At a first glance, a misogynist’s paradise is apparent when perceiving Jonathan Swift’s The Lady’s Dressing Room and a cannibalistic one in A Modest Proposal. However, Swift’s intricate feelings do not depict Ireland’s crude social convention, but rather for Swift’s revolutionary vitriolic satire, which permeates humanity’s blindness through political stand points. By using grotesque metaphors, to open the figurative eyes of the public, Swift’s poetry forced society to analyze the ways of living in order to push reform. The push came in his many satiric works, which criticized humanity, but also acquitted the feelings of a personal vendetta. Swift’s vendetta against oppression in his society constructed the transition to a more heavily vitriolic type of universal satire, which finalized his attempt to eradicate the classical muses.
Concern with war and the blighting effects of the industrial revolution were displayed in much of his work. One of Blake’s most famous works is The Songs of Innocence and The Songs of Expe... ... middle of paper ... ... transcend the material world and reach what Blake views as the actual world of the spirit. The hidden interpretation within the piece is a telling commentary on Blake’s non-conventional religious awareness. William Blake was a modern thinker with a recalcitrant political spirit. He used poetry and art as sociopolitical weapons, which were raised boldly against the establishment.
In “My Last Duchess”, Robert Browning paints a picture with his words, which portrays Duke Ferrara as an imperialistic man that would produce anxiety in society due to their fear of reverse imperialism. “My Last Duchess” is written in a dramatic monologue style, which allows the readers to see the true temperament of Browning’s character, Duke Ferrara, and how his personality was similar to that of an imposing, imperialistic country. One key point of reverse imperialism, which society would notice in the poem, would be the compulsive nature to collect things as the Duke does. Imperialistic countrie... ... middle of paper ... ...ests many different themes. One of these themes is reverse imperialism, which may seem to be an odd theme to find in a poem, but Robert Browning truly depicts it with his character Duke Ferrara.
Poe uses irony to contrast, and, therefore, puts emphasis on, the negative circumstances surrounding Annabel Lee’s death by retelling the events in an idyllic tone. Poe’s irony is successful due to his employment of diction and rhyme, which cause the poem to emulate the sing-song style of a nursery rhyme. The diction of “Annabel Lee” helps create the impression of a fairy tale-like love story. With words such as “maiden” (line 3), “kingdom” (line 8), “beautiful” (line 16), “high-born kinsmen” (line 17), Poe paints a picture of a whimsical, fantastic love story when, in reality, Annabel Lee dies in her girlhood. This is wherein lies the irony: the glamorization of the persona’s love of Annabel Lee
W.H. Auden’s, “Unknown Citizen”, portrays a dark satire that in reality forces a person to lose his/her individuality and become the product of a social assembly line. The main character conforms to society for approval instead of looking within himself for his own opinions. Auden wrote the poem in 1939, shortly after becoming a citizen of United States and escaping England. The poem relinquishes evidence of his cultural collision with American social norms and bureaucracy throught he use of symbolism, rhyme scheme, and allusion.
The Cultural Conflict of Hugh Selwyn Mauberley By imitating writing styles of ancient poets, Ezra Pound exhibited his attitude toward modern civilization, and his famous poem, Hugh Selwyn Mauberley, is the stereotype. In this poem, Pound revealed his disagreement with industrial society. The poem is an imitation of other old poetic styles, or epic style; however, it presents ironic meaning. To fully understand Pound's divergence from modern culture, the ways of presenting his position will be firstly explained. Next, the focus is on the contrast between the elitist and popular culture.
Writers, who through the use of clever symbolism, mocked the tragedy of man's fate. One such writer was William Golding. An author who has seen the destruction of war and despises its inevitable return. Through the use of innocent and untainted children, Golding illustrates how man is doomed by his own instinct. The novel is called Lord of the Flies, and is of extreme importance to help reconstruct the current wave of revolutionary ideas that swept the twentieth-century generation.
The officers at one point tell Yossarian that they are his "country". Here again, Heller shows the failures of a bureauc... ... middle of paper ... ...e. the exaggeration, the grotesque, the comic-like characters, the unusual deaths) is aimed to first make the reader laugh, then look back at horror at what amused them--and this is the technique Heller applies to satirize society. One other obvious structural style that adds to the satirical purpose of the novel how it is organized--the novel is not organized chronologically--time is disjointed. This disjoining of time is used for effects in the novel such as deja vu to show that time equals mortality and to give the mind set and psychological impact of the men to the reader; but it primarily serves to confuse the reader--to have the reader take a second look--just as the descriptive sensation metaphors purposes. Through various themes and structural and descriptive styles, Heller's Catch-22 is not the typical war story, but a satire.
The speaker in Wordsworth's poem is no different in this respect, and utilizes shock to grab our attention and really get us to notice just how serious he believes this problem is. Although he uses multiple types of shock in this poem, his willingness to reject the major religions of the day is clearly his most affective. Wordsworth was one of the founders of the Romantic Movement in poetry, and his works became an outline for what Romanticism was all about. This movement was one that was trying to change society, and bring them back in touch with their feelings and nature. The Columbia Encyclopedia went as far as calling it, “revolt against the prescribed rules of classicism.” This means that the romantic thinkers and poets were trying to convince their audience that their old ways were wrong because they neglected what was truly important, and get them to change their ways.
Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen In the poem, 'Dulce Et Decorum Est' by Wilfred Owen, the social climate of the World War I era is reflected through the poet's use of vivid imagery and poetic techniques. The poem itself presents an a blunt impression of the world through its linking of ideas and language in its text. The poem addresses the falsehood that war is glorious, that it is noble, it describes the true horror and waste that is war, with the aim of changing the way in which society thinks about conflict. THE POEMS MEANING TO ME The poem epitomises the futility and pointlessness of war. Not only is war a shocking waste of life, but it is ultimately barbarous and pointless act as World War I so horrendously demonstrated to the world powers.