Richard Cory By Edward Arlington Robinson

The poem “Richard Cory” which was written by Edward Arlington Robinson illustrates the theme of how ones appearances may not actually be the true reality. The speaker describes “Richard Cory” as a wealthy individual who seems to have it all but however in the last few lines of the poem he ends up taking his own life. Robinson is able to create an immense sense of situational irony through vivid and lucid imagery, a detailed setting and a mysterious speaker.
The use of imagery is extensively used to describe the way that Richard Cory lived. The speaker depicts Richard’s character as that of a king. For example, he states “He was a gentleman from sole to crown”. This expression is an indirect comparison of Cory to a king. The word crown has multiple meanings. It can mean the crown of one’s head or the crown that a king wears. The poet uses this connotation as its double
The speaker states “Whenever Richard Cory went down town”. The act of Richard going downtown is very symbolic. Downtown is a word that bears both positive and negative connotations. In most places, downtown is the usually the heart of the city as it contains lots of museums, restaurants and other amusing activities. In contrast, it can also be a secret warning as it can be a place of violent acts. Another significant setting is the weather and time of year as it is very misleading. Robinson states “And Richard Cory, one calm summer night”. Summer is typically a time of the year that is associated with happiness, joy and life. The night is also shown to be calm. This keeps the mood of the poem warm and calm and gave no evidence of a scary act that was about to happen. However, the final shocking line where Cory takes his life changes the mood of the story because what happened is completely different from what was expected thus creating a powerful sense of situational