Original artwork, not a still
Carpe diem! Seize the day!
— Dead Poets Society ‧ 1989
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Keating gives two old Latin words to a room of boys who have been told their lives are already planned, and makes them sound urgent. The line is an invitation to risk being ordinary, said by a teacher who will pay for saying it. It lives on in graduation cards, tattoos and motivational posters, and Robin Williams's whisper is the version people imitate.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Dead Poets SocietyShow the scene
Dead Poets Society, set in autumn 1959 at Welton Academy, a Vermont boarding school for boys, follows the new English teacher John Keating and his students. On the first day of classes Keating teaches the boys the Latin phrase carpe diem and tells them to seize the day. He later repeats it in a whisper, telling them to listen to what boys who came before them are saying, and urging them to make their lives extraordinary. Screenwriter Tom Schulman based the script on his own school years at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville.
Sources (2)
- Wikipedia: Dead Poets SocietyPlot; leadReference checked
- Wikiquote: Dead Poets SocietyKeating at the trophy caseReference checked
Context reviewed
