Historical reading of Peter Weir's film 'Dead Poets Society'.

The time in which Dead Poets Society is set, late 1959, provides a significant context for understanding the behaviour of its characters. Post-World War II American lifestyle differed greatly from the previous decades. The war was far behind, the economy was booming, and new technology made life easier. It was around this time that the first stirrings of youthful rebellion appeared against the conformity of the fifties. The Civil Rights movement was gathering momentum, at the …

…of an age to become the student radicals of the sixties, and it is easy to imagine some of them going on to do so. The climate of change in the wider society would have been a factor in many of the students embracing Keatings radical ideas with such passion. The environment created by Keating gave them the opportunity to expand their fairly standard adolescent rebellion into a strong belief in the power of non-conformity.