William Ernest Henley
Invictus
Author-Dependent Theory
Text-Dependent Theory
Reader-Response Theory
Histo-Bio Approach
Explication/Exegesis
Semiotics
Reader Response Theory
 He was an influential
English poet, critic and
editor of the late
Victorian era in England.
 He wrote several poems,
collected in “In Hospital”
I
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
II
In the felt clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed
III
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
IV
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishment the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul
Histo-Bio
Approach
“Autonomous
, self-reliant,
and defiant
towards God”
At the age of 12
Henley
contracted
tuberculosis of
the bone.
He is an agnostic
because he
neither believe
nor disbelieve in
god or religious
doctrine.
He manage to
save his right leg
by refusing
surgery and
seeking an
alternative form
of treatment.
Henley wrote
Invictus whilst in
the hospital
undergoing
treatment.
“Autonomous, self-
reliant, and even
defiant towards God”
Formalism
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the felt clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishment the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul
IAMBIC
TETRAMETER
4 STANZA
16 LINES
2nd stanza:
Despite of being tightly held, in an awful situation, he didn't
once give in or show sign of weakness.
1st stanza:
The Hardship experience by Henley and his unbeatable soul.
He also show being an agnostic base from his line " I thank
whatever gods may be"
3rd stanza:
There is a clear intention to survive against all the odds.
4th stanza
It doesn't matter who you are, believer or not, you can
overcome dark times by being brave and never losing faith in
your own soul's strength.
SIGN
Defiant toward God
Self-reliant Master of own soul
Captain of own soul
Unconquerable
soul
“Own soul’s strength
overcome dark times”
Existentialism
Reader-Response
Theory
Existentialism
Soul
Choice
To Fight To Surrender
Death
Success
“The will to survive
comes from one’s own
belief”
“The will to survive
comes from one’s own
belief”
“Own soul’s strength
overcome dark times”
“Autonomous, self-
reliant, and even defiant
towards God”
Master one’s
Fate
Soul
Free will
against fate
Hardship
Unconquerable
“Soul experiences
hardships, by
controlling and
mastering one’s fate
and will one can be
unconquerable”
Thank You   
Joyce Ann R. Lizo

Unconquerable-Soul-in.pptx