Todd The Midsummer Night's Dream Poem

Words: 626
Pages: 3

While living in a world full of restriction and conformity, the boys are presented with a decision of whether to conform or be individual and break free from their entrapment. The students at ‘Welton academy’ are forced to conform to their rules and the school’s high standards of schooling. Mr. Keating shows them that there is more to life than just rules, and that if they break free from them that they will have a better, more individual life. Mr. Keating reads the line, 'gather he rosebuds while he may, old time is still a-flying... And this same flower that smiles today, tomorrow will be dying.'. After reading the line he says. 'carpe diem. That's seize the day'. He is saying to make a choice that will change tomorrow and not conform to the strict rules. This …show more content…
Keating is telling the boys that death is something that happens every day, so don’t waste life and give something a go before you die. Mr Keating persuades Neil to become a free thinker and to do things his own way. This is shown when Neil comes running into the room screaming “I found it! What I want to do right now, what’s really, really inside of me” he shows Todd the midsummer night’s dream poem. The director Peter Weir put this poem in to juxtapose puck and Neil, showing how much that he wants to act. The close up of him screaming “carpe diem” show that he really wants to act despite what his father wants. There is then a low spinning camera shot, symbolising, him moving forward in his life, “and for the first time I’m going to do it, whether my father wants me to or not” this scene is shown with a low angle on Todd showing his disbelief, juxtaposed with the high camera angle on Neil, showing his romanticised view on the situation. This shows that people respond to opportunities in different ways and that our perception of obstacles is all different. Mr. Keating helps Todd learn about being himself and having free thought. This is shown through the scene of them reading out their poems in