Analysis on Richard Cory Poem using the New Criticism or Formalism

Lucille G. Aramburo C213Eng –  C213Eng –  Literary  Literary Criticism 1.

Analyze the Richard Cory using the New Criticism/Formalism.

The poem Richard Cory was written by b y Edwin Arlington Robinson who was educated at Harvard. The first two lines suggest Richard Cory's distinction, his separation from ordinary folk. The second two tell what it is in his natural appearance that sets him off. The next two mention the habitual demeanor that elevates him still more in men's regard: his apparent lack of vanity, his rejection of the eminence that his fellows would accord him. At the beginning of the third stanza, "rich" might seem to be an anticlimax —   but not in the eyes of ordinary individual; though, as the second line indicates , they would not like to have it thought that in their eyes wealth is everything. The last two lines of the stanza record a total impression of a life that  perfectly realizes the dream that most men have of an ideal existence; while the first two lines of the last stanza bring us back with bitter emphasis to the poem's beginning, and the impassable gulf, for most people —   but not, they think, for Richard Cory —   between dream and fact. Thus the first fourteen lines are a painstaking preparation for the last two, with their stunning overturn of the popular belief. The structure of the poem itself plays into the saga o f Richard Cory. There are four stanzas, each consisting of four lines (a quatrain), with each line containing 10 syllables. Everything appears to be formal and organized, until we reach the last line of the poem. The suddenness of death serves as both an example and a metaphor: an outer façade of perfection, thought to stand the rigors of time, but b ut a foundation which is crumbling. The shock and surprise of a suicide turns this tale into a horrific ho rrific outcome. Each stanza is similarly written in terms of mechanics (one sentence with a colon after the second line), and each eac h stanza seems to contribute a specific purpose. T he first stanza introduces Cory, and establishes his status. The second stanza focuses on humanizing Cory, as Robinson tells us that Richard ―was always human when he talked.‖ Yet Robinson maintains Cory’s royal aura, amplified through ―but he still fluttered pulses.‖ Some may look at this as an indictment towards Cory’s own nervousness around others, portraying his personality not as a ―people―people- person.‖  person.‖ This stanza takes on the feeling of o f understatement, telling us that Cory ―was always quietly arrayed,‖ using Richard’s downplayed wardrobe as an ex ample. We get the sense that Cory is a humble man, despite being a model of envy. en vy. The third stanza completes our insight into Cory, externally speaking. 2. What sort of Irony does Robinson use in his poem?

The irony in Richard Cory is that he is a man who seems to have everything he could  possibly want, but in the end of the poem he commits suicide. Which shows us that money doesn’t buy us happiness and that appearance can be deceiving. ―Richard Cory‖ is a narrative poem illustrating how we, as individuals, as individuals, should cherish that which we have, because be cause the truly important things in life can be lost if our attention strays to envy. By being thankful, this would lead to a greater sense of o f fulfillment, thus negating the natural human urge to want what we do not, and cannot, have. Another point expressed by Robinson, to steal a basic literature reference, is not to judge a book by b y its cover.

As a whole, Robinson uses irony as a foundation for the context of the poem. Specifically, the poem takes on a sense of tragic irony. Richard Cory’s only accomplishment the reader has knowledge of is to commit suicide. Although Cory appears to have ev erything a man could desire (status, riches, charm, looks, etc.), he mentally collapses and all previous intentions are lost. 3. What does it mean when he says that Richard Cory “glittered” when he walked?

Cory, rich, perfectly schooled in all the amenities, the most admired man in his town. It sketches his gentlemanliness and his wealth. A wealthy man, admired and envied by those who consider themselves less fortunate, a gentleman from sole to crown, richer than a king. He is an individual set apart from ordinary mortals. He is clean favored and slim; he is quietly arrayed; he is human when he talked; he is rich in material possession; he is schooled in every grace or manner. Glittered emphasizes the aura of regality and wealth and also suggests the speciousness of Cory. 4. Memorable images from lines 5, 7 and 14 and Explain.

a. And he was always quietly arrayed Memorable image: he seems at times like a king. He was educated at Harvard, a wealthy man who is admired and envied by those who consider themselves less fortunate.  b. But still he fluttered pulses when he said, Memorable image: misconception or the collective fault of the people. There is a collective fault of the people, because while they see Cory on his adorable appearance, still he is human, something else inside compelled us to blow up his  proportions. c. And went without the meat, and cursed the bread. Memorable image: A case of regicide. There was inner emptiness or an absolute commitment to de spair or because he was sick, he committed a case of regicide. Cory pulls the trigger and killed himself. II. Analyze the fictional character of Emily using the psychological approach. ―A Rose for Emily,‖ is certainly strange by an y average reader’s standards and a character analysis of Emily could go in any number of directions. It is nearly impossible not to examine her in a psychological as well as contextual light. Miss Emily’s erratic and idiosyncratic  behavior becomes outright bizarre, and the reader is left wondering how to explain the fact that Miss Emily has spent years living and sleeping with the corpse of Homer Barron. The townspeople ―did not say she was crazy‖, she was never evaluated, diagnosed, or treated by a mental health professional. Miss Emily’s character and behavior hinted at the possibility of a mental illness, even if the town wanted to deny this fact and leave her intact as a social idol. It is reasonable to propose that Miss Emily developed th is mental illness as a response to the demanding conditions in which she was living as a Southern woman from an aristocratic family.

Miss Emily decompensated because she was unable to develop healthy and adaptive coping and defense mechanisms. While most people can handl e the kinds of stressors Miss Emily faced, those who cannot develop psychotic symptoms in response to their situation. Miss Emily was from a family of great stature and wealth in their small Sou thern community, and Miss Emily had always been burdened with the great expectations that others had of her. Her community viewed her as having a ―hereditary obligation‖ to maintain certain traditions, traditions that had been established generations before her. Her father, charged with transmitting these traditions and values to Miss Emily, was rigid in reinforcing these expectations, her father was a man who had ―thwarted her woman’s life so many times‖. Just one example of his behavior was that he drove all of Miss Emily’s suitors away because none were  perceived as good enough for her. As a result, she never married. Despite his oppressiveness, it is when her father dies that her mental decline condition accelerated. Miss Emily was ―sick for a long time,‖ and begins to avoid contact with others and other psychotic symptoms become evident. Immediately after the death of her father, the ladies of the town come to Miss Emily’s home to offer their condolences, and they observe that she had ―no trace of grief on her face‖. The inability to either feel or demonstrate ap propriate affect, or emotion, that is congruent to a particular situation is one of the classic symptoms of schizophrenia. Miss Emily insisted to the visitors that ―her father was not dead‖. For this reason, she would not permit his body to be removed until ―she broke down‖ and the townspeople removed the body quickly before she could protest. Despite this and other evidence that Miss Emily is not e motionally or mentally well, the townspeople persist in enabling her to maintain he r delusions. In fact, their denial is almost as  pathological as Miss Emily’s own symptoms. The townspeople avoid confronting Miss Emily about any important concerns, such as the terrible smell that is emanating from her home, which itself is becoming more ―detached, superseded, and forbidding‖ every day. Miss Emily has retreated entirely into a world of delusion and fantasy. At first, Miss Emily has few callers, and those townspeople who dare to visit her ―were not received‖. Then, there is a period where she withdraws from society altogether, and ―From that time on her front door remained closed‖. The changes the townspeople having observed the time the they ―next saw Miss Emily‖ also hint at symptoms of advanced ps ychosis. Miss Emily ―had grown fat and her hair was turning gray‖. This failure to attend t o her personal appearance and to perform what mental health practitioners call the ―tasks of daily living‖— such as hygiene and grooming — also demonstrate severe deficits in the area of ―social/occupational functioning,‖ which is one of the criteria for the diagnosis of schizophrenia. At this point, Miss Emily is totally unable to relate to other people in an appropriate manner. Although her contact with others is limited, when she is forced to interact socially she is irrational and inappropriate, yet another symptom of schizophrenia. Faulkner’s ―A Rose for Emily‖ is a short story that is, at its heart, a tale about the  pressures of society and the ways in which they can wear people down. Miss Emily lacked adaptive coping skills to help her manage substantial stressors, and for this reason, she was vulnerable to the onset of mental illness. A. Why do you think Faulkner chose this title?

The rose in the title can be interpreted as a tribute of respect for Miss Emily who has lived a life dominated by her controlling father, the social requirements of the South and circumstances  beyond her control. The rose in the title is a way of expressing both respect and remorse for Miss Emily's life, a life dominated by death, loss and loneliness.  b. What does rose traditionally symbolize? The rose is most often thought of as a symbol for love in which case Homer is the "rose" or love for Emily. Her father thought no man was good enough for her or for the Grierson family. Therefore she was never able to experience passion or the rose of love until she met Homer. Rose is used as a sign of silence or secrecy. A rose was hung from the ceiling at a meeting of secret societies indicating a demand for discretion. The rose in the title of the story could therefore stand for Emily's secret; that is Homer her "rose" whom she cherished, loved and kept to herself even after his body was corrupted by the decay of time. d. How is the meaning ironically twisted by the situation and characters in the story? Emily’s life is over in the same way that plantation life becomes a memory. She lives, but has no life. She becomes enamored of the dead which is first depicted when she resists burying her father. Her attempt of grasping at life through her relationship with Homer Barron also results in death. She would rather kill him than allow him to leave her. She then lives with death  by sleeping next to the corpse of Homer Barron for many years. Her life is defined by death, she fades from real life, although continuing to p hysically exist, and everything that mattered to Emily has passed away. III. Explain the piece “MEDEA” in the light of the mythological approach.

Medea derives primarily from Euripides’ play. Its new introduction provides a number of surprises. Here they will meet several different Medeas. The one who killed her children is, to be sure, featured prominently but other, less murderous versions of Medea also appear. The witch there is Medea the ―young, vulnerable girl overwhelmed by love‖. One Medea attempted to kill Theseus but another was a healer and Achilles’ wife in the afterlife. Medea has nine chapters divided into three parts: ―Why Medea,‖ ―Key Themes,‖ and ―After Greece and Rome.‖ Chapter 1, ―Introducing Medea,‖ describes the aims of the book: to  provide background information on Medea and ―explore the myth and the source of its power‖. The ―Key Themes‖, ―Origins, Folktale and Structuralism‖ take up major issues related to the Medea myth or important approaches to its understanding. It looks at both general theories on the nature of myth and specific attempts to explain the development of the Medea myth. In ―Witchcraft, Children and Divinity,‖ looks at the most notorious aspects of the Medea myth. The ―strongest image of Medea in the ancient world was undoubtedly that of the witch‖  but rightly observes that the term ―witch‖ is rather problematic. It is argued that the ―witch‖ lies at the ―intersection between two powerful discourses: concern abo ut the divine, and concern about the position of women‖ . This is what makes Medea so hard to categorize. She can be

either killer or victim, mortal or divine and, indeed , ―seems to exist outside the boundaries of classical Greek religion‖. The ―Ethnicity, Gender and Philosophy‖ seeks to examine ―fundamental issues of self image within Greek society, extending into a more philosophical consideration of what it is to be human‖. The figure of the witch continues to receive attention here as ― witches have traditionally  been linked with places or ethnicities different from the dominant culture‖ and discusses the meaning of the Greek term ―goês.‖ A complex Medea figure unites "the opposing concepts of self and other, as she veers between desirable and undesirable behavior, between Greek and foreigner; it also allows to raise the disturbing possibility of otherness lurking within self  -- the  possibility that the 'normal' carry within themselves the potential for abnormal behavior, that the  boundaries expected to keep our world safe are not impermeable". The juxtaposition of self and other serves as the theoretical background a gainst which Johnston contrasts the twelve essays of this collection. Medea implicitly demonstrates how the outsider, the other, is a threat to the inside, to the self". Medeais identified as being "connected with a whole line of narratives that clearly are associated with initiation rites". We can understand Medea as "initiatrix" when she helps Jason to overcome the dangers he must undergo in his "initiation ritual" to acquire the fleece and claim the throne back home.