Discourse of Democracy in Whitman's Poetry

Abstract

The present research studies Whitman's privileging of democracy in his poetry as a discourse and it tries to unravel the politics beneath the surface. Though, Whitman seems to be advocating rights and dignity for the common people. He usurps their fundamental rights to express their pains and sufferings by not imparting them any agency. Understanding them at their depth, he ventured to rule over them by creating different sorts of discourses. It also examines how Whitman hypnotizes the common people in his ambivalent words and captures them under his clutch as a capitalist does. So Whitman's privileging of democracy is colored by his politics that is to maintain the status quo. He wanted to show sympathy over them but he never wanted them to come at fore.By usurping their fundamental rights to speak, he made them dumb and dependent forever. So, he is rather undermining the common grass root people instead of uplifting them.