Peter Bell Poem Analysis - 754 Words

There is an alluring quality to â€Å"Peter Bell† that invites the reader to become engrossed in the suspense of the tale. In an article entitled, â€Å"’I Should like to Spend My Whole Life in Reading It:’ Repetition and the Pleasure of the Gothic,† Rebecca E. Martin confirms the alluring quality of the gothic mode of writing. Martin affirms, â€Å"Studies of modern readers of the so-called ‘female Gothic’ find that many readers will not put a book down until they have finished; in addition, many report reading several novels in a week, which strongly suggests that they are more interested in repetition, continuation and beginning again, than in endings† (76). Wordsworth builds suspense during Peter Bell’s journey by describing the landscape as he†¦show more content†¦The parodies of â€Å"Peter Bell† aim to belittle Wordsworth’s character by portraying the poet as an egotistical maniac, who uses Peter Bel l to push his conservative agenda. Brian Bates asserts, â€Å"Such criticism implies that his characters have no active or useful poetic function; having been reconceived under the aegis of political conservatism, these characters are, Reynolds suggests, poetically old, useless, and static† (278). Opponents may argue that Peter Bell is not a useless character, since the narrator begins the tale describing the various townspeople in order for the reader to find a commonality between themselves and one of the characters in the tale. In an article entitled, â€Å"The Redemption of Peter Bell,† Melvin Watson discusses the intricacies behind Wordsworth’s narration style. Watson declares, †Wordsworth has put the narrator clearly and firmly in command of the story, though usually in the background, as he analyzes, comments, and interprets for us [†¦] He is not made into a convincing dramatic character, for that would detract from our interest in Peter Bellâ €  (524). Peter Bell’s role within the poem is crucial because the journey is entirely his own, yet we, as readers are given the opportunity to watch his transformation unfold and thus become sympathetic to his tribulation. Prior to the introduction of the characters, the narrator asserts, â€Å"The world for my remarks and me / Will not a whit the better be,† suggesting that he has no desire toShow MoreRelatedBells for John Whitesides Daughter by John Crowe Ransom873 Words   |  3 PagesRansom was one of the prominent leaders of the Fugitive Agrarians and the founder of the New Criticism school of literary criticism and the literary journal, Kenyon Review. His works fall into many different literary movements but the majority of his poems fall within the Fugitive-Agrarianism, now known as the Southern Renaissance, movement that emphasized classicism and traditionalism. 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