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Any piece of literature is the manifestation of ones instinct through the coloring of words. In this process, one may rely on various devices to polish the abstract ideas conceived in his mind. As it is offending those who resent the reinterpretation of the accepted beliefs or previous works it often provokes controversy. Sometimes a person may have a particular experience of his own or he may approach a historical event or any previous work done by his predecessor. When one takes a historical event or a previous work as his source material he may be tempted to make considerable alterations to the real fact. Most of them take it as a right to change the source material or the historical event and that is called poetic license. In detail, poetic license is a colloquial term that denotes the alteration or complete ignorance of the fact, conventions of grammar or language, or the altering of an established fact that an artist may undertake in the name of art.
By poetic license, William Herbert Carruth remarks, Sometimes the great poet deliberately violates a little law in order to obey greater one; and sometimes the great poet simply forgets, is careless is so absorbed in thought that he overlooks his minor technique. In many cases, he would have corrected the little defect if he had noticed it in time. (Carruth). When analyzing poetic license, one can see that it is not always possible for a writer or a filmmaker to restate or reinterpret the social, cultural, and material life of his source material. If he portrays or sketches the incidents or events exactly like the source material, the readers or the audience of films may feel it absurd and may refuse to read or view it. To lessen these problems the world-renowned dramatist William Shakespeare has used this right in most of his works. His great tragedies and historical plays are examples of his effective use of poetic license. One of the best examples is Mark Antonys speech in Julius Caesar which begins as: Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears. (Shakespeare). Here technically the word and is required before countrymen , but Shakespeare deliberately omitted it in order to preserve the rhythm of iambic pentameter.
Filmmakers often adapt historical events, myths, or stories that best suit their inclination. One can cite a good example of this kind of adaptation in the very popular film The Patriot released in the year 2000, directed by Robert Emmerich. The real historical event mentioned in the film occurred in South Carolina in 1776 at the time of the American Civil War against the British. (Plot Summary for The Patriot). Though he had the least desire to participate in the war, the French -Indian war hero Benjamin Martin was forced to participate in the war because of the brutal murder of his two eldest sons Gabriel and Thomas. The story of the film moves on with the narration of Benjamin and his guerrilla army and their tremendous victory in the war of independence. An overview of the film will reveal the adaptation of the real historical incident or the writers poetic justice. One notable adaptation has taken place with regard to the burning of the church as seen in the film. History has not marked such an event of a fire. When the screenplay of the film was written, the scriptwriter Robert Rodat knowingly or unknowingly changed the names of the historical figures.
The magnificent power of Poetic License has been found out in different books, especially in their adaptation from the histories. The illustrious American historian, Gary B. Nash in his celebrated book, The unknown American Revolution speaks of the twisting of the historical incidents of the American war of Independence. Through the book, Nash has opinioned that people lost their radical thoughts and spirits that were with them throughout the last decades. He reexamines the ideology, grievance, outrage, and hope that animated the revolutionary decades. (Nash). Nash illustrates that though there were Founding Fathers to guide the revolutions, the real suffering was that of the poor, including Millions of preachers, enslaved Africans, frontier mystics and dock-side tars, discontented women, and distressed Indians. Generally, history never regards them as the true fighters in the American war of independence. But in Nashs opinion, they are the real fighters and the American Revolution was truly a peoples revolution. Here one can see how Nash uses his poetic license to move away from the natural method of writing histories.
Woody Holton shares the viewpoint of Nash and claims that Average Americans were the True Framers of the Constitution. Like Nash, Holton also believes that the framers were only partially successful in preventing citizen rights because of the reaction, sometimes violent, of disruptive average Americans. By using the Poetic License, Holton remarks that the first and foremost aim of the American Constitution was to invite investment rather than implementing welfare measures for the poor people.
Pauline Maier, the famous writer describes the history of the declaration of American independence. In her work, Maier reveals that the Declaration is the essential statement of Americans national identity and also the symbol of their moral standard. The author pictured the hard struggles and sufferings behind freedom. Maier shows the aftereffect of signing the Declaration. The author mentions that The American people may really
Be illuminating its purpose and its authority. The major argument against Maiers work is the only states the grounds of the topics which had already been discussed and pressed. Different from other writers Maier focuses on the technicalities of the legislative process and its results. The author failed to include human struggle and aim. Here the author expressed her own personal views and consideration about the independence struggle. After a detailed reading one can easily find the effective use of Poetic License in Maiers work. Another notable comment is that Maier questioned the role of Thomas Jefferson and she gives more emphasis on the contribution of the Common American people. The author misses many points like the declaration is vital for its ideas, not its appearance, the opinion of other historians abut the role of Thomas Jefferson and his fellow drafters for the making of the declaration.
One can see a lot of examples of poetic license in various literary forms as well as in different art forms. Dramatists, poets, novelists, and filmmakers very often use poetic license to modify their writings or films with their own poetic license. When reaching the conclusion, one understands that poetic license is essential to maintain the real flow, and raise the aesthetic level of the readers and the viewers. So, one is sure that it is the same poetic license that caused for raising Shakespearian plays and historic films like The Patriot to the classical level.
Works Cited
Carruth, William Herbert. Verse Writing: A Practical Handbook for College Classes and Private Guidance. BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2008.
Nash, Gary B. The Unknown American Revolution. Viking. 2005.Web.
Plot Summary for The Patriot. IMDb. 2009. Web.
Shakespeare, William. Friends, Romans, Countrymen. Art of Europe. 2009. Web.
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