Assignment 4

Alfred, Lord Tennyson: “Ulysses” (pp. 394-95)

Tennyson, along with Charles Dickens, was the most popular of Victorian England’s writers. He is known especially for his craftsmanship in the use of sound patterns. This particular poem is an example of a *dramatic monologue. Based partly on Homer’s Odyssey and partly on Dante’s Inferno, this monologue is spoken by Ulysses many years after his return from the Trojan wars. His character represents a commitment to the active life and the continual search for new experiences. Ulysses admits that he is old and weak, yet he still possesses an unqualified admiration for the life that never yields to habit or decay. Ulysses is determined to struggle not against physical death–he is acutely aware of his own mortality–but against the spiritual death of exchanging life for mere breathing, action for memories, satisfaction for yearning. The last line especially appealed to Tennyson’s contemporaries.

On the other hand, this stirring call to action is sabotaged by the language the speaker uses to convince himself and his men to set off. Not only can we see him as an heroic adventurer, but also as a bombastic and arrogant old man. Note the manner in which he addresses his people, wife, and son. He intends only to roam, but we see him shirking all domestic responsibilities. Ulysses thus can be either admired or disparaged, both attitudes held in balance throughout the monologue.