What is Critical appreciation of the poem 'The Road Not Taken' by Robert Frost?

Answer 1

Although critics tend to agree about the thematic concerns of "The Road Not Taken," they are less consistent in evaluating its success. John T. Ogilvie, in an article published in South Atlantic Quarterly, suggests that the road is a metaphor for the writerly life, and that the choice the speaker makes here "leads deeper into the wood" which "though they [the woods] hold a salutary privacy, impose a stern isolation, an isolation endured not without cost." Roy Harvey Pearce, in his The Continuity of American Poetry, agrees that this poem illustrates Frost's tendency to write about "moments of pure, unmediated realization" which are "by definition private." The speaker is able to achieve insight, but only through solitude and separation from others.

Isadore Traschen, however, in an article in The Yale Review, critiques the poem (and its admirers) quite harshly, accusing Frost of unrestrained sentimentality. In this poem, she suggests that "Frost acknowledges that life has limits ..., yet he indulges himself in the sentimental notion that we could be really different from what we have become. He treats this romantic cliche" on the level of the cliche; hence the appeal of the poem for many." Traschen is arguing here that the common reader is attracted to this poem because its ideas are already so familiar and because many people prefer romantic ideas to realistic ones. Yvor Winters, writing in The Function of Criticism: Problems and Exercises, refers to the speaker as a "spiritual drifter." Although Winters acknowledges that the poem has some positive qualities, he faults the poem because he believes that Frost was inadequate to his task: "Had Frost been a more intelligent man, he might have seen that the plight of the spiritual drifter was not inevitable, he might have judged it in the light of a more comprehensive wisdom. Had he done this, he might have written a greater poem. But his poem is good as far as it goes; the trouble is that it does not go far enough, it is incomplete, and it puts on the reader a burden of critical intelligence which ought to be borne by the poet."

Answer 2

"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost explores themes of choice and individuality. The poem poeticizes the idea of choosing one's own path in life, emphasizing the importance of personal decisions and the impact they have on one's journey. Through its exploration of the roads diverging in the woods, Frost captures the complexity and significance of decision-making in shaping one's destiny.