Theme of Personal Incident and a documentary– The poem is a personal documentary sketch from the journal written by Dorothy Wordsworth. She cites an incident that happened to Mr. Graham who encounters poor Alice Fell whose cloak got jammed in the wheel of the carriage. This element of autobiography is evident throughout the poem and Wordsworth did not dismiss any details of it in the poem. With the help of imagination, he sketches the event and a situation in a subjective manner to give purpose for the poor Alice Fell.
Since the romanticism started as a movement to connect and write for the common people, Wordsworth has proven his ideals in the poem by depicting the pain and suffering of Alice Fell. He uses the common language to connect with the situation of Alice Fell and he portrays beautifully the incident of what happened to her. The poem beautifully sketches the mysterious sound that the speaker hears and one can notice that it is Mr.Graham based on the reading of the journal. He hears the sound and tells the post chaise to stop the carriage. He then hears the noise from behind the carriage who is a little girl Alice Fell crying since her cloak is entangled in the wheel. She does not have any other cloak and she is an orphan. She is taken up by the speaker to the nearby inn and she is given a new cloak for her. The next day Alice wore the new cloak with pride and she was filled with immense joy and happiness.
Theme of Suffering and Poverty– The theme of suffering and poverty is a significant element in the poem. Throughout the poem, the theme of suffering endures. The cry of the sound reflects the cry for help of Alice Fell and it is the speaker who sympathises with her later. It is also ironic that the post boy who is riding the carriage is unable to hear the sound. One gets to delve deeper into the poem where Alice Fell is an orphan girl who is poor and her cloak has been jammed in a wheel torn into rags. She doesn’t have any other and a potential reason for her crying. She suffers from poverty because her parents are dead and the cloak could actually symbolize the comfort she only has. The cloak also represents the poor condition of Alice Fell and the suffering she is enduring because of the unfortunate circumstances.
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Theme of Humanity – Romantics institute humanism in their writings because they believe that it is these feelings and emotions in a man that makes human beings a human. It goes against the attacks of Plato who accuses poetry of weakening man. In the poem, the reception of pain and suffering that the speaker receives generates a sense of romantic humanism in the speaker to sympathise with Alice Fell. Her story and her helplessness creates a sense of universal empathy towards her and the speaker cannot resist. The speaker aids Alice Fell by taking her to the inn and he buys her another new cloak that institute a theme of humanity and a sympathy for Alice Fell.
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