¶ … Cultural criticism has been for the most part unfairly limited to cultures apart from the majority culture. Within Robert Frost's poetry, there is an obvious cultural understanding which should be explored by literary scholars. Frost was writing at the beginning of the twentieth century from the perspective of a male member of the majority culture who was witnessing the beginnings of other groups' demands for equalization within the society. He was also witness to the industrial overtaking of the natural world in the form of expansions of cities and factories before and during the First World War. My intention is to prove that both of these topics can be explored by linking Robert Frost's poetry to the theory of cultural criticism using both the texts as well as academic evidence related to this theory, including the text by Charles Bressler.
Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken" is one of the most famous pieces of American poetry. It has been interpreted and analyzed since its publication nearly a century before. On its surface, it is about an unnamed narrator who sees two paths within a wood and chooses one, a decision which determined the rest of the course of his life. Within the cultural context, the poem deals more with political choices rather than personal ones. By choosing the road less traveled, that is to say by participating in activities which support minorities rather than adhering to the perspective of the majority, the narrator has achieved a position in life that is far different from where they might have been had they gone along with the majority culture.
"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" is more a commentary on industrialization that a discussion of minority and majority dynamics. This horse and rider are travelling through the natural world, far away from their home, exploring the beauty of nature. The pair travel further into the wild, and further away from the homestead trying to escape that symbol of settlement which has taken away from the natural world's beauty. The importance on industrialization and human expansion with his society has superseded the national appreciation for nature.
Works Cited:
Bressler, Charles E. Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999. Print.
Frost, Robert. "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." 1923, 65. Print.
Frost, Robert. "The Road Not Taken." 1915, 64. Print.
