Realism – The theory or practice in art and literature of fidelity to nature or to real life and to accurate representation without idealization of the most typical views, details, and surroundings of the subject.
Read the following poems and write a detailed description for each of the title characters and explain how each is an example of the “real” instead of the “ideal.”
“Richard Cory“ (497)
Richard Cory is richer than a king. He is a gentlemen from toe to crown. He is the person who everyone looks up to. All the townspeople are aspiring to be like him, yet one day he goes home and shoots himself in the head. This poem is an example how you cannot judge what is on the inside by what is on the outside, or the surface. Ususally the two are completely different. Appearance is significantly different from reality. Cory had a seemingly “perfect life” in the eyes of the townspeople, but his mind was not perfect. It is ironic that the ideal man was really just a man who had stuggles within himself and committed suicide. Richard Cory is rich on the outside but poor on the inside.
“Miniver Cheevy” (497)
Miniver Cheevy was born too late and wishes he was born in the Medieval Times. He is jealous of those who got to live in the times of Knights, Chivalary, swords, and horses. He wanted to escape from the reality of his life, and become a part of what he thought was an ideal life. He gets wrapped up in the fantasy of the past. He drinks to get rid of the real and gets lost in his fantasies. Miniver Cheevy is a minimum achiever. His life is so mundane and monotonus that he wishes he was never born. The era of Medieval Times is his ideal life, but he is stuck in reality. He lived a bitter, insignificant life.
“Mr. Flood’s Party” (498)
Mr. Flood is an older man and either all of his friends are gone or dead. He drinks to create friends in his mind. Mr. Flood floods himself with alcohol in order to have a party. His friends are strangers now. The ideal life for Mr. Flood would be to relive to the past and enjoy moments with his old friends and other people. His reality is that he is lonely. Change has taken over his life. It is ironic how he is throwing a party, because it’s a one person party. You cannot have a party with only one person. His loneliness leads him to do drastic things.
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