The Lady of Shallot
"The Lady of Shallot," by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, acts as a voice for people struggling with materialism of the industrial age. Tennyson became famous for reflecting the "idealism of an industrious society that was nonetheless racked by deep doubts about its materialism" (The Longman Anthology Of British Literature p. 1908). The curse of the mysterious lady of the poem could be thought of as the curse of the people subcombing to the dreaded materialism and giving up the Victorian innocent ideals. Furthermore, the lady represents Tennyson himself as he suffered from a personal battle between the desire for glamour's fame, and the need to stay an innocent poet. In Looking at the viewpoint of Tennyson towards Victorian tailed by an industrial society, we can both get a glance at the curse of the poet and the lady of his poem.
Before Tennyson became rich and famous, the poet lived in desolation both financially and socially. Tennyson embodied the "Victorian gospel of hard work", as evidenced in the way he "labored patiently, in poverty, w...
Brad Moore, a famous athlete once said, “Pride would be a lot easier to swallow if it didn’t taste so bad.” In Sophocles’ well known Greek tragedy, Antigone, the main character undergoes immense character development. Antigone transforms from being stubborn and underestimated to courageous and open-minded. In reality, it is Antigone’s insular persistence that leads to her ultimate decline in the play as well as others around her. After the death of her two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, Creon becomes the new ruler of Thebes. With this, he grants Eteocles an honorable funeral service for his brave fighting. Claiming that Polynices was a traitor, he shows complete refusal to grant Polynices a respectable and worthy service. Clearly disagreeing with Creon’s inexcusable demands, Antigone declares she will bury Polynices herself so that his soul can be at peace. Entirely aware of the consequences and dangers of this action, which include death, she goes forward vowing her love for her family. Antigone shows strength and determination towards her brother. However, her growing sense of pride leads to her downfall as she sacrifices everything for her family. Antigone develops into an admirable character in which she portrays her defiance and courage, pride and open mindedness, and sense of moral righteousness to show vital character growth as the play progresses.
Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus, who was a major figure of ancient Greek myth.
After her mother committed suicide, her father died and her brothers fought until they killed each other, Antigone projects her strong character with interesting ways of showing it. As the main character with strong values and a stubborn way, she follows the laws of god, without minding the consequences. Antigone is a strong willed woman who wins the respect of the audience by the inner strength and resistance of manipulation she has, showing the potential of human kind. She becomes a heroine with noble qualities of mind, heart and soul because she is willing to sacrifice her life, doing what she believes it is right. With a sense of family ties, she is an ideal for humanity, the issue is that she must burry her brother Polynices with an appropriate ceremony since she believes it is the last right for every human being.
Possibly the most prominent theme in Sophocles' "Antigone" is the concept of divine law vs. human law. In the story the two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices have slain each other in battle. The new King Creon, who assumed the throne after Eteocles' death, decrees that because Polyneices committed treason against the king, he shall not be buried, but instead "He shall be left unburied for all to watch
"The Lady of Shalot" tells the story of a woman who lives in a tower in Shalott, which is an island on a river that runs, along with the road beside it, to Camelot, the setting of the legends about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Every day, the woman weaves a tapestry picture of the landscape that is visible from her window, including Camelot. There is, however, a curse on her; the woman does not know the cause of the curse, but she knows that she cannot look directly out of the window, so she views the subjects of her artwork through a mirror that is beside her. The woman is happy to weave, but is tired of looking at life only as a reflection. One day, Sir Lancelot rides by, looking bold and handsome in his shining armor, and singing. The woman goes to the windo...
What made Tennyson so Victorian was his ready acceptance of the mores of his day, his willingness to conform to popular taste, to write a poetry that was easily understood and enjoyed. Partly as a result of his position as a public and nationalist figure, Tennyson was by far the most popular poet of the Victorian era. No poet was ever so completely a nation...
Shaw, Marion. “The Contours of Manliness and the Nature of Woman.” Critical Essays on Alfred Lord Tennyson. Ed. Herbert F. Tucker. New York: G. K. Hall, 1993. 219-233.
Blunden, Edmund and Heinemann, Eds. “Tennyson.” Selected Poems. London: Heinemann Educational Books, 1960. p.1. print.
Later in the conversation the reader learns that Antigone has a plan to bury here brother Polynices and that she wants Ismene to help her. Ismene is scared to do this because the new king, Creon, has issued a decree that says that any person that attempts to bury the body will be sentenced to death. The fact that Antigone is going to attempt to bury the body creates fear in the reader. They are fearful as to what will happen to
In the play Antigone, by Sophocles, it is greatly apparent just within the first few exchanges between Ismene and Antigone that there are various social issues surrounding the women in ancient Greece. The play raises many gender and socially related issues especially when looking at the contextual background of the playwright and the representation of the women within the play. When the characters of the first scene begin their analog, it is important to note what they are actually saying about each other and what their knowledge of their own social status is. The audience is first introduced to Antigone who we later learn is the antagonist of the play as she rebels against the protagonist, Creon. Her sister, Ismene, is the second character the audience is introduced to, hears of Antigone's plan to bury their brother's body in the first scene. Ismene’s actions and words give the reader the hint that her sister’s behavior is not usual, "so fiery" and "so desperate" are the words used to describe Antigone's frame of mind. At this very early point in the play the reader discovers that Antigone is determined to carry out her mission to bury her beloved brother. However, she is in no position that gives her the rights as a woman, sister, or even future queen to make her own decisions and rebel. Instead, her decision to bury her brother demonstrates her loyalty to her family, the gods, and to all women. Her motivation for those decisions will end up driving her far more than that of what the laws set by Creon have implemented. She shows no fear over disobeying the king and later says about the punishment of death "I will lie with the one I love and loved by him"(Sophocles, 2). Throughout the play the reader can see the viewpoint of an obedient woman, a rebellious woman, and the social norms required for both of them.
In Sophocles' Greek tragedy, Antigone, two characters undergo character changes. During the play the audience sees these two characters' attitudes change from close-minded to open-minded. It is their close-minded, stubborn attitudes, which lead to their decline in the play, and ultimately to a series of deaths. In the beginning Antigone is a close minded character who later becomes open minded. After the death of her brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, Creon becomes the ruler of Thebes. He decides that Eteocles will receive a funeral with military honors because he fought for his country. However, Polyneices, who broke his exile to " spill the blood of his father and sell his own people into slavery", will have no burial. Antigone disagrees with Creon's unjust actions and says, " Creon is not strong enough to stand in my way." She vows to bury her brother so that his soul may gain the peace of the underworld. Antigone is torn between the law placed against burying her brother and her own thoughts of doing what she feels should be done for her family. Her intent is simply to give her brother, Polyneices, a proper burial so that she will follow "the laws of the gods." Antigone knows that she is in danger of being killed for her actions and she says, "I say that this crime is holy: I shall lie down with him in death, and I shall be as dear to him as he to me." Her own laws, or morals, drive her to break Creon's law placed against Polyneices burial. Even after she realizes that she will have to bury Polyneices without the help of her sister, Ismene, she says: Go away, Ismene: I shall be hating you soon, and the dead will too, For your words are hateful. Leave me my foolish plan: I am not afraid of the danger; if it means death, It will not be the worst of deaths-death without honor. Here Ismene is trying to reason with Antigone by saying that she cannot disobey the law because of the consequences. Antigone is close-minded when she immediately tells her to go away and refuses to listen to her. Later in the play, Antigone is sorrowful for her actions and the consequences yet she is not regretful for her crime. She says her crime is just, yet she does regret being forced to commit it.
Antigone, as a character, is extremely strong-willed and loyal to her faith. Creon is similarly loyal, but rather to his homeland, the city of Thebes, instead of the gods. Both characters are dedicated to a fault, a certain stubbornness that effectively blinds them from the repercussions of their actions. Preceding the story, Antigone has been left to deal with the burden of her parents’ and both her brothers’ deaths. Merely a young child, intense grief is to be expected; however, Antigone’s emotional state is portrayed as frivolous when it leads her to directly disobey Creon’s orders. She buries her brother Polynices because of her obedience to family and to the gods, claiming to follow “the gods’ unfailing, unwritten laws” (Sophocles 456-457). CONTINUE
Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote "The Lady of Shalott" around 1830, during what is known as the Victorian Age. Virginia Woolf published "The Lady in the Looking Glass: A Reflection" in 1929, during what is referred to as the Modernist Age. These works of art both deal with women who have important relationships with mirrors. The light in these stories has a great and different effect and meaning for each of these women. The importance and meaning of light are contrasted in these two tales, representing a change in writer's attitudes toward light portrayal.
Although to Todd it seemed like the relationship between him and Dussander was one-sided, the old war criminal was benefiting from it as well. He was reborn. Never in so long did the old man feel so alive, just like the good old days at Patin. The two of them were like parasites to each other. Todd, feeding his inner evil with stories of war, and Dussander, reliving his younger years by telling them. But both began to realize that stories could not keep them happy. There urge for a greater evil built up like a snowball rolling down a hill. Bigger and bigger it got. The forgotten tales of the thousands of Jews herded into gas chambers must have rekindled some evil spirit living in Kurt Dussander, and was trying to escape. Almost like a trance, he lured a cat by enticing it with a bowl of milk, grabbed it, and threw it into a gas stove. An evil grin came upon his face as he listened to the cat scream.
The play “Antigone” is a tragedy by Sophocles. One main theme of the play is Religion vs. the state. This theme is seen throughout the play. Antigone is the supporter of religion and following the laws of the gods and the king of Thebes, Creon, is the state. In the play Creon has made it against the law to bury Antigone’s brother, something that goes against the laws of the gods, this is the cause of most conflict in the story. This struggle helps to develop the tragic form by giving the reader parts of the form through different characters.