Dead Poets Summary - Fleming College

1 Human Mind Through FilmDead Poets SocietySummary: Jessica See Poets society explores the conflict between realism and romanticism as thesecontrasting ideals are presented to the students at an all boys preparatory school. WeltonAcademy is founded on tradition and excellence and is bent on providing strict structuredlessons prescribed by the realist, anti-youth administration. With the dawning of each newsemester, hundreds of parents abandon their sons, leaving them in the tried hands of Welton staffin hopes that they will raise doctors and lawyers. When a replacement English teacher arrives,who happens to be a Welton alumnus, he brings with him a passion for teaching romanticism,thus opening a never-before-seen world to his story is predominantly viewed through the eyes of Todd Anderson (Ethan Hawke), anewcomer to Welton, and his roommate Neil Perry (Robert Sean Leonard).

2 Todd is painfully shyand terrified that what he might say is insignificant and meaningless. This is particularlydisturbing to him since he is repeatedly told that he has "big shoes to fill" being the youngerbrother of a former valedictorian. Neil, on the other hand, is bright and full of ambition, which isunfortunately squelched by his overbearing, controlling father. Mr. Perry dictates every detail ofhis son's life including extra curricular activities, future plans, and specifically what others thinkof him. The new English teacher John Keating (Robin Williams) begins his teachings with a ferventlecture on their imminent deaths, explaining to the students that their lives are fleeting so theyshould seize the day to make their lives count, to leave a legacy of "carpe diem.

3 " He continues histeaching by instructing the class to rip out the pages of their books which describe a scientificway to determine the greatness of poetry. He teaches them the works of the romantic Poets suchas Thoreau and Lord Byron and employs outdoor exercises to warn them of the dangers ofconformity and the power of sports as a way which human beings push each other to these eccentric activities, the students, intrigued with their new teacher, learn that he wasa member of the Dead Poets society . When asked, Keating describes glorious moments ofcreating gods, but warns them to forget about the idea.

4 Nevertheless, they repeatedly sneak offcampus to convene their own version of the Dead Poets society . Todd is allowed to attend as anexception: since he does not want to read aloud, he keeps minutes of the meetings. Throughoutthese meetings, each character is able to develop his own romantic or realist nature. The shocking clash between realism and romanticism begins to unfold when Charlie Dalton(Gale Hansen) prints an obnoxious article in the school news in the name of the Dead Poets . Theadministration is appalled and begins an investigation. Meanwhile, Knox Overstreet (JoshCharles) fall madly in love with a girl who is practically engaged to the son of his parent'sfriends.

5 He pursues her relentlessly, driven by romantic ideals, in the face of the threats on hislife by her boyfriend. Neil realizes that his real passion in life is acting and proceeds to land therole of Puck in a Midsummer Night's Dream at the local theater. He begins to weave a tangledweb of deception by failing to inform his father, then lying to Mr. Keating when his father findsout and demands he quit the play. Feeling trapped, after his final performance and a standingovation, he takes his own horrible outrage echoes through the hallowed halls of Welton, applying even greaterpressure to the Dead Poets .

6 When Mr. and Mrs. Perry demand a thorough investigation, Weltonadministration links the Dead Poets society , which they determined as the cause for theupheaval, to Mr. Keating. Each member is called before the administration and their parents tosign a confession statement indicating that Mr. Keating filled their minds with these lofty idealsultimately leading to Neil's suicide. Richard Cameron (Dylan Kussman), ultimately a realistconcerned most with doing what is already determined to be right, signs the statement andencourages the rest of them to do the same. Knowing full well that Keating was not responsible,Cameron lets him take the rap to free himself.

7 Angered by this betrayal, Dalton punches Cameron in an impulsive fit displaying his finalromantic act, only to be expelled. The last to sign, though unwillingly, is Todd, thus removingJohn Keating from his treasured position. In one final scene, displaying the beauty of a balancebetween the two ideals, Todd is able to cry out to Mr. Keating, who stopped by the class tocollect his belongings, "O Captain, my Captain!" Todd, who previously had no identity,Dead Poets society - Human Mind Through FilmPage 2 of 7contributed his verse to mankind, climbing to the top of his desk to salute his fallen teacher, whochanged his life.

8 Dead Poets SocietyFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaDead Poets society is an Academy Award-winning 1989 film, directed by Peter Weir. Setin 1959 at a conservative and autocratic boys prep school, it tells the story of an Englishprofessor who inspires his students to change their lives of conformity through histeaching of poetry and story is set at the fictional Welton Academy in Vermont and was filmed at St. Andrew'sSchool in Middletown, Delaware. A novelization by Nancy H. Kleinbaum based on the movie'sscript has also been boys, Neil Perry (Robert Sean Leonard), Todd Anderson (Ethan Hawke), Knox Overstreet(Josh Charles), Charlie Dalton (Gale Hansen), Richard Cameron (Dylan Kussman), StevenMeeks (Allelon Ruggiero) and Gerard Pitts (James Waterston) attend the prestigious WeltonAcademy prep school, which is based on four principles: Tradition, Honor, Discipline andExcellence.

9 According to the boys, the four pillars of "Hellton" are Travesty, Horror, Decadence,and the first day of class, new English teacher John Keating (Robin Williams) tells the studentsthat they can call him "O Captain! My Captain!" (the title of a Walt Whitman poem) if they feeldaring. His first lesson is unorthodox by Welton standards, whistling the 1812 Overture andtaking them out of the classroom to focus on the idea of carpe diem (Latin for 'seize the day')by looking at the pictures of former Welton students in a trophy case. In a later class Keating hasNeil read the introduction to their poetry textbook, a staid, dry essay entitled "UnderstandingPoetry" by the fictional academic Dr.

10 J. Evans Pritchard, Ph. D., which describes how to placethe quality of a poem on a scale, and rate it with a number, a process that was popular in literaryDead Poets society - Human Mind Through FilmPage 3 of 7circles at the time. Keating finds the idea of such mathematical literary criticism ridiculous andencourages his pupils to rip the introductory essay out of their textbooks. After a brief reaction ofdisbelief, they do so gleefully as Keating congratulates them with the memorable line "Begone, Pritchard, Ph. D." He later has the students stand on his desk as a reminder to look at theworld in a different way, just as Henry David Thoreau intended when he wrote, "The universe iswider than our views of it" (Walden).