The Road Not Taken
Choose two critical analyses of The Road Not Taken and explain how it has helped you understand the significance of the poem.
George Montiero and Mark Richardson outline the significance of the poem, The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost. Their critical analyses of the poem broaden your understanding of the meanings hidden in the text. By detailing some of Robert Frosts history, and his background you get a better understanding of the message he is portraying within the text.
"THE ROAD NOT TAKEN" can be read against a literally and pictorial tradition that might be called "The Choices of Two Paths," reaching not only back to the Gospels and beyond them to the Greeks but to ancient English verse as well. ' George Montiero starts
off by describing how the title of the text is referring to a common issue we face everyday, which has been perceived in other literature dating way back. This issue is choice. Nearly everything we do is the reaction of a decision we made, due to a choice we had. "The Choice of Two Paths" is suggested in Frost's decision to make his two roads not very much different from one another, for passing over one of them had the effect of wearing them "really about the same." ' This shows how Frost's decision of which road to travel was difficult as the roads as far as he could see (in his near future) were similar. Montiero compares Frost's poem with other texts dealing with similar issues: John Lydgate's Reson and Sensuallyte. Each text deals with two roads, each road representing choices. Lydgate's choices are symbolized by his encounter with "Dame Nature" who "offered him the choice between the Road of Reason and the Road of Sensuality." Convinced that the poem was deeply personal and directly self-revelatory.' It is believed that the poem was written about a personal decision that Frost had made, when he was in his late thirties' and he is know looking back and wandering: "What if I took the other path? Where would I be right now? Would I be better off?" But he realises that it is too late to find out. "I doubt if I should ever come back."
Mark Richardson on the other hand takes a more philosophical approach to analysing the text. Which road, after all, is the road "not taken"? Is it the one the speaker himself fails to take? Precisely who is not doing the taking?' Richardson analyses the title, and questions the uncertainty. This ambiguity sets in play equivocations that extend throughout the poem.' This is true as the poem ends very ambiguously "and that mad all the difference." Frost leaves it hanging; there are many uncertainties left unexplained. Richardson finds the poem to be a joke but still portraying a serious meaning Comical as the poem may be, there is a serious matter in it.' He interprets the symbolism and meaning behind the poem, similar to Montiero's interpretation. Choices even when they are undertaken so lightly as to seem unworthy of the name "choice" are always more momentous, and very often providential, than we suppose.' Richardson is describing how even the smallest choice (one that we may not even realise is a choice) should never be taken lightly, as it will make an impact to our future, whether it be a good or bad one.
In conclusion, Montiero and Richardson both assist the reader in gaining a better understanding of the significance of the text, by introducing new meanings through Frost's history, comparing the poem to other texts and philosophising the content.
George Montiero and Mark Richardson outline the significance of the poem, The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost. Their critical analyses of the poem broaden your understanding of the meanings hidden in the text. By detailing some of Robert Frosts history, and his background you get a better understanding of the message he is portraying within the text.
"THE ROAD NOT TAKEN" can be read against a literally and pictorial tradition that might be called "The Choices of Two Paths," reaching not only back to the Gospels and beyond them to the Greeks but to ancient English verse as well. ' George Montiero starts
off by describing how the title of the text is referring to a common issue we face everyday, which has been perceived in other literature dating way back. This issue is choice. Nearly everything we do is the reaction of a decision we made, due to a choice we had. "The Choice of Two Paths" is suggested in Frost's decision to make his two roads not very much different from one another, for passing over one of them had the effect of wearing them "really about the same." ' This shows how Frost's decision of which road to travel was difficult as the roads as far as he could see (in his near future) were similar. Montiero compares Frost's poem with other texts dealing with similar issues: John Lydgate's Reson and Sensuallyte. Each text deals with two roads, each road representing choices. Lydgate's choices are symbolized by his encounter with "Dame Nature" who "offered him the choice between the Road of Reason and the Road of Sensuality." Convinced that the poem was deeply personal and directly self-revelatory.' It is believed that the poem was written about a personal decision that Frost had made, when he was in his late thirties' and he is know looking back and wandering: "What if I took the other path? Where would I be right now? Would I be better off?" But he realises that it is too late to find out. "I doubt if I should ever come back."
Mark Richardson on the other hand takes a more philosophical approach to analysing the text. Which road, after all, is the road "not taken"? Is it the one the speaker himself fails to take? Precisely who is not doing the taking?' Richardson analyses the title, and questions the uncertainty. This ambiguity sets in play equivocations that extend throughout the poem.' This is true as the poem ends very ambiguously "and that mad all the difference." Frost leaves it hanging; there are many uncertainties left unexplained. Richardson finds the poem to be a joke but still portraying a serious meaning Comical as the poem may be, there is a serious matter in it.' He interprets the symbolism and meaning behind the poem, similar to Montiero's interpretation. Choices even when they are undertaken so lightly as to seem unworthy of the name "choice" are always more momentous, and very often providential, than we suppose.' Richardson is describing how even the smallest choice (one that we may not even realise is a choice) should never be taken lightly, as it will make an impact to our future, whether it be a good or bad one.
In conclusion, Montiero and Richardson both assist the reader in gaining a better understanding of the significance of the text, by introducing new meanings through Frost's history, comparing the poem to other texts and philosophising the content.