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
Both A Passage to India and Heart of Darkness can be interpreted as portraying Imperialism in a critical light, as a dark force which spreads from England into foreign environments
The Hollowmen and the Horrors of the Abyss: An exploration of Forster's views of Imperialism in 'A Passage to India' explored via and compared with Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness'. Both A Passage to India and Heart of Darkness can be interpreted as portraying Imperialism in a critical light, as a dark force which spreads from England into foreign environments, and conveying the negative aspects of it, such as racism, cruelty and exploitation. As this is such a huge topic I will in this essay attempt to explore Forster's portrait of imperialism by using Conrad's novella's running theme of the "Heart of Darkness" - I am going to use the interpretation of the inner "Heart of Darkness" within all people- as a key to interpret Forster's views on imperialism and to see if they were similar to Conrad's. Morgan Forster's idea of the "Undeveloped heart" - being the lack of compassion and inability to understand or express feelings and emotions in the English public school boy - for me is a key similarity with Conrad's novel and his idea of the "Heart of Darkness" as the dark side of man. It seems throughout 'A Passage to India' that the defect is present in all people, but that the morally grey force of imperialism encourages it. For Forster, human defects thrive and are brought to the forefront by the force of imperialism. For men and women living in Forster's England, the defects
The World of words in Wilfred Owens Anthem For Doomed Youth and Dulce Et Decorum Est
The World of words in Wilfred Owen's 'Anthem For Doomed Youth' and 'Dulce Et Decorum Est' Good morning everyone/teacher. Today im going to talk about the world of words in Wilfred owen's anthem for doomed youth and ducle et decorum est. Words are nothing but the voice of human feelings and emotions. They depict anger, love, despise, acceptance, optimism, pessimism and the list goes on but for a poet, a writer, it is an outpour of his sensitivity. The poet under consideration here has his own special way with words and he expresses an entire galaxy of emotion through well chosen and with arranged words Wilfred Owen was a poet who was widely regarded as one of the best poets of the World War one period. The war poetry, written between 1793 and 1815, was idealistic and also patriotic. Owen started writing anti-war poetry but later he too became a firm supporter of war. The two poems which I am going to be comparing and contrasting are all inspired by war. The poems are Anthem for Doomed Youth and Dulce et Decorum est. Wilfred Owen's poetry has expressed his outrage of war and the sheer pity of the sacrifices of young soldiers made in battle. The patriotic view of war and religion are questioned repeatedly in his poems. He also ponders the purpose for the existence of the human race. Techniques such as juxtaposition, similes and metaphors are also employed into the poems to
Explain how the poets of Happy is England Now in the anthology Up the Line to Death present World War I
Explain how the poets of Happy is England Now in the anthology Up the Line to Death present World War I The section Happy is England Now is situated at the start of the anthology, Up the Line to Death. In this section, the editor, Brian Gardner has arranged the six poems in such a way that it is clear these poems are largely pro-war. Therefore, most of the poems in the section uphold the stereotypical beliefs held by the public before and during the war. However, this is not always the case; with the inclusion of "Men Who March Away" ("Men...") by Thomas Hardy, Gardner adds a poem whose stance towards the war is at the very least ambiguous. As a result, Gardner can show that he is not forgetting the real horrors of the war, horrors which are hardly mentioned in this section. This fact is very important to Gardner; in the introduction to the anthology, he describes the war as a 'tragedy'. From this it can be seen clearly that Gardner wants to make sure the brutalities of the war are not forgotten and so with the inclusion of "Men..." he makes sure that everything is not as it seems. It is almost as if Gardner is trying to give a subtle hint to the reader as to what might follow in the rest of the anthology. This is juxtaposed with the poems "Happy is England Now" ("Happy...") and "England to Her Sons" ("England..."), which are very pro-war. The contextual nature of the poets
To what extent can Lord of the Flies be considered a Marxist piece?
To what extent can Lord of the Flies be considered a Marxist piece? Lord of the Flies centres on a group of boys stranded on a tropical island when their plane crashes en route from England to Australia as part of an evacuation during an atomic war (hypothetical war.) The story is essentially an allegorical tale of the innate evil of man - good versus evil. Of the book, Golding said that he wrote it to illustrate how political systems cannot govern society effectively unless they take into consideration the inherent defects of human nature. Marxism is seen as the development from an oppressive capitalist society to an equal and classless society. Golding tries to set a utopian world within the island devoid of adult, societal constraints but in the end the innate animal characteristics of man come to the fore. Golding based his story on the 19th century novel 'The Coral Island' written by R M Ballantyne. Whereas Ballantyne's novel, an adventure story of three boys stranded on a desert island, was optimistic, Golding's is terrifyingly pessimistic. The novel was written shortly after World War II , in the early days of the Cold War when paranoia about communism was at its height. In the early 1950s many people were accused, often falsely, of being communists (the McCarthy era in the USA at this time is a good example of this.) It is within this context that Golding wrote
To what extent is Willy Loman a tragic hero?
To What Extent Is Willy Loman A Tragic Hero? The play, "Death of a Salesman", written by Arthur Miller, is about the 'American Dream' and a man so disillusioned by it that he becomes a modern day 'tragic hero'. Tragic heroes derive from the Greeks, but Shakespeare adapted his own genre for tragedy. Most Shakespearean tragedies all fit the same pattern, which is that the protagonist is of noble birth and have a fatal character flaw which usually leads to their demise. Arthur Miller took Shakespeare's ideas for what a tragic hero should be and made them relevant to this time period. One particular critic thought, "a contemporary audience can no longer accept that a tragic hero is punished by comic force...A tragedy must be brought about by... recognisable social factors." 1This means that the factors of Shakespearean and Aristotelian tragedies are outdated for a modern day audience, audiences cannot accept that the protagonist falls due to a higher power, it must be something they can relate to or understand. Willy Loman is a struggling salesman around the age of sixty. He lives with his wife Linda and two sons Biff and Happy. Willy does not fit the usual criteria established by Shakespearean or Aristotelian tragedies. Firstly, he is not of noble birth, although in the play Miller makes a link known to the audience because Willy is made to appear of noble birth as he is in
How does Tennessee Williams suggest that Stanley is an animalistic character in the play A streetcar named desire ?
How does Tennessee Williams suggest that Stanley is an animalistic character in the play "A streetcar named desire" ? Stanley Kowalski is Stella Kowalski nee Dubois' polish husband. He works as an engineer and has acquired many rowdy friends from his place of work. Stanley does not seem to function without Stella. When Stella's sister Blanche comes to stay all of Stanley's most horrible animalistic traits seem to come to the surface. The first act of animal like behaviour we see in the play is in the very first scene where Stanley chucks some meat which is still bloody at Stella who is up at the window. This symbolises Stanley to be the provider in the family just like in a wolf pack when the male wolf goes out and hunts for meat for his family. That fact that the meat is still bloody also brings Stanley bring meat Stella and a wolf bringing meat to his family closer. The second time we see Stanley is when Blanche has arrived and Stella has left the room because Blanche has upset her. Even though Stanley has never met Blanche before he doesn't care at all about taking his top off in front of her and making himself more comfortable. This could imply that Stanley is quite territorial and wants to show Blanche that it is his home and he can do whatever he likes and be dressed however he likes in his own home. Being territorial is a very animalistic trait. Furthermore
It is ridiculous to argue that McEwan makes Jed Parry anything other than terrifying. What do you think of this view?
It is ridiculous to argue that McEwan makes Jed Parry anything other than terrifying. What do you think of this view? Jed Parry as a character raises key questions and ideas in ' Enduring Love' as well as upbringing contrasting emotions amongst the readers. The actions , such as kidnapping Clarissa are evidently seen and are able to form an image of a terrifying human being which we lack sympathy for.Although this is true, there are many factors which I believe are able to reflect on the vulnerability of his character. The whole novel is written from Joe's point of view which could mean that it is an interpretation that is exaggerated. The way McEwan cleverly structures the letters , evidently confirms Joe's opinion of him. However the gaps in between the letters we are readers can only assume mostly in Joe's favor ; due to McEwan's clear attempt of manipulation. Instead of seeing Parry as a person with a serious illness, we see him as a problem for Joe. Therefore there is a lack of sympathy and a 'terrifying' image as we are tricked into sympathizing for Joe. Although Jed is noticeably ill , there is a sense of pity and sorry which Parry feels for Clarissa as he believes that Joe loves him and it will surely hurt her. This is shown on page 68 when he delicately suggests they should break the news to Clarissa. He says it very simply ' The only way is for the three of us to
Compare and contrast attitudes to war illustrated in Jessie Pope’s ‘Who’s for the game?’ and Wilfred Owen’s ‘Dulce etDecorum est’ and ‘Disabled’.
Compare and contrast attitudes to war illustrated in Jessie Pope's 'Who's for the game?' and Wilfred Owen's 'Dulce et Decorum est' and 'Disabled'. At the start of the First World War, war was portrayed as a glorious and credible cause. Fighting in a war on behalf of your country was deemed as the duty of any credible man. The ability to represent one's country on the battlefield was one of the greatest honours a man could have. Through the interference of war there was an outcry of patriotism. Men were overwhelmed with ideas of being able to fight for their country's prosperity. Men flocked to sign up and fight for their country. Women forced their husbands and sons to go and carry out what was believed as their duty. The newspapers and the pro-war journalists who wrote in them played a very influential part in convincing men to recruit. One such journalist for the Daily Mail was Jessie Pope who composed unsophisticated war poetry encouraging men to enlist in the army. The patriotic ideals and the concept of war were all dismantled when soldiers returned from war and spoke of the horrors of war leading to a change in people's attitudes towards war. Wilfred Owen was a soldier who experienced war and showed his hatred of it through his poetry. But before joining the British army, Wilfred Owen was an English teacher who visited hospitals during the First World War and
Is Hamlet acting or is he really insane?
Hamlets confrontation with Gertrude leaves her questioning her son's sanity. This is because she attests to him talking to thin air, which he claims was his father's ghost (3,4). It seems like Gertrude has every right to think Hamlet is mad. Her judgement is also fuelled by Polonius' murder. Hamlet did not know that Polonius was the spy behind the curtains 'how now, a rat?' (3,4,24). Hamlets response to his mother is not full of love either. He is disgusted with his mother's actions and is not ashamed of letting her know. '...Live in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed...' he does not hid his hatred for Claudius and Gertrude's marriage. But Gertrude does not seem to understand why her son holds such strong feelings. She is clueless throughout most of the play. 'As kill a king?' Gertrude does not realise the real situation and how much hatred the two men bare. She is one of the reasons that stopped Claudius getting hamlet killed throughout the play. And when he finally decides to, she dies before both of them. Gertrude is not the only woman in Hamlets life. He also confronted his lover Ophelia, where he came across as-yet again- misogynist. However, we cannot condemn Hamlet to hating women because we only see him two in the play. Ophelia rejected him and his mother married his uncle. But this is not surprising because Hamlet distrusts everyone and tries to push everyone away,
