Irony in Edwin Arlington Robinson’s Poem, Richard Cory

In Edwin Arlington Robinson’s poem “Richard Cory,” things are not what they

seem. People saw that Richard Cory had wealth, power, education, fame and good

looks. They thought that all this brought Richard happiness. They all wanted to be like him . No one got to know who he was but only knew him for what he had. It seemed that he had everything yet it was not enough to make him happy. His wealth did not give him happiness nor did it bring him friends. Richards’s loneliness is what makes him kill himself. What seems to be true is not actually true underneath it all.

In the beginning of the poem, Richard Cory is described as a person who seems to

have everything: “And he was rich…/ And admirably schooled in every grace:”(9-10) so he was wealthy, powerful and good-looking. These are things that everyone wants to be. It is thought that money can buy happiness but it can not. It seems as if Richard would be happy with the things that he has but it was not as it appeared.

The people and Richard Cory have their differences. While Richard was “richer

than a king-”(9) the people “went without meat, and cursed the bread:”(14). The people

were too poor to afford meat and despised their lives. They wanted to be like him and

wished that they “were in his place.”(12) They thought they would be happy if they were rich like Richard. The “people on the pavement looked at him:”(2) as if he was above them. The pavement showed that they were below him and it emphasized the next line that he was like a king. The people seemed to keep their distance from Richard because of their differences. This makes him lonely, which leads him to his death.

At the end of the poem, it is bluntly stated that Richard Cory kills himself because he was unhappy with his life. “And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, / Went home

and put a bullet through his head.”(15-16) He shot himself because he was lonely having