How does Tennyson bring mental pessimism and Victorian optimism in his use of myths and legends?

How does Tennyson bring mental pessimism and Victorian optimism in his use of myths and legends? Ans.: "And we are here as on a darkling plain Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, Where ignorant armies clash by night." [Dover Beach: Mathew Arnold] "The year is at the spring And day is at the morn, ... God's in heaven, All is right with world." [Pippa Passes: Robert Browning] These above quoted two quotations are from two renowned poets of Victorian arena show the contrast attitudes to their time. Browning is very optimistic of everything because he does not have any mental torment of his age. On the contrary Mathew Arnold is very critical of his age, which he has found barren and sterile dominated by materialistic views and so spiritually degenerated. But Tennyson is almost a mixture of Browning's and Arnold's feelings. In some of his poems he is very happy about everything in which he is passing his life and in some of his poems he is very melancholic about his surroundings. These joys and sorrows are pre-dominated in him due to some of mental crises and the condition of the Victorian age in which he was. Some of the greatest poems created by Tennyson are based on myths and legends. He possessed the talent of giving the myths and legends a very new look just to show how these poems adjust with the people and the crises of his time. These poems

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Critical Commentary - Mariana

Critical Commentary Mariana 'Mariana', written by Lord Alfred Tennyson - a poet of the romanticist era - revolves around one character only who awaits the arrival of her renegade lover who never arrives: Mariana. She is alluded to the character of the same name and demeanour in Shakespeare's play 'Measure for Measure'. The simplistic title consisting of only the character's name suggests that she is indeed the main subject of the poem. It begins with an epigraph, 'Mariana in the moated grange', taken from the aforementioned Shakespeare play. The epigraph offers the readers a glimpse of what is to come in the poem, and it does shed light on the fact that Mariana is an isolated figure (physically so, because she is surrounded by a moat) on a dilapidated grange. The concept of a dilapidated grange is emphasised in the first eight lines of the poem. The first line paints a picture of a dark, gloomy surrounding, as 'blackest moss' suggests. Not only is there moss, but also it is black. The colour black often connotes evil and strange nightly mysterious deeds. It 'thickly crust[ed]' the flower-plots, suggesting a long time has passed since the garden and the house was tended to, as does 'rusted nails'. Tennyson also describes the 'unlifted' clinking latch, therefore suggestive of the fact that nobody has entered or been out of the house for a considerable length of time.

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The Lady Of Shalott Feminist Reading

IT CAN BE ARGUED THAT "THE LADY OF SHALOTT CHALLENGES THE ROLE OF WOMEN WITHIN A VICTORIAN SOCIETY." DISCUSS. Tennyson's The Lady of Shalott portrays the role for women during the Victorian era and the desire for the main character of the poem to relinquish her female restraints and enter a male dominated society. The Lady of Shalott is set during a period when society was restrained by the Victorian chain-of-being which deemed women to unequal to the supreme male dominance for example they had limited access to education and married women of higher classes were forbidden to work. It can be argued that Tennyson uses his main character to represent the increased activity of women activists who were petitioning for equality between the genders and most importantly the right to vote and were ultimately punished for doing so. The character's rejection of the Victorian values of femininity leads to her ruin as she refuses to accept the boundaries her gender enforces upon her. As a result, the male dominated society destroys her because there is no place for an assertive female. Tennyson presents the Lady of Shalott as an outsider who is to remain on the verge of a patriarchal society, isolated on her own "silent isle" through use of setting. With the use of dismal imagery, Tennyson constructs the setting to resemble a prison with "four grey walls, and four grey towers" entrapping

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Look again at Ulysses and write about Tennysons narrative techniques

A: Look again at "Ulysses" and write about Tennyson's narrative techniques In "Ulysses", Tennyson presents the characteristics and attitudes of the eponymous central character through the dynamic form of the dramatic monologue. Through an adroit blending of literary techniques including those of structure, form and language, he seeks to clarify much of the mystique behind the mythological background of Ulysses, and reveal his persona of desire and heroism, alongside his undesirable traits of contemptuousness and hubristic pride. Throughout the poem, its form and structure allow Tennyson to reveal the character of Ulysses as he wishes him to be portrayed. "Ulysses" takes the form of the dramatic monologue, with Tennyson adapting the persona of his mythical character and using this form to reveal Ulysses' character through his own words. This choice of form, combined with the structural use of unrhymed iambic pentameter, or blank verse, allows the poem to adopt a rhythm that is one of the closest imitators of human speech in verse. This makes the words that Tennyson, writes and Ulysses "speaks" take on a much more personal tone and a deeper meaning, fully disclosing his character and attitude in a way that a more artificial and structured form, for example the Spenserian, simply could not achieve. This effect is added to the by the extensive and contrasted uses of enjambment

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"What are the poetic skills Tennyson uses in his narrative poems?"

"What are the poetic skills Tennyson uses in his narrative poems?" To finally come to a conclusion on this question we will be referring to 3 narrative poems which are, 'The Lady of Shalott', 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' and 'Mariana.' A narrative poem is a poem that tells a story such as 'Mariana' which tells us a story of a girl who is waiting for her lover who would not return to her. The poetic skills that can be used in such poems are techniques such as description, use of mood and atmosphere, use of words, structure (stanzas, rhythm, rhyme scheme) and style (repetition, imagery, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia, metaphor, contrast, simile), also narrative skills, e.g. suspense and tension (created within the story). In 'The Lady of Shalott', Tennyson divides the poem into 4 parts. The first part (part 1) sets the scene and consists of 4 stanzas. The second part (part 2) also consists of 4 stanzas. In this part we are inside the tower and we meet the lady, we also learn the she has a curse on her and that she must not look out of the window. In part 3 there are 5 stanzas. Here Sir Lancelot is introduced riding and singing on his way to Camelot. The lady can not resist and goes to look at him. The curse is broken and it is upon her, "'The curse is come upon me,' cried The lady of Shalott" (part 3 stanza 5 lines 8-9) Part 4 is the climax to the story

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Tear, idle tears. analyse, with close reference to the poem, how the author deals with the subject of loss

Tears, idle tears Analyze, with close reference to the poem, how the author deals with the subject of loss. Sadness and despair often accompany loss, particularly if the item lost is held dear to one’s heart. Memories are held all the more dear, as they represent a life that is past, a life that is no more. Vivid images of a past life may create a current of turbulent emotions that sweep one of one’s feet, be it lamenting with bottomless grief or cackling with joy at humorous scenes The former seemed more apparent in the poem, where fond remembrance of the past drives the poet to tears. The tears were described as ‘idle’, suggesting that they were bothersome and viewed with annoyance with the poet, which isn’t surprising, really, as tears were a sign of weakness, a portrayal of emotion often shunned by men. ‘I know not what they mean’, however, seemed to convey that the poet experienced an overwhelming sorrow, that he would not like to experience again, numbing his mind such that he is unable to comprehend what the tears meant .It is also the retort of a wounded angry pride, the poet is ashamed at himself for crying over such a trifle. The tears had ‘depth’, ‘rise[ing] in the heart’ suggesting that the tears weren’t shallow and feigned, the tears weren’t shed without meaning, instead, they were caused by an irrepressible sadness from the depths of

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A later poet said 'Old men ought to be explorers'. What do you think he meant by that? Do you think he would have approved of the Ulysses who speaks in this poem? What would be your own assessment of Ulysses' character?

Naomi Burrell Year 12 4th March 03 A later poet said 'Old men ought to be explorers'. What do you think he meant by that? Do you think he would have approved of the Ulysses who speaks in this poem? What would be your own assessment of Ulysses' character? Lord Tennyson's Ulysses was written in 1833, which although was actually before the Victorian era began (in 1851 with the year of the Great Exhibition), still contains many of the changes in thought that were common during the time. For the first time publicly, the idea that God created man was essentially questioned through the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species. He explored in depth, the revolutionary theory of 'evolution' and the idea of 'the survival of the fittest'. Not only were there these scientific explorations, but the Victorian era was also a time of huge industrial development, detailed exploration into technology allowing this to be possible. 'Well-educated women' were beginning to go to University (though not yet to be awarded degrees) and were demanding the vote. There is no doubt that these profound changes and discoveries had an influence on the writers and poets of the time, Lord Tennyson included. However, this later poet has made a profound statement about being an 'explorer', where firstly one needs to establish what he may have meant by this word. It seems to me that he may have

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Compare and Contrast Tithonus and Ulysses.

Compare and Contrast Tithonus and Ulysses Alex Williamson 14th February 2001 Tithonus and Ulysses were written by Alfred Lord Tennyson; a poet famous for his representation of Victorianism in his poetry, recognised by the fact that Queen Victoria appointed him as the poet laureate. He wrote Tithonus in 1860 and Ulysses in 1842. Both poems display similar grammatical structure; both are dramatic monologues, that is to say that both are written in the first person with the subject of the poems narrating, a style popular in Victorian poetry as it is a form of the Victorian's favourite genre of writing; the novel; both concern Greco-Roman mythology and the extensions thereof produced in the Middle Ages: there is no record of Ulysses either continuing or wishing to continue his travels after his arrival from Troy, it is generally accepted that this concept was later added to the myth by Dante. Both poems begin in similar fashion; Tithonus begins with the imagery of death and decay; 'The woods decay, the woods decay and fall' due mainly to the fact that he has seen almost everything die away apart from himself, furthermore Ulysses soon depicts imagery of emptiness and desolation; 'among these barren crags, match'd with an aged wife' he not only graphically depicts his discontent but also suggests that he can not engage in procreation as his wife is

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How does Tennyson create a memorable character in Ulysses?

How does Tennyson create a memorable character in Ulysses? This poem is a dramatic monologue spoken by Ulysses, the King of Ithaca. He has just returned to his kingdom after fighting in the Trojan War, but once caught up in his daily routine, he expresses his unhappiness with his life and indifference towards his family and people. Ulysses compares his heroic past to his current state of boredom, and emphasises his desire to revisit his past. Tennyson creates a memorable character in Ulysses, by giving him two sides - a heroic one, and a cowardly one. His desire to flee from Ithaca can be seen as selfish, as he is running away from his family and people, leaving his inexperienced son to take over his role. However, it can also be seen as admirable, as he is following his life long dream and wants to explore the world. Ulysses heroic desire to discover new worlds and to fight life to the end makes him a memorable character. The use of enjambment represents the idea of pushing forward 'beyond the utmost bound of human thought'. Tennyson's constant use of movement verbs, for example 'roaming', emphasises Ulysses desire for travel. The eating and drinking metaphors such as 'hungry heart' and 'drunk delight' represent the idea of fulfilment and Ulysses insatiable appetite for life and adventure. The intensifiers such as 'greatly' and 'much' emphasise this. Ulysses wants to live

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