How Does Richard Cory Differ From Modernism

The Problem That Won’t Go Away The Modernism time period came to light in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, following World War One. Modernism literature was predominantly the authors’ reactions to religious, political, and social beliefs. Many of these authors did not know how to react to the losses our country suffered from the recent war; in return, they expressed through their poems, dramas, and short stories. Modernism literature differed from that of Realism literature in many ways and targeted various distinct themes, including suicide. “Richard Cory”, written by Edwin Arlington Robinson, is one of the many writings that focuses on suicide; as it was then, suicide is still a real and relevant problem in today’s society. “Richard Cory” is a four stanza poem written in the third person point of view. In the poem, Richard Cory was a wealthy man who was looked up to by nearly everybody, if not everybody, in the town that he lived in. He was said to “glitter when he walked” and to be “richer than a king.” Without any sort of image or picture, as a reader, one naturally presumes him as a handsome, clean cut, and sharp-dressed man. After previously talking very highly of Mr. Cory, the last line of the

Despite this, at least once a month, there is talk of a celebrity, of some sort, taking their own life. Being in the spotlight is not all that it is cracked up to be; not all of these stars can handle the pressure. For example, Robin Williams was one of the most influential and beloved children actor and comedian of all time. With his most famous quote, “You’re only given a little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it.”, he was truly an inspiration to hundreds of millions of people, worldwide. Little did anybody know, Robin Williams was suffering from depression and committed suicide, on August 11, 2014, at the age of