shirks personal responsibility by claiming that he
was fated to be miserable.
Themes
Alienation
Psychologists have called alienation the disease of
the twentieth century, a result of the rapid develop-
ment and expansion of the modern world. The idea
began with Karl Marx, who, in the mid-1800s,
pointed out that industrialization was bound to
put human beings out of harmony with nature by
separating the labor they do from the results of that
labor, making them strangers to their collective
accomplishments. By the end of the 1800s, there
were other signs of this effect. The growth of urban
areas further separated people from nature, and
increasingly faster methods of transportation
such as the railroad and the steamship disrupted
people’s sense of roots and permanence. In this
poem, Miniver Cheevy is alienated from his own
society. He does not understand the world he lives
in and feels detached from others. His interest in
the past helps him avoid coming to terms with his
place in a changing society. He is inactive, self-
absorbed, and he drinks. His attitude and alcohol-
ism insulate him from his immediate setting and
from people around him. Thus, he is detached from
the time and place in which he actually lives and
spends the time he has in escapist fantasies about
the distant past.
The Past and the Present
Like many people, Miniver Cheevy feels that he
was born at the wrong time in history and that
he would be happier if he lived in some other time.
He does not like modern clothes or modern man-
ners, and he does not even know how to earn a
living. There is little about his contemporary world
that he understands. Cheevy thinks that he would
be fine, if only he were to living in some other
historical period. He considers himself an expert
on these other periods.
The fact is the desire to live in another time is
based on an escapist fantasy about that other time.
Theescapismisawayofnotedealingwiththe
problems the current setting and people present.
As long as he fantasizes about the past, Cheevy can
avoid confronting his immediate problems. As long
as he avoids confronting the issues in his own life,
he is unable to make positive change. He can think
all day and all night about it; he can think and
drink. But that will not change his circumstances.
It only keeps him from facing his problems and
dealing with them. In Cheevy’s case, thinking is a
way of procrastinating, and drinking is a way of
insulating himself. Cheevy imagines he would be
better off in the idealized image he has of former
times, but Cheevy is fooling himself. So long as heTOPICS FOR
FURTHER
STUDYAsk at least ten people to explain some time in
history that they would like to visit. Show
your results visually, with pictures that repre-
sent the eras they talked about. Then present
facts about those eras that make them less
attractive to modern people.
Find a song with lyrics that remind you of the
same attitude that Miniver Cheevy has.
Explain whether you think the songwriter’s
expectations are more realistic than Cheevy’s
or less, and why.
Do some research on medieval knights and
the Crusades. Write a paper on the Crusades
emphasizing parts that Cheevy would be
unlikely to idealize.
What was it like to live in a small New Eng-
land town in the first years of the twentieth
century? Write a poem or short story about a
person living today who dreams of living
during Cheevy’s lifetime. Make clear the dif-
ferences between what it was like and how it
is romanticized by your modern character.
The poem draws attention to the self-
indulgence of the Medici family. Do some
research about the Medici, and then write a
paper on their achievements and their
crimes. Explain the misconceptions Cheevy
has about them.
The poem says that Miniver Cheevy was
‘‘borntoolate.’’Dosomeresearchonthe
psychological effects of alcoholism and then
write a paper that uses your research to
explain why Cheevy has this belief about him-
self and how it serves his passivity and refusal
to take responsibility for himself and his life.Miniver Cheevy