Breaking the Silence

A detailed Summary of Breaking the Silence

Intimacy and sexuality are the most important aspects of our life, our sex lives affect all other spheres and often determines a sense of our adequacy. However, as human beings, Christian morality has left a deep influence on the development of the modern individual. Christianity has always prohibited open portrayal of human sexual feelings and activities. Sex, as a theme has always been a taboo subject. Which was an inappropriate topic for discussion and indecent portrayal. The twentieth century brought a sexual revolution. That ripped off the ties of Christians that had fettered the brains and shackled the behavior of previous generations.

Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson both explored un-conventional themes and explicitly expressed their feelings and desires regarding intimacy. Both of them shared the deep feeling that portrayed human emotions and world wouldn't be adequate unless the potent theme of sexual desires is exposed. They both break through barriers, that supposedly "protects" humans from nature's force. Both of them are rebels against social control. They declared their right to be sincere and really truthful when contemplating their emotions and feelings a

1) Dickinson, Emily. "He fumbles at your Soul "The Complete

Frost. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1969.339-41

Robert Frost, on the other hand, puts himself forward and at the same time stays in the background. In "The Subverted Flower" Robert Frost seems to be telling a tale about two youngsters exploring their forbidden sexuality. The two youngsters chose to break the sexual taboos and morality of their time without exploring who is truly "right" and who is "wrong". Even though the girl in the story was hostile at first, she gave in very quickly without thinking of why it was wrong. When the mother's presence became known, the reaction of the two characters shows that they were aware that their behavior would be seen as wrong, yet they continued. One would believe that it was a deeper metaphor where the mother is society and the teenagers represent rebellion against the social norms. The theme of sexual exploration and its discussion reaches the climax in "The Subverted Flower" which was published in 1942. The poem is very disturbing and unconventional. Robert Frost is very explicit in describing sexual encounter between the two unwed teens. For that time the act itself was demeaning and full of disgrace, and the mother in the story shows that. However, the poet doesn't find it infamous or dishonorable. He uses poetic terms in his descriptions. If one doesn't analyze the poem as we did, he wouldn't see the perversion in it. The narrator seems to sympathize with t

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Approximate Word count = 1027
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English