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Film Review: Dead Poets Society

Vanessa V Bagolor

EDU 220 – 1003

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The film, Dead Poets Society, is set in an all-male preparatory school and focuses on a group of

boys who attend their English class with their new teacher John Keating. In a strict and rigorous

prep school, Keating’s teachings surprise the students with his unconventional lessons. The

teacher’s lessons inspire the students through the works of poetry.

The teacher, John Keating, who is played by Robin Williams is a very effective teacher in the

movie. He was able to not only capture their attention but create an interest among many of the

students. As an English teacher, Keating must read several passages of poetry to the class and put

emotions into the words; he did so with varying his tone and voice while conveying the message

and themes of the works. He was also able to relate the work to their own real-life experiences

and teaching lessons by not just speaking of them but showing them with their own eyes. While

the students are teenage boys and are held at the highest level of discipline, Keating did not keep

them stagnant at their desks and had them move about.

The students are shown to be older and teenagers, which means they have reached physical

maturity. According to Erikson’s psychosocial development, they are figuring out their identity

and some may be confused about their place in society. They are also at a time of egocentrism,

which is important to know and understand why Keating takes the works of poetry and uses them

to talk about the authors’ feelings and points of view. Mostly he uses his content and lessons to

relate it to the students themselves, which in turn creates interest in poetry among his students.

The Dead Poets Society is set in a male preparatory school and portray the teachers as strict and

their instruction techniques as strict, disciplined, rigorous, and purely by the book. It shows the

students on their first day, carrying multiple large textbooks with time-consuming assignments

from every class until they reach Mr. Keating’s class and are shown a different type of teacher.
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The students, themselves, start off as dignified, but when alone without any authority figures,

they are playful yet focused on their studies.

From the start, Mr. Keating’s class is glaringly different; He did not stick them to their

desks for the whole duration of the class. As a future teacher, Keating is an inspiration with how

he connected with his students, was able to inspire them, and encouraged free thinking.

Personally, this movie gave me a deeper understanding of what it means to be a teacher. He

made the classroom interesting and entertaining, which is something I hope to be for my own

class one day. The teacher, John Keating, not only read poetry but also used different voices to

entertain the class and convey the tone and theme of the passage. I would love to model the idea

of where students can come to class and enjoy learning.

A big part of the movie includes a student, Neil Perry, who is a straight-A student that

wants to branch out of his father’s life plans. According to the textbook, Neil is at the stage of his

life where parents and adults influence their long-term plans. With Neil, his father directs him

into a medical career and his teacher suggests that he should go along with his passion for acting.

Erikson describes this point in his life as identity versus role confusion. While Neil does not

struggle with role confusion, he does struggle with his identity to choose between an actor or a

budding doctor. While this sounds like a simple situation, the outcome in the movie for Neil is

tragic. While what the teacher did for Neil was right, I think it would have helped Neil’s father to

understand his son’s motivations because the problem for Neil lies with his father’s approval.

Overall, The Dead Poets Society was a wonderful movie about a teacher and his students

finding ambition and teaching them to find the beauty in life. The teacher brought life and joy

into his lessons, even though they were not consistent with the school’s curriculum.