Robert Frost: The Ethics of Ambiguity - Tapa dura

As one explores Frost's ethical thinking through his body of prose and poetry, one discovers a conflicted and often confusing world. Some apparently overt claims are shaded in context by tones of cynicism or skepticism. Values he apparently lauded in his work he violated freely in his life. Ideals he longed for are often crushed under a bitter sense of reality. Consequently, the important questions to ask about Frost's ethiscs are whether any systematic patterns emerge, what influenced such patterns, and, most importantly, how they are manifested in the poetry. To examine such issues, the critical methodology of this study is contextual, with emphasis upon three primary contexts.

John H. Timmerman received his Ph.D. from Ohio University and is currently Professor of American Literature at Calvin College. He has authored numerous articles on American literature and over twenty books, including the following on American literature: John Steinbeck's Fiction, The Dramatic Landscape of Steinbeck's Short Stories, T.S. Eliot's Ariel Poems (Bucknell University Press, 1994), and Jane Kenyon: A Literary Life.