Richard Cory from a Nineteenth and 20th Century Perspective - Essay Example

? & Number Historical Connections in the Poem and Lyric: Richard Cory from a Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Perspective. It seems a pointless endeavor to associate words written in 1897 and others written over sixty years later, despite their similarity of topic. This is precisely our task in analyzing from a critical standpoint two works written years apart in completely different historical, social and political contexts. Critiquing the two from an historical perspective, we find Robinson’s work to be a parable on the evils of riches; Simon and Garfunkel’s a harsh commentary on the never ending struggle for riches and the growing disgust on the part of the working class with the rich themselves. The words have evolved from a nineteenth century idyll on a mysterious and respected man of a class admired from afar, to a modern icon of privilege, greed, self aggrandizement and abuse of position at the expense, as it is seen, of the common working man. There is clearly a connection in the struggle of the working classes prominent in American realism both at the turn-of-the-century and in the 1960s when Simon and Garfunkel wrote their lyrics. However, we see from the reaction of the speakers a growing sense of hopelessness and anger over time from Robinson’s character who, while going “without meat,” and cursing “the bread,” still await “the light.” (Robinson 13-14). For Simon and Garfunkel’s character there seems no hope, no “light” as they say, “And I curse the life I’m living and I curse my poverty” (Simon and Garfunkel 6-7). As an extension of the realism of the nineteenth century, Robinson can be placed at the beginning of the “naturalist movement,” which sought to write “about the fringes of society, the criminal, the fallen, the down-and-out, earning as one definition of their work the phrase sordid realism” (Penrose par. 18). “They [the naturalists] drew upon the… grim realities of everyday life…and the growing plight of the new urban poor” (Penrose par. 8), as did Simon and Garfunkel in the 60s to address the growing societal discontent of the “average man.” Regarding the main character, Cohen in his review of the play version of “Richard Cory” suggests the narrator’s view of Cory as "a gentleman from sole to crown" (par. 3). Simon and Garfunkel, from a more acerbic, less flattering perspective suggest Cory as a superficial product of being “born into society, a banker’s only child” (Simon and Garfunkel 3), hardly a gentleman whom, it is rumored, hosts “parties and orgies on his yacht” (Simon and Garfunkel 14). While Robinson’s rich man is almost ethereal, the other is portrayed as a negative product of wealth and power—an advantage despised by the narrator who complains: I work in his factory And I curse the life I'm living (Simon and Garfunkel 27-28) From an historical perspective this difference in viewpoints projects the naivete of earlier times when the rich were placed on pedestals, and by the sixties were viewed in a less positive social light. Instead of Robinson’s main character as a man “possessed by disgust and self pity” (Kaplan 36), Simon and Garfunkel’s character is a self aggrandizing, morally bankrupt product of wealth and privilege. Neither man can assuage their consciences: Simon and Garfunkel’s although he “freely gave to charity” (Simon and Garfunkel 23), nor Robinson’s, though he condescended to greet his lesser beings with “Good-morning” (Robinson 8). The overriding sense in reading both the poem and Simon and Garfunkel’s lyrics is one of irony, though in Simon and Garfunkel’s the reader gets a better glimpse of the man. Yet according to P. Cohen, Robinson’s “Cory” is the perfect parable set against the perfect irony that pervades the work. P. Cohen writes: “Richard Cory”…[illustrates] how we, as individuals, should cherish that which we have, because the truly important things in life can be lost if our attention strays to envy. By being thankful, this would lead to a greater sense of fulfillment, thus negating the natural human urge to want what we do not, and cannot, have. (P. Cohen 27) In Simon and Garfunkel’s lyrics we get a completely different sense—of protest, rage if you will against the inequities of birth and opportunity. Robinson, in his final stanza, finishes with a hint of irony and the reader gets the feeling that nothing has changed… So on we worked, and waited for the light, And went without the meat, and cursed the bread; And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, Went home and put a bullet through his head. Simon and Garfunkel’s narrator takes the irony one step further. He says, “Richard Cory went home last night and put a bullet through his head" (Simon and Garfunkel 26), but the lyrics do not end there as does Robinson’s poem. Despite what he must now acknowledge are obvious pitfalls of wealth, he continues: “I wish that I could be…Richard Cory” (Simon and Garfunkel 32-33). The lines and lyrics, written in very different times, while obviously reflective of the pitfalls of wealth and prestige, are nonetheless also reflective of their time. That money does not buy happiness has long been an accepted cliche largely rejected on a more practical modern level (i.e. Simon and Garfunkel’s persistence that even after Cory’s suicide, his narrator, unlike Robinson’s, continues to long for his life). While the reader can certainly make connections between these two works as commentary on the rich and those who watch them live lives of extravagance and ease, Robinson’s work clearly emphasizes the “Puritan” perspective of acceptance and lessons learned; Simon and Garfunkel’s the crassness and insincerity of the rich and the working class frustration that drives them toward that goal, so they too may become rich and powerful which will alleviate their daily drudgery and, perhaps, in a sense, avenge the life into which they were born. Robinson’s character simply muses that his rich man is dead; it seems a puzzle. But no matter: “…on we worked, and waited for the light” (Robinson 13)—a light that apparently years after working people were still seeking to attain. Works Cited Cohen, Peter (2008) "Irony in ‘Richard Cory’." ESSAI: Vol. 5, Article 13. 3 March 2011 Cohen, Ron. Rev. of "Richard Cory." Back Stage 46.38 (2005): 41. Fine Arts and Collection. Web. 5 Mar. 2011. Document URL Kaplan, Estelle. Philosophy in the Poetry of Edwin Arlington Robinson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1940. www.questia.com. Penrose, Patricia. “American Realism: 1865-1910.” 3 March, 2011. Robinson, Edwin Arlington. “Richard Cory.” Simon and Garfunkel, Paul. “Richard Cory.” Read More