Dead Poets Society: Death of a Romantic

Discussion of the conflicting philosophies of realism and romanticism in the movie Dead Poets Society

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About the Movie

This is a response from the Alumni Department of Montgomery Bell Academy:

"The movie "Dead Poets Society" was written by Thomas Schulman, a 1968 graduate of Montgomery Bell Academy. The teacher portrayed by Robin Williams in the movie was based on one of Mr. Schulman's teachers while he was at MBA, Mr. Sam Pickering. The events in the movie, however, are purely fictional."

About This Page

I want to stress that this page is NOT about the movie itself, but about the philosophy I believe is the underlying meaning. This means YOU WILL FIND NO PICTURES OR SOUND CLIPS ON THIS PAGE. There are also no actor/actress bios because that's not the point - lots of other people have pages like that. This page is dedicated to the philosophy and the poetry.

The main philosophy I saw in the movie was that which I call the anti-romantic romanticist, which will be explained in greater detail within this site. To truly understand romanticism and realism as I am defining them, you MUST read my section on romanticism, realism, and DPS.

Can I use this site as a source for my paper?

Yes, by all means. We've even put together a page on how to cite us in your paper.