William Carlos Williams- a Modernist? an Analysis of "portrait of a Lady"

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Definition of the Term Modernism 1

3. Analysis of “Portrait of a Lady” 2

3.1 Form 2

3.2 Style 2

3.2.1 Sentence Structure 2

3.2.2 Stylistic Devices 3

3.2.3 Word Choice 4

3.3 Content 5

3.3.1 The Speaker's Imaginative Dialog 5

3.3.2 The Veiled Eroticism in “Portrait of a Lady“ 7

4. The Modernistic Traits in Williams’ “Portrait of a Lady” 10

5. Conclusion 12

6. Bibliography 13

7. Appendix 14

1. Introduction

In the history of American literature the American Romantic Period, the Realistic Period and the Naturalistic Period were before the Modern one. The way of writing poems in those times is seen as traditional. As a contrast, in the Modern period those traditions were broken or rather retrieved as EZRA POUND defined it: “Make it new.” This definition, however, does not count for all the poems written by representatives of that time.

According to LINK WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS (1883-1963) is one of the main representatives of modernist poetry, who stayed in the United States of America. He dealt with typical American topics and used typical American diction in some of his poems. If that is the case in “Portrait of a Lady” is to be surveyed in this research paper.

The objective pursued in this term paper is to impart a general overview on the term modernism with definitions of the movements it contained. Then “Portrait of a Lady” shall be analyzed - in particular its form, its style as well as its content. Bearing upon this, a special emphasis shall be laid on the question if “Portrait of a Lady” is a modernist poem or not. Finally, the conclusions reached will be summarized.

2. Definition of the Term Modernism

It is quite difficult to define when the modernist period was, since nearly every definition says something different. According to HEAD, modernism originated in “the last decade of the 19th century and” lasted “into the postwar years”. He points out that the term describes an international tendency in arts. This tendency established “in cosmopolitan circles in European cities such as Berlin, Vienna,