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영어

This article examines how Arnold’s narrative poem Sohrab and Rustum manifests unique features of two main characters in reference to concepts of unknown irresistible power and man’s relentless defiance. This poem, published during the early stage of Arnold’s literary career in 1853, resonates Sophoclean concepts of the clash between fate and human pride. While dealing with Arnoldian awareness of the Greek dramatic allusion, this paper also highlights his anticipation of later figures, for instance, Thyrsis and poetic speakers who reflect the spirit of Sohrab and Rustum but show their own unique personalities. It also argues that Arnold’s characterization in Sohrab and Rustum establishes key concepts of the bounds of human wishes and enterprises against their adverse forces. While scrutinizing this aspect, the paper relates this aspect to Arnold’s earlier works. In addition, it demonstrates that his portrayals of the characters foreshadows a wide range of the subsequent construction of his literary oeuvre which associates with the speaker’s elegiac lyric sensitivity to the era of spiritual turmoil and the author’s dynamic portrayals of the paradox and irony of man’s life and the world.