In the Romantic period, the first half of the 1800s, people’s views differed drastically from the Puritans who lived during the late 1500s and early 1600s. These new views were a reaction to the strict behaviors of the Puritans, in that Romantic views challenged Puritan teachings. For example, whereas Puritans valued the high characters of society, Romantic writers appreciated the average person and sought to immortalize them in their work. Such writers as Dickinson and Hawthorne utilize symbolism, especially of their protagonists as symbols for the common person, in order to exemplify events in the common person’s life, thus telling the world that anyone can have their own story.
“Because I could not stop for Death” and “Wild Nights – Wild …show more content…
While everyone does die, it is more that they stop for Death rather than Death stopping for them. Even more, it was common during the Romantic period to die. The average lifespan of a person was thirty years, if that person was lucky (Basaraba). This was because of inadequate medical practices and more primitive technology. Thus, people died daily and as such, found death a familiar constant. Yet, despite the normalcy and potential morbidness of the poem’s topic, “Because I could not stop for Death” is still exciting to read. Dickinson weaves a great tale of the journey between life and death, arguably the most important event to happen to someone in their lifetime. She bends traditional thinking to her will and, with her writing, makes it so that death is something special, something to be revered rather than brushed aside. In the way that Dickinson tells that “Death kindly stopped for [the narrator]” rather than the narrator stopping for Death to come, she puts a spin on the classic way that the story of death is told. It makes the narrator feel special, and thus so should the reader. Going from death to love, Dickinson explores another side of humanity with another poem, “Wild Nights – Wild Nights!” Within “Wild
“Because I could not stop for Death” and “Wild Nights – Wild …show more content…
While everyone does die, it is more that they stop for Death rather than Death stopping for them. Even more, it was common during the Romantic period to die. The average lifespan of a person was thirty years, if that person was lucky (Basaraba). This was because of inadequate medical practices and more primitive technology. Thus, people died daily and as such, found death a familiar constant. Yet, despite the normalcy and potential morbidness of the poem’s topic, “Because I could not stop for Death” is still exciting to read. Dickinson weaves a great tale of the journey between life and death, arguably the most important event to happen to someone in their lifetime. She bends traditional thinking to her will and, with her writing, makes it so that death is something special, something to be revered rather than brushed aside. In the way that Dickinson tells that “Death kindly stopped for [the narrator]” rather than the narrator stopping for Death to come, she puts a spin on the classic way that the story of death is told. It makes the narrator feel special, and thus so should the reader. Going from death to love, Dickinson explores another side of humanity with another poem, “Wild Nights – Wild Nights!” Within “Wild