Paul Laurence Dunbar and Edwin Arlington Robinson created "We Wear the Mask" and "Richard Cory" during the literary renaissance after World War I. Society was targeted and critiqued by authors who wanted to describe the "spiritual problems and disillusionments" (p 765). Dunbar and Robinson described the feeling of alienation, or estrangement from society and its ideals. The insightful theme of alienation critiqued society as being false; ideals of money, power, and social politics were corrupting the modern minds.
[...] It is overwhelming and difficult to change the tradition of society, which the only option left is to love it or leave it. Yet, with such a strong attachment of personal beliefs, the speaker cannot easily accept the false ideals. We don't know if the speaker in Wear the Mask” commits suicide, but the bleak acceptance that nothing can change the tradition of society stirs an image of a jaded existence looking for any way even death. The poem interprets the isolation and despair of living in a conflicting society, which could not be observed by the objective speaker in “Richard Cory”. [...]
[...] Richard Cory's Lost Suicide Letter Paul Laurence Dunbar and Edwin Arlington Robinson created Wear the Mask” and “Richard Cory” during the literary renaissance after World War I. Society was targeted and critiqued by authors who wanted to describe the “spiritual problems and disillusionments” 765). Dunbar and Robinson described the feeling of alienation, or estrangement from society and its ideals. The insightful theme of alienation critiqued society as being false; ideals of money, power, and social politics were corrupting the modern minds. [...]
APA Style reference
For your bibliographyOnline reading
with our online readerContent validated
by our reading committee
