With a funereal yet witty name, "Dead Poets Society" was released in 1990. The feature film was directed by Peter Weir and features in its cast names like Robin Williams, Todd Anderson, Neil Perry and Knox T. Overstreet. Among the awards the film has received are the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and the BAFTA Film Award for Best Picture.

The plot shows how an English teacher, John Keating, turns the act of teaching into an adventure. In a prep school for boys, his job is to bring out the best in teenage students. To do so, the teacher uses different and unusual methods that win the attention, admiration, and respect of the students.

Keating's work is essential at school, because the students are under intense pressure from their families to have a promising and bright future. Even at a young age, they must follow their parents' dreams and define the image they will have before society. However, with the concepts taught by Keating, they discover poetry, freedom, and the need to enjoy each day.

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By analyzing the synopsis of "Dead Poets Society" alone, it is already possible to identify that the film can serve as an inspiration and as a motivation for many people. But there are interpretations and meanings that go even further than that. Below, learn more about this production and be amazed!

What is the message of the movie "Dead Poets Society"?

The most striking message of the film "Dead Poets Society" may not be so explicit to those who watch the feature film only once. In a quick analysis, one would imagine that the film deals with the importance of dedicating oneself to one's dreams and making the most of life.

Although these two concepts are present in most of the production, there is a deeper interpretation. Through art, present in the form of literature, Professor Keating taught the students the importance of developing a critical view of the world and of questioning those who are considered the owners of all knowledge.

Instead of following the school rules and respecting the authorities above him, Keating invents new ways of teaching, subverts the system, and brings freshness to learning. He does not set himself up as the master of reason, he encourages the students to question what he is teaching.

Another point in the film that reinforces this interpretation is the Dead Poets Society itself. After the students discover that they can meet in a secret place to read poetry, they even start skipping school to do so. They understand that it is possible to learn about the world through art, and that traditional education is not the only source of knowledge about reality.

Thus, they become able to think on their own, to exercise critical thinking about society, and to follow their own lives, ignoring the pressure from their families and, consequently, from the community. It is an innovative way of understanding education and Literature, which, until then, was seen as something dull and of no use to the students, who have been transformed.

What does "carpe diem" mean?

In many passages in the movie, the characters repeat what the teacher has taught them, from a poem by Walt Whitman. In the text there is the phrase "seize the day", which means "seize the day". This thought is like a motto, which originates from the Latin "carpe diem", which has the same translation.

Both in the movie and in the expression previously mentioned, what really matters is to live the present moment, without worrying about the future, enjoying the "here and now". This way of thinking promises to bring more lightness, pleasure, and happy moments to a person's life.

Looking for happiness only for the future, something uncertain, could not make a person happy in the present. In the same way, wishing for the past to come back will only bring dissatisfaction and sadness. This does not mean that it is forbidden to make plans for the future, or that we cannot miss what is past, but we should keep our focus on the present.

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The most striking phrases from "Dead Poets Society

To motivate you even more to watch the movie, we have selected the most striking phrases from the movie. See how they can be interpreted!

1) "I went to the forest because I wanted to live free. I wanted to live deeply and suck out the very essence of life...purge out everything that was not life; and not find, when I die, that I had not lived."

The need to make the most of life is one of the main messages of the film, and it becomes even more evident with this passage. The worst consequence of not living in the moment, of thinking only about the future or the past, is that we run the risk of reaching the end of life and never having experienced true happiness.

2) "Carpe diem.Seize the day, kids.Make your lives extraordinary."

Incorporating the idea of "carpe diem" into everyday life is what will make us sure that our life is being well spent. It is only possible to obtain satisfaction, happiness, and good memories if we are able to observe all that life can offer us in the present and how we can make it even better as time goes by.

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3) "You need to make an effort to find your voice, because the longer you take to do that, the less chance you have of finding it."

Finding one's own voice is, in other words, developing critical thinking about the world. Throughout the film, one of the main messages is the importance of questioning the authorities and taking a stand against what seems inappropriate. And it is crucial to do this as soon as possible, so that society's standards do not take over our thoughts.

4) "We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We do it because we are humans. And humans are full of passion. Medicine, Law, Business and Engineering are noble and necessary activities to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance and love are the reasons we live."

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Many people underestimate the importance of art and poetry for the enjoyment of life. They believe it is more important to focus on a traditional career and do not make room for lyricism and feelings. In "Dead Poets Society", this thinking is transformed and subverted. While it is important to have a profession, it is not the reason we live.

5) "No matter what anyone says to you, words and ideas can change the world."

Although it is essential to take action in the world, the dissemination of words and ideas is one of the ways in which we can do it. So we can never ignore the value of literature for the transformation of society, as the film preaches.

The poem on the expression "Carpe Diem" that inspired the film

If you watched the movie, you will surely remember that it was a poem that brought up the concept of the Latin expression "Carpe Diem" during class. This idea was taken from the poem "Ode 1.11", written by the Roman philosopher Horace, a lyric poet, satirist, and political moralist who had a great influence on Western literature.

During the feature, the poem is not presented in its entirety, only a passage of it is quoted to support the dialogue about the finitude of life and the importance of enjoying it:

Ode 1.11

Don't look for it, Leuconoe - ungodly to know -,

what an end the gods have destined for both of us;

Don't even look up the Babylonian numbers:

better to accept it, and whatever comes!

May Jupiter give you many more winters,

whether it is the ultimate one that now undoes

on the hostile rocky waves of the Tyrrhenian Sea,

live wisely distilling your wine

And since life is short, it shortens the long hope.

From envy time flies while we talk:

So it is about reaping the day, today,

that tomorrow's is never to be trusted.

"Dead Poets Society" can be seen by people of all ages. With lessons for teenagers, adults, students and teachers, the feature film does its job of sending a positive and transforming message about education. Enjoy the day and watch this movie that will bring more motivation and willpower into your life!