Bob Dylan | Criticism

This literature criticism consists of approximately 7 pages of analysis & critique of Bob Dylan.

Bob Dylan | Criticism

This literature criticism consists of approximately 7 pages of analysis & critique of Bob Dylan.
This section contains 1,972 words
(approx. 7 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Critical Essay by Ellen Willis

Dylan's refusal to be known is not simply a celebrity's ploy, but a passion that has shaped his work. As his songs have become more introspective, the introspections have become more impersonal, the confidences of a no-man without past or future. Bob Dylan as identifiable persona has been disappearing into his songs, which is what he wants. This terrifies his audiences. They could accept a consistent image—roving minstrel, poet of alienation, spokesman for youth—in lieu of the "real" Bob Dylan. But his progressive self-annihilation cannot be contained in a game of let's pretend, and it conjures up nightmares of madness, mutilation, death. (pp. 219-20)

Many people hate Bob Dylan because they hate being fooled. Illusion is fine, if quarantined and diagnosed as mild; otherwise it is potentially humiliating (is he laughing at me? conning me out of my money?). Some still discount Dylan as merely a...

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This section contains 1,972 words
(approx. 7 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Critical Essay by Ellen Willis
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Critical Essay by Ellen Willis from Gale. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.