London Flashcards
Metre
Iambic
Atmosphere
Naturally suppressing atmosphere with underlying theme surrounding the corruption, industrialisation and capitalism brought upon London Town in the 1970s
‘Charter’d’
Notably ambiguous
- first glance it illustrates the chaotic streets of London’s as something almost organised and without confusion
- sense of organisation associated with word dates back to Chartist movement of the nineteenth century, dominated by its people’s charter and structured revolutionary tactics
What does ‘charters:m also mean
Charters are exclusive
- when one man is given rights it is almost certain the consequence will be another’s are removed
- shines a light on the nature of English society in the nineteenth- century - when the state believed to be ‘chartering’ the streets and creating stability they were in fact only prompting further unrest and distancing themselves further from the needs of society
What does the word ‘charter’d’ have connotations of?
Hiring and leasing which emphasises how the city is claiming to own its people
- suggests unjust nature of capitalism in its infancy with money being taken from the majority, the working classes and transferred to the minority of aristocracy through taxation
‘Wander’
Lack of freedom and essential funds is highlighted
- illuminates idea of isolation, vulnerability and slavery
- stresses exploitation of labourers throughout the industrialisation period
Opening line
Encompasses Marx’s view on society that it mirrors its economic base; for instance if we are surrounded by a corrupted economical system, (capitalism) workers will become alienated and the aspect of equality throughout humanity will be evaporated
Structure of first stanza
Compliments undercurrents of depression and unrest
- words ‘wander, charter’d and mark’ all contribute to somber atmosphere with long drawn out ‘A’ sound conjuring up a sense of lethargy, printing reader to imagine mans ‘cry’ of despair
Repetition of ‘mark’
Emphasises how people are constantly branded with visible signs of misery and ‘woe’
- word shifts from the verb formation to noun in line 4 - emphasises how the narrator is not just an apathetic spectator but acting as one of the sufferers himself, making poem more personal
Second stanza
- suffering and hopelessness emphasises further
Repetition of ‘every’
No one is immune from such destruction and imprisonment - reader is caught up in the action with constant references to sounds, making escape that much harder
- reader is made to endure and participate in the action instead of passively observing urn
‘In every ban’
Referencing excommunication by the church, shows how the church a persons only sanctuary is removed from them, establishing sense of isolation among society
- also seen as a metaphor for corruption and a criticism of the institutionalised world or more simply capitalism
- banns of marriage - means proclamation - purpose is to raise any legal impediment to the marriage - to prevent ones which aren’t valid
Althusser
Power of state maintained more subtly
- secures internal consent of citizen using ideological structures such as churches
- presence of corrupt religious structure is the tool constraining the thoughts and actions of the people in London
Picture of ‘mind forged manacles’
People creating their own fear which is prompted by the harsh capitalist authority to terrify them into committing to intensive hard labour to make their industrial businesses boom
Phrase ends with ‘I hear’
‘I’ figure after no intervention from the narrator throughout the stanza emphasises the shock and overwhelmed responses to such human suffering where people cannot find words to react to what was happening around them
- intrinsically the quote could also be seen to represent the typical Marxist view that the working classes could not rise up against the bourgeoisie in the corrupted capitalist world they were surrounded by
