Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard | Gray's "Elegy" as a Reflection of Social Conscience
Here, Kelly examines Gray's "Elegy" as a reflection of social conscience.
The most common interpretation of Thomas Gray's poem "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" is that it is an expression of sympathy and support for those who have the misfortune to be without money or social prestige. When critics do not approach it from this angle, they almost always look at it as a broader philosophical statement about how fortune in this world ends up being no help to the dead, an interpretation that rests almost entirely upon line 36, "The paths of glory lead but to the grave." These are both pertinent ideas that Gray does cover, but they're fairly obvious ideas to...
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