Dead Poets Society Is a 1989 Film

Dead Poets Society is a 1989 film that explores the impact that an English teacher, John Keating, had on his students through his unorthodox methods of teaching and unique perspective on life. The film stars Robin Williams as John Keating, an English professor at the extremely conservative Welton Academy and a former member of the Dead Poets Society, and Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles, Gale Hansen, Dylan Kussman, Allelon Ruggerio, and James Waterson as Neil Perry, Todd Anderson, Knox Overstreet, Charlie Dalton, Richard Cameron, Steven Meeks, and Gerard Pitts, respectively, as senior students at Welton Academy. Through his teaching methods and literature-inspired beliefs, Keating is able to inspire his pupils to pursue their personal goals and do what they want to do as opposed to what they are told they are supposed to do.

It is Keating's unorthodox approach to teaching that first grabs the attention of the boys in his class. Unlike their other classes, which are strict and follow a defined curriculum, Keating encourages the boys to think for themselves and to view the world from a different perspective, their perspective, as opposed to being told what to think and what to do. Curious to find out more about their new teacher, the boys find Keating's picture in an old yearbook and notice that he was once a member of the Dead Poets Society. At this point in the narrative, the boys have never heard of, nor do they know about, the Dead Poets Society. Seeking to break free from the regimented structure of Welton and carpe diem -- as Keating has inspired them to do, this group of boys seeks to restart the Dead Poets Society in order to explore their ambitions.

While the newly re-formed Dead Poets Society gives these boys a venue to have a meeting of the minds, so to speak, it is Neil's decision to pursue his interest in acting -- against his father's wishes -- that forever change the Dead Poets Society and Welton Academy. Though Neil is extraordinary in his portrayal of Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream, he has been participating in the play behind his parents' backs. Neil's parents are more controlling than he can handle, and upon learning that he will probably never be able to escape their clutches regardless of what he wants or how hard he tries, he decides to commit suicide, the only way he feels he will ever be free from them.

Neil's suicide brings forth the beginning of the end of the Dead Poets Society, albeit in name and not in spirit. At the request of Neil's parents, school officials launch an investigation into his death; during the investigation, the Dead Poets Society, and Neil's involvement in the club, is uncovered and thus the DPS and Keating come under attack. Wanting to avoid expulsion, the boys sign a letter that absolves them of any wrongdoing while simultaneously accusing Keating of influencing and encouraging the formation of the club. Had it not been for Keating, the members of the Dead Poets Society would not have had a place to voice their opinions and become freethinkers; moreover, without Neil's suicide, it could be inferred that the Dead Poets Society would have continued to exist and practice at Welton Academy.