Dimmesdale is nervous.He says that children make him nervous. In the 

meantime, Pearl reaches them. Hester and Dimmesdale are dumbstruck by her wild 

beauty.Decked with flowers, Pearl resembles a native spirit of the forest. 

When Pearl stops by the bank of the stream, she is reflected in a pool of water, so 

that there are two Pearls, both shimmering in the gloom. The double image has a kind of 

unreality. And Hester is seized by the fancy that Pearl has wandered off into another 

world, on the far side of the brook, where she will be forever cut off from her mother. 

Hester's idea proves to be no fancy at all but nothing short of the truth. Pearl stubbornly 

refuses to obey her mother's command to jump across the stream and make friends with 

the minister. Instead, the child points an accusing finger at the vacant spot on Hester's 

dress. She frowns, she stamps her foot. And when Hester begins to scold, Pearl bursts 

into shrieks that echo through the forest. 

It is all too much for Dimmesdale's nerves. He begs Hester to do somethingfast. 

Hester has no choice but to pacify Pearl. She knows what the child misses, and she wades 

into the stream to retrieve the scarlet letter. Pearl's silent message, as she stands there on 

the far side of the stream, is that there is no return from experience to innocence. She will 

not recognize her mother until the scarlet letter is once more in place and Hester's 

luxuriant hair, that radiant sign of young womanhood, is once more imprisoned beneath 

the restraining cap. Pearl is now willing to greet her mother, but she will have nothing to 

do with the minister. When Dimmesdale plants a nervous kiss on her forehead, she runs 

back to the stream to wash it off. Hester and Dimmesdale draw aside to discuss their 

plans for the future. 

CHAPTER 20: THE MINISTER IN A MAZE 

Dimmesdale returns home from the forest and there is a change in him. The 

minister who went to the woods was weak to the point of death and on return ,he seems a 

little mad. The minister is terrified and amazed at himself. Seeing Hester was like lifting 

the lid off a boiling pot. Dimmesdale, having chosen what he knew to be sin, is becoming 

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every minute more of a sinner. He goes home and begins anew that piece of work which 

is so important to him, the Election Sermon. He channels, the energy sparked by the 

forest meeting into his true calling, the saving of souls. He works like a man inspired (or 

a man possessed) until the next morning, where the sermon lies finished before him on 

the study floor. 

CHAPTER 21: THE NEW ENGLAND HOLIDAY 

In this chapter, Hawthorne shows us a lighter side of Puritanism. We come upon 

the colonists in a highly unusual act: celebrating to mark the election of new magistrates, 

the colony has set aside its work. The citizens of Boston have gathered in the marketplace 

to make merry as best they can. There is a parade planned, with music, and 

wrestling matches, too. Hester and Pearl are part of the celebration. Though Hester stands 

on the sidelines, wearing her usual austere dress and her usual stony expression, the note 

of celebration echoes in her heart. She has come to the market-place, she imagines, 

wearing the scarlet letter for the last time. She silently invites the crowd of spectators to 

look their last on her badge of shame. In a little while, the letter will lie at the bottom of 

the sea. And Boston won't have Hester Prynne to mock at any more. 

Hester has made plans to leave the colony that very day. She has booked passage 

for Dimmesdale, Pearl, and herself on a ship, now berthed in the harbor. It is due to sail 

for England with the evening. As Hester speaks to the shipmaster, she discovers that 

Chillingworth has also booked passage on the same boat. The leech will stick to his 

patient all the way to England. There will be no shaking him off. Hester is shaken by the 

shipmaster's news. As she digests this unwelcome piece of information, she catches sight 

of Chillingworth on the other side of the square. He is watching her across the mass of 

gaily chattering people. On his face, he wears the implacable smile of fate. 

CHAPTER 22: THE PROCESSION 

In the market-place, the magistrates: firm, stalwart men who in times of peril have 

stood up to protect the colony like rocks against the tide are on parade. Pearl in her bright 

red dress is flitting among the spectators like a wild bird. Hester watches Dimmesdale as 

he passes by in the procession. This is not the man she left in the woods. His step is firm 

and energetic now and he is as indifferent to her presence. Hester is worried because it is 

the eve of their escape. Dimmesdale's preoccupied air is also noticed by Mistress 

Hibbins.She corners Hester and asks,who would believe that this saintly minister, who 

looks as if his head has been buried in his books for months on end, has in fact just 

returned from an airing in the woods? 

Hester is startled at the question. When Hester protests that she cannot speak 

lightly of the pious Mr. Dimmesdale, Mistress Hibbins indignantly tells her that she has 

been to the forest so many times and can tell who else has been there, even if no tell-tale 

twigs or leaves still cling to their hair? What the old witch is saying is that she needs no 

black magic to see into the minister's heart. Hester approaches the meeting house to hear 

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Dimmesdale's Election Sermon. As the place is packed, she stands outside by the scaffold 

of the pillory, listening to the rise and fall of Dimmesdale's voice. 

CHAPTER 23: THE REVELATION 

Dimmesdale's Election Sermon is a crowning effort full of inspiration.The crowd 

is drawn towards him. The spirit of prophecy has lifted Dimmesdale to new heights from 

which he foretold a glorious future for the people of New England. Yet it is a future that 

their minister will not share. The citizens of Boston sense that Dimmesdale is dying. He 

has spoken like an angel ascending to heaven, who has shaken his wings and sent down 

truths upon them. Dimmesdale approaches the scaffold and calls out to Hester and Pearl 

to join him. The child flies to his side, for this is the public sign of recognition that she 

has been waiting for. Hester moves slowly, unwillingly, forward. She knows what is 

coming. She is about to lose her lover a second time. And this time, the pain is sharper 

because it is unexpected. 

Chillingworth is equally surprised by Dimmesdale's obvious intention. He rushes 

forward to stop the minister from making a public confession. If Hester is losing a lover, 

he is losing a victim. He cannot play on Dimmesdale's secret guilt once it is known to the 

public. Chillingworth makes a last, frantic appeal to the minister's cowardice stating that 

his life and honor can still be saved, if only he will stop now. Dimmesdale, however, 

brushes Chillingworth aside. He is no longer listening. Dimmesdale stretches forth his 

hand to Hester to ask for her support. He no longer has the strength to mount the scaffold 

alone. But now that he has brought himself to the brink of confession, he hesitates. It's all 

very well for you to confess, Hester is tells Dimmesdale. You won't have to face the 

consequences. But what about me? What about Pearl? There's no escape for us now. 

When you are gone, we'll still be left to face the people. 

She gives Dimmesdale her arm and the minister, supported by Hester and Pearl, 

climbs to the wooden platform where he confesses his sin to the people of Boston. It is a 

dramatic speech. He tears away the cloth that covers his chest and reveals to the crowd 

the mark, shaped like a letter A, which has eaten into his flesh. The market-place is in 

great confusion but on the scaffold, Dimmesdale is calm. He turns to Pearl to ask for the 

kiss she refused him in the forest. The child complies. As she leans her face toward her 

father's, a great change comes over her. She is truly touched for the first time in her 

young life. The wicked imp vanishes, replaced by a little girl with a heart. Hester, having 

lost the lifetime she planned with Dimmesdale, now bargains for second best. 

Dimmesdale sacrifices many things-love, life, honor-to make his peace with God. He 

leaves his fate to God. But he turns to heaven at the end darkly, doubtfully. 

4.11 CONCLUSION 

After Dimmesdale's confession and his death there is some disagreement about 

the meaning of Dimmesdale's last actions. Some observers of the scaffold scene deny the 

minister's guilt. They say there was no mark on his chest and that he died in Hester's arms 

to show that we are all sinners alike. Chillingworth dies, too. He has built his life around 

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Dimmesdale's, using all his energies on tormenting the minister, and now he has nothing 

left. So Chillingworth shrivels up and blows away with the wind. 

In his will, however, Chillingworth names Pearl as his heir. Pearl! The daughter 

of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. 

4.12 Major Characters 

Hester Prynne 

Hester Prynne is the heroine (protagonist) and she wears the scarlet letter. The 

letter which is made of cloth in the shape of an “A,” signifies that she has committed 

adultery. The early chapters of the book suggest that, prior to her marriage, Hester was a 

strong-willed and impetuous young woman—she remembers her parents as loving guides 

who frequently had to restrain her incautious behavior. The fact that she has an affair also 

suggests that she once had a passionate nature. She married Chillingworth although she 

did not love him. She is publicly Shamed 

and alienated from the rest of the community for committing adultery. After that Hester 

becomes contemplative. She speculates on human nature, social organization, and larger 

moral questions. Hester’s sufferings also lead her to be philosophic and a freethinker. 

Hester also becomes kind and compassionate maternal figure as a result of her sufferings. 

She is highly protective towards he r daughter Pearl. Hester becomes compassionate and 

cares for the poor and brings them food and clothing. By the end, Hester has becomes a 

mother figure to the women of the community. Her charity to the poor, her comfort to the 

broken-hearted, and her unquestioned presence in times of trouble are the direct result of 

her search for repentance. The shame attached to her scarlet letter is forgiven by the 

society. Women recognize that her punishment and penitence are over. Suffering 

disciplines Hester, so that she grows strong. She is a woman in tragic circumstances, 

trapped in a loveless marriage and in love with another man. Hester is portrayed as an 

intelligent, capable, extraordinary woman. It is the circumstance that shapes her 

character. 

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Roger Chillingworth 

He is actually Hester’s husband in disguise. He is much older than she is and had 

sent her to America while he settled his affairs in Europe. Since he is captured by Native 

Americans, he arrives in Boston late and finds Hester and her illegitimate child being 

displayed on the scaffold. He wishes to take revenge so decides to stay in Boston. He is a 

scholar and uses his knowledge to disguise himself as a doctor, intent on discovering and 

tormenting Hester’s anonymous lover. Chillingworth is self-absorbed and both physically 

and psychologically monstrous. His single-minded revengeful attitude reveals him to be 

the most malevolent character in the novel. For seven years, he has only one thought: to 

find and torment the man who has betrayed him. He eats, sleeps, dreams, and breathes 

revenge.His appearance it symbolic of evil.As his name suggests, Roger Chillingworth is 

a man devoid of human warmth. His deformed shoulders mirror his distorted soul. He 

was a difficult husband to deal with and ignored his wife most of the time, yet expected 

her to shower him with affection when he did spend time with her. Chillingworth’s 

decision to assume the identity of a “leech,” or doctor, is fitting. After Dimmesdale dies, 

Chillingworth no longer has a victim so he dies. Similarly, Dimmesdale’s revelation that 

he is Pearl’s father removes Hester from the old man’s clutches. Having lost the objects 

of his revenge, the leech has no choice but to die. 

Chillingworth represents true evil. He is associated with secular and sometimes 

illicit forms of knowledge, as his chemical experiments and medical practices 

occasionally verge on witchcraft and murder. He is interested in revenge, not justice, and 

he seeks the deliberate destruction of others rather than a redress of wrongs. His desire to 

hurt others stands in contrast to Hester and Dimmesdale’s sin, which had love, not hate, 

as its intent. Any harm that may have come from their deed is forgivable, whereas 

Chillingworth plots unforgivable harm. 

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Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale 

Dimmesdale is Hester Prynne’s lover and the tragic hero of the novel. He is a 

young man who achieved fame in England as a theologian and then immigrated to 

America. In a moment of weakness, he and Hester became lovers. Although he will not 

confess it publicly, he is the father of Pearl. Dimmesdale is a coward and a hypocrite.He 

is pale and weak from the first moment we see him. He is guilty and torments himself 

physically and mentally .As a result his heart condition weakens. Dimmesdale is an 

intelligent and emotional man, and his sermons are masterpieces of eloquence and 

persuasiveness. His commitments to his congregation are in constant conflict with his 

feelings of sinfulness and need to confess. 

Arthur Dimmesdale, like Hester Prynne, is an individual whose identity owes 

more to external circumstances than to his innate nature. We are able to infer that 

Dimmesdale was a scholar of some renown at Oxford University. His past suggests that 

he is probably somewhat aloof, the kind of man who would not have much natural 

sympathy for ordinary men and women. However, Dimmesdale has an unusually active 

conscience. The fact that Hester takes all of the blame for their shared sin burdens his 

conscience. As a result he opens up his mind and allows himself to empathize with 

others. Consequently, he becomes an eloquent and emotionally powerful speaker and a 

compassionate leader, and his congregation is able to receive meaningful spiritual 

guidance from him.Ironically, the townspeople do not believe Dimmesdale’s 

protestations of sinfulness. Given his background and his penchant for rhetorical speech, 

Dimmesdale’s congregation generally interprets his sermons allegorically rather than as 

expressions of any personal guilt. This drives Dimmesdale into deeper guilt and selfpunishment 

and leads to still more deterioration in his physical and spiritual condition. 

The town’s idolization of him reaches new heights after his Election Day sermon, which 

is his last. Torn between the desire to confess and atone and the cowardice which holds 

him back, Dimmesdale goes a little mad. He takes up some morbid forms of penance. 

With his last ounce of strength, he crawls to the scaffold and confesses his sin instead of 

escaping. In his death, Dimmesdale becomes more of a symbol of divine judgment. 

Pearl 

She is Hester Prynne’s illegitimate daughter. Pearl is young, moody, and 

mischievous and has the ability to perceive things that other children do not. She quickly 

understands the truth about her mother and Dimmesdale. The townspeople say that she 

barely seems human and spread rumors that her unknown father is actually the Devil. She 

is wise far beyond her years. 

Pearl merely functions as a symbol in the novel. She is young and only seven 

years old when Dimmesdale dies. However she provokes the thoughts of the adults. She 

questions the on various occasions and draws their attention to the overlooked truths of 

the adult world. In general, children in The Scarlet Letter are portrayed as more 

perceptive and more honest than adults, and Pearl is the most perceptive of them all. 

Pearl makes us constantly aware of her mother’s scarlet letter and of the society that 

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produced it. From an early age, she concentrates on the emblem. Pearl’s innocent and 

inquires about the relationships between those around her particularly between Hester 

and Dimmesdale. Pearl provides the text’s harshest, and most penetrating, judgment of 

Dimmesdale’s failure to admit to his adultery. 

4.13 Minor Characters 

Governor Bellingham 

He is a wealthy, elderly gentleman who spends much of his time with the other 

town fathers. Despite his role as governor of a budding American society, he is almost a 

traditional English aristocrat. Bellingham tends to strictly adhere to the rules, but he is 

easily swayed by Dimmesdale’s eloquence. He remains blind to the misbehaviors taking 

place in his own house: his sister, Mistress Hibbins, is a witch. 

Mistress Hibbins 

She is a widow who lives with her brother, Governor Bellingham, in his luxurious 

mansion. She is commonly known to be a witch who ventures into the forest at night to 

ride with the “Black Man.” Her appearances at public occasions remind the reader of the 

hypocrisy in the Puritan society. 

Reverend Mr. John Wilson 

Boston’s, Reverend Wilson is scholar and an elderly clergyman. He is a typical 

Puritan father.Like Governor Bellingham, Wilson follows the community’s rules strictly 

but can be swayed by Dimmesdale’s eloquence. Unlike Dimmesdale, his junior 

colleague, Wilson preaches hellfire and damnation and advocates harsh punishment of 

sinners. 

Narrator 

The unnamed narrator works as the surveyor of the Salem Custom House some 

two hundred years after the events in the novel take place. He discovers an old 

manuscript in the building’s attic that tells the story of Hester Prynne; when he loses his 

job, he decides to write a fictional treatment of the narrative. He writes because he is 

interested in American history and because he believes that America needs to better 

understand its religious and moral heritage. 

4.14 Themes 

Sin 

The experience of Hester and Dimmesdale reminds us of the story of Adam and 

Eve.While Adam and Eve were expelled from the garde of Eden Hester was expelled 

from the society. Sin results in expulsion and suffering. However it also results in 

knowledge of what it means to be human. Hester, punished to wear the scarlet letter 

speculates on various aspects which ordinary women do not think of. As for Dimmesdale, 

the burden of his sin gives him a heart that vibrates in unison with sinners. His eloquent 

and powerful sermons arise from this sense of empathy. Hester and Dimmesdale 

contemplate their own sinfulness on a daily basis and try to reconcile with their 

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experiences. The Puritan elders, on the other hand, insist on seeing earthly experience as 

merely an obstacle on the path to heaven. Thus, they view sin as a threat to the 

community that should be punished and suppressed. Their answer to Hester’s sin is to 

banish her. Hester and Dimmesdale’s experience shows that a state of sinfulness can lead 

to personal growth, sympathy, and understanding of others. Paradoxically, these qualities 

are shown to be incompatible with a state of purity. 

Evil 

The “Black Man, in the novel is seen as the embodiment of evil. During the course 

of the novel, the “Black Man” is associated with Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and 

Mistress Hibbins. Some people believe that little Pearl is the Devil’s child. One tends to 

contemplate if :Chillingworth’s selfishness in marrying Hester force her to the “evil” she 

committed in Dimmesdale’s arms? Is Hester and Dimmesdale’s deed responsible for 

Chillingworth’s transformation into a malevolent being? This confusion over the nature 

and causes of evil reveals the problems with the Puritan conception of sin. The novel 

argues that true evil arises from the close relationship between hate and love. As the 

narrator points out in the novel’s concluding chapter, both emotions depend upon a high 

degree of intimacy and knowledge of the heart. Each makes the individual dependent 

upon another.Evil is not found in Hester and Dimmesdale’s lovemaking, nor even in the 

cruel ignorance of the Puritan fathers. Evil,is found in the carefully plotted and precisely 

aimed revenge of Chillingworth, whose love has been perverted. Pearl is not entirely 

wrong when she thinks Dimmesdale is the “Black Man,” because her father, too, has 

perverted his love. Dimmesdale, who should love Pearl, does not even publicly 

acknowledge her. His cruel denial of love to his own child may be seen as further 

perpetrating evil. 

Self and Society 

After Hester is publicly shamed and forced by the people of Boston to wear a 

badge of humiliation she is not intent on leaving the town. She is not physically 

imprisoned, and leaving the Massachusetts Bay Colony would allow her to remove the 

scarlet letter and resume a normal life. Surprisingly, Hester reacts with dismay when 

Chillingworth tells her that the town fathers are considering letting her remove the letter. 

Hester’s behavior is based on her desire to determine her own identity rather than to 

allow others to determine it for her. To her, running away or removing the letter would be 

an acknowledgment of society’s power over her: she would be admitting that the letter is 

a mark of shame and something from which she desires to escape. Instead, Hester stays 

wearing the scarlet letter as a symbol of her own experiences and character. Her past sin 

is a part of who she is; to pretend that it never happened would mean denying a part of 

herself. Thus, Hester very determinedly integrates her sin into her life. 

Dimmesdale also struggles against a socially determined identity. As the community’s 

minister, he is more symbol than human being. Except for Chillingworth, those around 

the minister willfully ignore his obvious anguish, misinterpreting it as holiness. 

Unfortunately, Dimmesdale never fully recognizes the truth of what Hester has learned: 

that individuality and strength are gained by quiet self-assertion and by a reconfiguration, 

not a rejection, of one’s assigned identity. 

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4.15 Symbols 

The Scarlet Letter 

The scarlet letter is a symbol of shame. It becomes an identity to Hester. The 

letter’s meaning shifts as time passes. Originally intended to mark Hester as an adulterer, 

the “A” eventually comes to stand for “Able.” The Native Americans who come to watch 

the Election Day pageant think it marks her as a person of importance and status. 

The Meteor 

While Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold with Hester and Pearl ,a meteor traces 

out an “A” in the night sky. To Dimmesdale, the meteor implies that he too should wear a 

mark of shame just as Hester does. The meteor is interpreted differently by the rest of the 

community, which thinks that it stands for “Angel” and marks Governor Winthrop’s 

entry into heaven. Symbols are taken to mean what the beholder wants them to mean. 

Pearl 

Pearl is a living symbol of her mother’s scarlet letter. She is the result of sin and 

the indicator of a transgression. Yet, even as a reminder of Hester’s “sin,” Pearl is more 

than a mere punishment to her mother: she is also a blessing. Pearl’s existence gives her 

mother reason to live, brightening her spirits when she is tempted to give up. 

The Rosebush Next to the Prison Door 

The narrator chooses to begin his story with the image of the rosebush beside the 

prison door. The rosebush symbolizes the ability of nature to endure and outlive man’s 

activities. Yet, paradoxically, it also symbolizes the futility of symbolic interpretation: the 

narrator mentions various significances that the rosebush might have, never affirming or 

denying them, never privileging one over the others. 

4.16 Let us Sum Up 

The summary of the main plot, chapter summaries as well as the notes on 

characters and thematic elements provides the students a comprehensive view of the 

novels. It enables students to understand that Hemingway and Hawthorne are masters of 

fiction.The students will be able to discern the puritanical influence on American society 

in the early stages. 


1. What is the dominant theme in The Old Man and the Sea? 

2. Discuss the role of pride in Santiago’s plight. 

3. Discuss the symbolism in The Old Man and the Sea. 

4. Discuss the relationship between the scarlet letter and Hester’s identity. Why does she 

repeatedly refuse to stop wearing the letter? What is the difference between the 

identity she creates for herself and the identity society assigns to her? 

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5. Who is the chief character in The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne or Arthur 

Dimmesdale? Explain. 

6. Attempt a contrastive analysis of the characters Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger 

Chillingworth. 

7. Hester Prynne is the best or worst citizen of Boston? Elucidate. 

8. Discuss the double life of any leading character in the novel. 

9. Discuss a significance of “The Scarlet Letter”. 

10. Comment on the theme of “The Scarlet Letter”. 

11. Describe the use of symbols in “The Scarlet Letter”. 


1. Comment on the Narrative techniques used in the novels prescribed for your 

study. 

2. Comment on the major themes of American friction with reference to the 

novel presented. 


1. The Old Man and the Sea- Dr.Ragukul Tilak,Rama Brothers,1994 

2. The Old Man and the Sea-www.cliffnotes.com 

3. The Scarlet Letter- Dr.Ragukul Tilak,Rama Brothers,1996 

4. The Scarlet Letter- www.cliffnotes.com 

5. The Old Man and the Sea-www.sparknotes .com 

6. The Scarlet Letter- www.sparknotes .com 

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UNIT – V 

CRITICISM 

Contents 



5.2 The Moral Approach 

5.3 Religious and Mythical Critics 

5.4 Psychological Approach 

5.5 Liberalism 

5.6 Marxist Point of View 

5.7 Critical Renaissance in America 

5.8 Views of Various Critics on Advertisement and Propaganda 

5.9 The General Critical Intelligence 

5.10 Tradition 

5.11 Education and Scholarship in Preserving right Sense of Values 

5.12 Glossary 






· Provide information on the period when the author lived or wrote about. 

· Introduce criticism of contemporaries on works of writer(s). 

· Develop rhetorical strategies. 

· Enable students learn how to comment on different genres of literature. 

· Provide models for the students to evaluate, analyze, and synthesize texts or 

writers 

The Variety of American criticism 1910-1940 R.K.Kholi 


The growth of criticism in America within the span of 30 years is traced by 

R.K.Kholi. He joins Joel E. Springham in stating that the old rules regarding concept of 

technique, moral judgment of literature, environment of the artist, genres, have all 

undergone a change. Today criticism is concerned with what the poet wants to convey 

and how does he achieve it. This is the foundation with which the author illustrates the 

approaches made by prominent American critics to evaluate literary works. 

5.2 The Moral Approach 

This section is concerned with critics of humanism namely Babbit, More and 

Winters. While comparing the classics of the east and the west Babbit is not happy with 

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the degeneration of western traditions. He feels that Bacon’s scientific humanitarianism 

and Rousseau’s sentimental humanitarianism have led to such degeneration. Babbit is of 

the view that though modern man has grasped complex facts he has lost track of self 

restraint.So Babbit advocates that man must return to humanitarianism through moral 

choice and inner discipline. However both Babbit and More feel that the chief function of 

poetry is not to further any moral or social cause.Babbit strongly rejected the orthodox 

concept of religion on the grounds that religion can get along without humanism but 

humanism cannot get along without religion. 

Babbit advocates height of imagination and distinguishes between Arcadian 

imagination, ethical imagination and individual’s impulses. According to Babbit Shelley 

and Keats possess Arcadian imagination and Wordsworth falls short of “high 

seriousness” because he exalts the low and common life. Babbit dismisses Coleridge also. 

The only Romantic to escape Babbit’s scathing attack is Gothe.Sherwood 

Anderson,Lewis,Dos Passos and Sandburg are condemned as Romanticism on all fours 

by Babbit.Babbit favours Emerson and Jonathan Edwards because they examine the 

revival of the inner self. Babbit is a historian of literary ideas. 

More for his part has exemplified the ethical imagination of Thoreau,Emerson 

and Milton. With his subtle intellect and complex personality ,he has lauded Hawthorne’s 

puritanical views and Whitman’s ethical sermons.Like Babbit,More also felt that 

contemporary American Literature has moved to the lower rungs with Amy Lowell, 

Dressier,Masters,Anderson and Lewis.More feels that dos Passos’s “Manhattan 

Transfer” is an “explosion in a cesspool”. 

Yvor Winters moves on the same plane with Babbit in certain areas.Winters is 

of the view that moral evaluation is more important in literature than the craft of 

language.Literature should uphold absolute truths and values.According to winters, 

“Paradise Lost” is an ideal moralistic poem.He does not favour hedonistic and romantic 

version of literature.Though an upholder of intellectual and moral values in literature 

Winters is a maverick humanist and critic. Winters is of the view that Eliot,Pound and 

Crane‘s works suffer from primitive decadence, obscurantism, spiritual drift and moral 

anarchy.Hawthorne,Melville and James too fall under Winters’ lashing attack in 

his”Primitivism and Decadence” and “Mule’s Curse”.Winters is of the view that such 

obscurantism and romanticism will befog the American mind.Thus we are able to note 

that these critics of humanism are concerned with the nature of man, society,civilization 

and history.Babbit ,More and Winters are not concerned with religious orthodoxy. 

5.3 Religious and Mythical Critics 

Ransom chooses the Old Testament’s ‘God of wrath and Thunder’ and makes a 

comparison between fall of man, Satan and the legend of Prometheus.According to him 

science is an annihilating,predatory abstraction.In ‘God without Thunder’,Ransom takes 

up a fundamentalists’ attitude and attacks positivism,naturalism and liberalism.He also 

evaluates a reader’s profundity on myth and religion.Ransom has high praise for Donne 

and Milton. According to him Shakespeare is an amateur lacking university discipline. 

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Ransom is of the view that science is to be blamed for the degeneration of man and 

nature.Ransom opines that religion is aesthetic because it exists primarily for rituals 

rather than doctrines. In “ The New Criticism” Ransom discusses the tension between 

matter and content in poetry. 

T.S.Eliot has steered the opposite course of Ransom. In” tradition and Individual 

Talents”,he states that the “romantic taste for the different” has led to chaos in the 

modern world.Eliot is of the view that the writer should excel in individuality and must 

deviate from inherited wisdom.Lawrence,Yeats and Pound are condemned by him. He 

feels that they have fed poetry with some “transcient stimuli”. Eliot says that Pound’s 

XXX Cantos lack dignity yet he feels Pound is one among the important Poets in 

English.Eliot feels that the human beings portrayed lack reality. Kholi feels that the 

criticism of Babbit, Winters, Ransom and Eliot is affected by dissociation of judgment. 

5.4 Psychological Approach 

We see that Pound makes use of Psychology for comprehending and defining 

literature.According to Pound ‘image’ in literature is “that which presents an intellectual 

and emotional complex” in a particular context and time.Pound’s view of ‘complex’ is 

similar to that of Hart Van Wyck Brooks,in “The Ordeal of Mark Twain”. Brooks 

opines that the conflict between the unconscious self and conscious will find expression 

in the writer’s characters attitudes and themes. He illustrates that Twain ,an artist and 

satirist was thwarted by the Victorian taboos.Brooks also points out that his 

preoccupation with childhood in regression, twins etc. are the outcome of personal 

conflicts and frustrations.Brooks states that ,but for the absence of mother fixation, 

Twain could have achieved heights like Cervantes,Voltaire or Swift. 

Expressing his views on Poe, Joseph Wood Krutch says that all the forces that 

wrecked his life shaped his works.With much psychological insight Krutch views poetic 

genius as compensatory.He says Poe’s works reflect childhood conflicts,betrayal of his 

father,death of his mother, and lack of a loving homely atmosphere. The childhood 

experiences have scarred his psyche and it is reflected in his sub normal sexual 

development,mother fixation,death ridden heroines and isolated heroes.Krutch says Poe 

wrote detective stories to prevent himself from going mad. 

Ludwig Lewisohn has viewed the literary history of America through Freudian 

glasses.Contrary to More ,Lewisohn condemns both Emerson and Thoreau.However he 

is all praise for Whitman. Lewisohn accuses Poe, Hawthone and Mellville for giving 

expression to neurotic thoughts.Hawthorne he states turned reality into legend and facts 

into fantasy.Whle Poe’s work was defensive neurosis,Melville turned his inner conflicts 

into ghasty symbols. Lewisohn appreciates Stephen Crane and Frank Norris.He calls 

them”Pathfinders” , who liberated American tradition from the inhibitions of Victorian 

gentility. 

Brooks and Lewisohn have different views on the influence of environment on 

the writers.Brooks feels that environment is the shaping force and the blighted careers 

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and arrested careers have shaped the present American environment.The basic 

dichotomy of American life today is the high brow puritans and transcendentalists on 

one side and the low brow businessmen on the other. Whitman alone emerges as a 

saviour of the race. Brooks ‘ review of the American part pictures America as a country 

ruined by industrialization. 

5.5 Liberalism 

Vernon L. Parrington had faith in liberalism and was against the principles of 

Puritanism and Calvinism.He was oa supporter of Jeffersonian ideals. According to 

Parrington the American tradition has been shaped by English independency,French 

romanticism, Industrial Revolt,Laissez Faire Capitalism,19 th Century science and 

continental theory of collectivism.Whitman emerges as a hero in his eyes embodying 

enlightenment through passion for liberty,faith in mankind,humanitarianism and 

egalitarianism. Whitman blended into reality and transcended it.According to Parrington 

Mark Twain represents the cross currents of American life.Parringto also dismisses Poe, 

Melville and Hawthorne acusing them as pessimists and skeptics. Inspite of his narrow 

concept of reality and culture,Parrington has created a radical democratic- social tradition 

for American Writers. 

5.6 Marxist Point of View 

Calverton lauds Whitman as a comrade and poet of the people. According to him 

America is built on a bourgeois experiment.He delves into the 19 th Century middleclass 

individualism broughtout by writers of Self Reliance and the Open Road to despair and 

disillusion.Calverton feels that Sinclair was the one, who brought in the first signs of 

American radical society.Granville Hicks ,who is a commited Marxist has evaluated the 

tradition of American Literature from Emerson to Dos Passos.According to Hicks, 

writers like Norris,Phillips,Sinclair and London constitute a tradition of 

brotherhood,justice and intellectual honesty. He says Emily Dickinson’s poems lack the 

vigour of her time.He dismisses Twain,Henry james, Melville and calls T.S.Eliot an 

intellectual bankrupt and a mere ripple in the American Literary system. 

5.7 Critical Renaissance in America 

Thus we are able to discern that the possible method proposed by Springham 

does not enable a complete evaluation of a work of art.The questions posed by Stanley 

Edgar Hyman in his “The Armed Vision” regarding the artist’s 

life,childhood,family,desires,needs, class, livelihood and relation between the work and 

the archetypes of rituals to literature etc.serve as provable statements of the content. Such 

questions posed by critics in the 1940s paved way for the critical renaissance in America. 

Social Content and Literary Theory in America- S.M.Pandeya 

Here S.M. Pandeya analyses the social context determined by the 

economical,political and cultural climes prevailing in America during the post industrial 

revolt. He feels the industrial revolt has paved the way for new trends in literature and 

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literary theories. He begins by outlining the views of literary critics to advertisements 

and propaganda,which forms the most pronounced feature of social context of 

literature.He probes into the doctrines which are false or hollow and pose a threat to the 

independence of intellect in an individual. The industrial civilization and technological 

achievements have led to dislocation of values. 

5.8 Views of Various Critics on Advertisement and Propaganda 

Babbit describes the present age as being subjected to the rise of ‘creative 

salesmanship’.Pandeya outlines the literary critic’s view of advertisement and 

propaganda.Babbit is of the view that today propaganda is behind everything- right from 

choice of religion to cigarettes.He comments on the progressive theory of scientific 

determinism which permits temperamental liberty.But it traps mankind and makes them 

evade consciousness and sink into a metaphysical dream. 

T.S.Eliot is of the view that the influence of advertisement or propaganda will 

deteriorate man’s power for clear thinking. The result would be that everyone’s mind will 

get used to vague jargons and there will be a lot of words for everything but nothing to 

express the exact ideas. Eliot feels that this will give rise to double standards. He 

questions the Marxist theology stating that that only when human beings have a natural 

aversion to bear responsibilities And strain they will subject themselves to the total 

subordination by the state. Eliot also examines the modern eschatology of progress. He 

states that the present must be sacrificed to the needs of the future resulting in loss of 

faith on the present. 

Northrop Frye is of the opinion that the propaganda and advertisements has 

resulted in the development of two attitudes among writers. One is to join the bandwagon 

of survival of the fittest, perceive the times and try to live a self respecting life. The other 

one is to be passive and accept life as it is without making any attempt to modify the 

prevailing situation. Creative and Communicative arts have given rise to such conflicting 

attitudes. While creative arts induce active response, communicating arts which are 

chiefly used for propaganda and advertisements create a mass culture. This mass culture 

is accepted passively. This mass culture is the keynote of politics and economics. Under 

the garb of public relations, propaganda is received to create an impression of active 

attitude. Frye joins Eliot in stating that the theories of progress sacrifice the present for 

the sake of the future. As a result the power exists in the hands of those who are 

proficient in ‘Stentorian lying’, hyptonised leadership and panic stricken suppression of 

freedom and criticism. 

The Literary theories evoked by these forces 

5.9 The General Critical Intelligence 

American literary theory of the 20 th Century has been under the influence of 

advertisements, propaganda and theory of progress. Babbit feels that writers should 

develop general critical intelligence and enable people to get a sense of proportion and 

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values. Developing a general critical intelligence will save the people from becoming 

passive receptacles. According to Eliot general critical intelligence is criticizing our 

own minds. He views contemporary literature as an emphasis of absurdity, anxiety and 

queasy apocalyptic foreboding in ironic tones.It seems to respond to the prevailing social 

condition. 

5.10 Tradition 

Tradition has evolved a theory of critical response to literature inorder to ensure a 

correct scale of values. Its chief aim is to prevent dissociation of values.Babbit’s concept 

of tradition is through Socratic principles of scrutinizing the present. In “ The Critic and 

American Life”, he brings modern naturalistic realism under the perspective of 

traditional religious and humanistic realism with special reference to Jonathan Edwards 

and Milton. More is of the view that the tradition of taste is a criterion to judge the 

quality of a literary work because tradition enables us to distinguish the universal form 

the transcient. Eliot,s concept of tradition recommends a historical sense. According to 

him literary tradition is a principle of aesthetic and historical criticism which can be 

acquired by conscious effort. However in social life tradition is identifying with a group 

and acting through generations unconsciously.This is called orthodoxy and it prevents the 

dislocation of values. It helps to “look back upon the past without regret and the future 

without fear”. 

Tradition for Frye constitutes literary conventions, myths and archetypes. Frye 

states that mythology of an age is made of ideas, images, beliefs, assumptions, anxities, 

hopes of people ,so it is a product of human concerns. The Western Mythology ids 

divided as modern and pre- modern. The former is further classified as cliché’ 

mythology of liberal arts. Cliché’ mythology is projected through families, teachers, 

neighbours, mass media ,political wings, newspapers, television and movies. These often 

consist of fall, exodus, pastural and apocalyptic myth. The mythology of liberal arts 

consists of cliché’ stereo types with literary archetypes found in modern literary units of 

alienation, anxiety, absurd etc. Humorously Frye states that in democratic countries 

mythology struggles to remain open and in communist countries the bureaucracy 

struggles to keep it shut. Thus we find that history and literature are complementary. 

5.11 Education and Scholarship in Preserving right Sense of Values 

Babbit, Eliot and Frye stress the vitality of education and scholarship for the 

preservation of values. Education along with the principles of general critical 

intelligence enable the critic to obtain the right focus without being disturbed by the 

world of advertisements,propaganda and theories of progress.Frye states that scholarship 

gives rise to spiritual vision of an unborn world and the scholar must realize the value of 

this vision. In an autonomous atmosphere scholarship and arts can reshape the general 

education. He says Primary education of the three Rs makes an individual adjust to the 

society,but exposure to the world of arts and scholarship initiates him to the three As 

making him more critical and intelligent participating member of the society. 

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Frye says that cliché’ mythology,Marxist or Hegellan notions cannot bring 

about a desired social change. The unborn world is born out of the tension between the 

opposites of freedom and concern.Frye recommends real freedom associated with the 

imaginative vision of arts and a rational vision of science. Both myth of concern and 

freedo must be examined. He underlines that the 1984 society destroyed its freedom but 

the society of the “Brave New World” is one that has forgotten its concern. So one must 

embark on some critical path to live in the history of our times. 

5.12 Glossary 

Irving Babbit -(Aug. 2, 1865- July 15, 1933) was a critic and teacher, leader of the 

movement in literary criticism known as the “New Humanism,” or 

http://www.britannica.com/memberlogin Neohumanism. Babbitt was educated at 

Harvard University and at the Sorbonne in Paris and taught French and comparative 

literature at Harvard from 1894 until his death. He was a vigorous teacher, lecturer, and 

essayist. 

Paul Elmer More- ( December 12, 1864 – March 9, 1937) was an American 

journalist, critic, essayist and Christian apologist. He was educated at Washington 

University in St. Louis and Harvard University. More taught Sanskrit at Harvard. 

Arthur Yvor Winters -( October 17, 1900 - January 26, 1968) was an American poet 

and literary critic, whose criticism was often embroiled in controversy. 

John Crowe Ransom -( April 30, 1888, Pulaski, Tennessee- July 3, 1974, Gambier, 

Ohio) was an American poet, essayist, social and political theorist, man of letters, critic 

and an academician. 

Thomas Stearns Eliot-( September 26, 1888 – January 4, 1965), was a poet, dramatist 

and literary critic. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948. 

Ezra Weston Loomis Pound -( October 30, 1885 – November 1, 1972) was an 

American expatriate poet and critic who was a major figure of the Modernist 

movement in early-to mid- 20th century poetry. He was the driving force behind several 

Modernist movements, notably Imagism and Vorticism. 

Hart Van Wyck Brooks -( February 16, 1886- May 2, 1963) was an American 

literary critic, biographer, and historian. Brooks was educated at Harvard University 

and graduated in 1908. The masterpiece of his literary career was a series of studies 

entitled Makers and Finders, which chronicled the development of American literature 

during the long 19th century. 

Joseph Wood Krutch -( November 25, 1893 – May 22, 1970) was an American 

writer, critic, and naturalist. He became a theater critic for The Nation and wrote several 

books, gaining acclaim through a work critical of the impact of science and technology. 

123


Ludwig Lewisohn-( May 30, 1882, Berlin, Germany – December 31, 1955) was an 

American Jewish critic and novelist. 

Vernon L. Parrington- ( 1871– 1929) was an American historian. He graduated from 

Harvard University in 1893 and in 1897 was hired as instructor of English and modern 

languages at the University of Oklahoma. The work of Van Wyck Brooks and Vernon L. 

Parrington illustrated two of the main approaches. In America's Coming-of-Age (1915), 

Letters and Leadership (1918), and The Ordeal of Mark Twain (1920) . 

Calverton – (1900-1940) The Marxist critic articulates what he terms "a sociological 

criticism of literature," in which writing is viewed as an expression of the social system 

from which it springs. 

Granville Hicks - ( September 9, 1901 - June 18, 1982) was an American Marxist 

novelist, literary critic, educator, and editor. 

Stanley Edgar Hyman- ( 1919– 1970) was a literary critic who wrote primarily about 

critical methods: the distinct strategies critics use in approaching literary texts. 

Northrop Frye - ( July 14, 1912 – January 23, 1991), a Canadian, was one of the most 

distinguished literary critics and literary theorists of the twentieth century. 


After reading the sections and the glossary provided in this lesson the students will get 

an of a critic’s critic. 


1) Comment on the moral Approach of Babbit,Winters and More. 

2) Write a note on: 

a) Mythical critics 

b) Psychological approach 

c) Moral approach 

3) Elaborate the views of critics on Advertisement and Propaganda. 


1. Make an estimation on Modern American critics. 

2. ‘Age must have a purpose’ – Discuss with reference to the modern American 

critics prescribed for your study. 


1. American Literature 1890-1965 -An Anthology-Egbert.SOliver,Eurasia Publishing 

House,Delhi 1991 

2. Biography of all American Writers-www.Wikipedia.org 

3. Critical notes on poets,poems- www.poets.org,www.enotes.com 

4. Twentieth Century American criticism –Ed Raghunath 

5. English Literature for Competitive Exams-W.R.Goodman,Doaba Publications,Delhi,2002 

124


BHARATHIAR UNIVERSITY 

DISTANCE EDUCATION 

M.A.English Literature- Paper : AmericanLiterature 

Time: 3hrs Marks :100 

Answer any five of the following 

All questions carry equal marks. 

1. Comment on the theme of death in Emily Dickinson’s poetry. 

2.Attempt a critical appreciation of Plath’s “Daddy”. 

3. Sketch the character of Brutus Jones as a Tragic hero. 

4. Comment on the themes in “A Street Car Named Desire”. 

5. Emerson is a champion of self reliance- Elucidate . 

6. What is the dominant theme in The Old Man and the Sea? 

7. ) Comment on the theme of “The Scarlet Letter”. 

8. Comment on the moral Approach of Babbit,Winters and More. 

125


BHARATHIAR UNIVERSITY 

DISTANCE EDUCATION 

M.A.English Literature- Paper : AmericanLiterature 

Time: 3hrs Marks :100 

Answer any five of the following 

All questions carry equal marks. 

1.“Good fences make good neighbours”-Elucidate. 

2. Cooment on the imagery in Whitman’s “Crossing Brrklyn Ferry”. 

3.Explain O’Neill’s use of symbolism in “The Emperor Jones”. 

4.How does each character contribute to Blanche's breakdown? 

5.Attempt an analysis of Poe as a critic. 

6.Comment on the themes in “A Street Car Named Desire”. 

7.Describe the use of symbols in “The Scarlet Letter”. 

8.Write a note on: 

a. Mythical critics 

b. Psychological approach 

c. Moral approach 

126

UNIT Œ I - Bharathiar University

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