The Tragic Themes In Robert Frost's Poetry

Robert Frost (1874-1963), widely read and constantly anthologized, is one of the most famous American poets in the 20^th century. In his as long as ninety-year life journey, all kinds of glories came to him. He won the Pulitzer Prize four times and was the only poet in American literary history that was invited by the President to read his poem at the inauguration. There have been numerous domestic and overseas studies on him and on all aspects of his poetry. As far as the themes are concerned, many critics hold the idea that Frost is an optimistic poet. However, living in a period of dramatic social changes, Frost was inevitably influenced by the time he lived in. This paper, starting from a new perspective, attempts to offer some new studies on Frost—the tragic themes in his poetry.With this aim, the main body of this paper is divided into three parts. The first part, i.e. Chapter 3, gives the philosophical explanation of the tragic theme from an Existentialistic point of view; the second part, Chapter 4 and Chapter 5, deals with the tragic themes in Frost's poetry from two different perspectives: tragedy is lurking in human society; man is helpless in the universe. With regard to human and society, Frost thinks that modern people live in frustration and loneliness, which is demonstrated by their alienation in emotional and spiritual crises and their indifference to the unprivileged groups. Living in modern society, Frost also shows deep concern for man's tragic situation in the universe. In each of the two chapters, the similar method is applied—interpreting his tragic themes through the analysis of relevant poems and their artistic features.In the third part, Chapter 6, the paper continues to explore the causes of these themes. First the historical and social backgrounds, two World Wars and the Great Depression, are discussed as the external impact. Then his personal experiences are demonstrated as the internal factors. The death of his sister, his wife, his daughter and his son makes life extremely miserable for Frost. All these contribute to the tragic themes in his poetry. The efforts made for this paper are meaningful with the construction of a systematic study on the tragic themes in Frost's poetry. Hopefully this will offer a new perspective for the study of Frost's poems and make a contribution to a fuller understanding of this "transitional poet".