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Poetry · Theme
Isolation and Estrangement
How Poetry develops Isolation and Estrangement.
Characters and speakers experience profound loneliness, alienation from society, and a sense of being out of place, as in 'To a Gipsy Child by the Seashore' and the exile of Empedocles, reflecting a modern crisis of belonging.
Where it surfaces
- Act I
The poem emphasizes that humans are 'strangers here' in a world that does not exist solely for their welfare, highlighting a fundamental alienation from nature and the cosmos.
- Act II
Empedocles is utterly alone, unable to live with men or himself, feeling banished and cut off from all human connection.