The life and times of. . .
“Approach the poem through the study of the life and times of its author”
My thoughts exactly. Chapter 1 discussed when to delve into the author's background, and how to as well. Keesey also touches on how to do this, which helps a whole lot. He stresses on finding the individuality of the poet, and the individuality of the age. As we inspect the background and investigate the author's intentions, we must compare the characters to the age that they were written, and deduce why they were the way they were. For instance, we know that The Tempest was written in the early 1600's, when nobility was a major part of life. If Prospero existed in today's day and age, we wouldn't really understand his motives. But since we know that this story occurred in the 1600's, we can completely understand why Prospero wants to have his enemies suffer and forgive him for what they have done.
Only by understanding the age that it was written, can we truly see some of the subtleties within literature.
Comments
I completely agree with you, Corey. Although I liked Formalism a lot when it was discussed in the first few readings because it seems a more objective way to evaluate a piece, I as both a reader and a critic feel that more can be gained from the text by reasearching the author and the time period.
Posted by: Erica Gearhart | February 11, 2009 11:34 PM
I know what you mean. The reader needs to understand the idea of nobility before we can understand what the major issue was in the play.
Posted by: Jodi Schweizer | February 12, 2009 10:28 AM