"Miniver Cheevy" Outline

Thesis: Edwin Arlington Robinson alludes to great feats of the past in order to establish an ironic contrast between the glory Miniver desires and the insignificance he has attained.

While alluding to famous people and nations of the past, Miniver seems to share no similarities with those he admires.

• Miniver “dreamed of Thebes and Camelot, / And Priam’s neighbors” (11-12). By alluding to strong nations, Miniver suggests that he desires the renown and glory associated with these names. He wants to be recognized as great and strong. However, he does not try to accomplish anything; he merely laments that he was not born during a different age.

• He “loved the Medici, / Albeit he had never seen one” (17-18). Again, Miniver draws upon famous names in order to feel important. His greatest desire is to be remembered and placed on pedestal like these people. Despite this goal, there is no evidence of him working toward it.

Although Miniver imagines himself in the shoes of glorious knights in past ages, looking condescendingly down upon average people, nothing suggests that he would have risen to this rank in society.  

• Miniver “missed the medieval grace / Of iron clothing” (23-24). Miniver alludes to the strength and honor of knights in contrast to the normal “khaki suits” of his own era (22). Miniver believes that he would have been the equivalent of a knight in another age, and he imagines that he has some connection to them. He “miss[es]” something that he never attained, and given his lack of effort, he probably would not have reached this status.   

• When thinking about his own time period, “Miniver cursed the commonplace” (21). Although he disdains the “commonplace” in his life, Miniver seems to be a part of it. He claims to hate the normality of his time, but any given time period seems normal to the people living in it. Miniver either does not realize or chooses to ignore the idea that he must take life into his own hands in order to reach his goal.  

Miniver acts as though he is doing something important with his life, but all evidence seems to point to the contrary.

• Miniver spends time dreaming about the past as he “rest[s] from his labors” (10). Robinson may be alluding to the story of creation, a biblical account describing how God worked for six days creating the earth and then took the seventh day to rest. God’s “rest” comes after an enormous amount of work and a huge accomplishment. Miniver does not appear to have done anything with his life, so he sounds incredibly insignificant in comparison.   
• As he bemoaned his misfortune, Miniver “kept on drinking” (32). Robinson reveals that Miniver spends his time drinking rather than attempting to accomplish anything with his life. Although he wishes he had been born in a different time period because he would have had the opportunity to undertake great feats, Miniver clearly has never tried to do anything noteworthy. In a different time period, it is unlikely that he would have accomplished anything either.