Context Flashcards
Which English poets influenced Tennyson? How so?
John Keats, Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron; presented ideas through their poetry in a romanticised and ideal sense.
Whose death influenced Tennyson in Ulysses? How did it contribute to his main moral lesson in the poem?
Arthur Hallam; his death lead Tennyson to construct the idea that living was heroic - he thought that living, even though Hallam had died was heroic.
Which classic poets was Tennyson influenced by? Which literature?
Dante: the character of Ulysses in Dante’s Inferno; Homer: the Illiad.
What is Pathetism?
God is in everything, everything is an expression of God’s nature.
What elements of literature was Tennyson inspired by?
Arthurian Heroes (King Arthur) and myths and legends (Ulysses)
What Victorian attitude did Ulysses present (in terms of gender roles - men)?
The perseverance and optimism of heroism and masculinity.
How does Ulysses represent Victorian beliefs of masculinity and heroism?
They wanted to find other ways to celebrate and acknowledge heroism and masculinity; they did this in Ulysses by depicting heroism in an old Ulysses, who wanted to achieve heroism through living out life, seeking adventure and knowledge.
What part of Browining’s education influenced what part of My Last Duchess?
Browning was a student in the history, literature, and culture of Renaissance Italy; this is where the poem is set.
What part of Browining’s education influenced what part of My Last Duchess?
Browning was a student in the history, literature, and culture of Renaissance Italy; this is where the poem is set.
My Last Duchess consists of ___ rhyming couplets and _____.
28; iambic pentameter.
Who is My Last Duchess inspired by?
5th Duke of Ferrara (Alfonso II d’Este) who married Lucrezia Cosimo de’ Mecidi; the concern of male and female roles in relationships and society is retold through this couple.
What does My Last Duchess represent?
Male and Female relationships and their contrasting levels of power; women were considered the property of men, who were automatically given roles of dominance and control over women. Women were extremely restricted in autonomy and free will, typically treated as objects to be handed off in trade for wealth, power, land, allies etc. These roles were concrete during the Victorian era, and anything that opposed these ideals of men and women was considered taboo.
How does Browning critique the Victorian attitudes of women being treated as the property of their husbands?
Through dramatic monologue and dramatic irony, the Duke reflects on these attitudes of Victorian society and exposes their controlling nature and flaws within the balance of power in relationships.
What is imagism?
Founded by Pound, imagism relied on the resonance of concrete images formed by direct and colloquial language, rather than poetic dictation and meter.
It was a direct revolt against the careless thinking and optimism of the Romantic movement, preferring to use sharp, clear imagery. Its aim was to remove anything unnecessary to reveal the true form within.
What was marriage a symbol of during the Victorian era?
Gender inequalities within the (relationship and) society
