Death in Victorian Literature
Literary Response on the Victorian Era and DeathFrom the stems of the imaginative, emotional, and freedom-loving Romantic Age grew the many new and complex social theories of the Victorian Era. Literature and religious texts were examined and debated by many, and new ideas on life were formed. With the importance of Christianity in every day life fading, the topic of death was a commonly addressed one. The theme of death is found in many great Victorian writers' works, including Lord Tennyson. "Ulysses," his continuation of Homer's ancient Greek epic poem the Odyssey, portrays some of his feelings on death. Ulysses tells the mariners who have served him all their lives that old age does not spell a retreat into oblivion and monotony. "Tis not too late to seek another world" he says, telling the mariners that only the glory of the Happy Isles (Elysium fields of Greek Mythology) could be gained after death if one continues to live a life infused with heroism and adventure. This is Tennyson's way of proclaimi
In "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning, only death allowed the obsessive Duke to exercise complete control over his indecorous wife. "Is My Team Ploughing" holds a similar theme, but also points out the treacherous nature of mankind. Much like "Ulysses," it is acknowledged that death is ever present; even a small child playing in the school yard must some day face the inevitable hand of death descending upon his shoulder. Unable to prevent her pleasant associations with other men during her lifetime, the Duke took a rather macabre pleasure in hanging her portrait where only he could enjoy it. Perhaps Socrates said it best when he posed the question, "What if death is really not the greatest punishment, but actually the greatest good?" Or perhaps Tennyson's "Ulysses" offers us the best counsel on how to live life - "Death closes all; but something ere the end/Some work of noble note, may yet be done. While death has been pondered over by both great minds and common people alike since the dawn of time, the Victorian age presented to us a different perspective. This is meant to challenge a previously concrete belief -after death we would ascend into heaven and be reunited with loved ones and chase fuzzy pink rabbits. The speaker marvels at the faithfulness and loyalty of the animal until it is discovered that the dog was merely in search of a previously buried bone. Man is by nature an opportunist, and often grief can be channeled to a thought that is inherent within all of us: "what's in it for me?" "I cheer a dead man's sweetheart/Never ask me whose" makes evident that the tragedy of death can be easily overcome. ng to the public that one must be resolved to push onward and work to achieve the life that they most desire, even with the knowledge that death is ever standing but a few steps behind. While these works presented a more secular view on the afterlife than poetry of an earlier era, the uncertainty of mankind on life-after-death continues to be an unanswered question. When you are gone from this life you are just that - gone, and people will carry on with their lives and your memory will fade into nihility. Death is also present in works of the other Victorian writers, if not as the dominant theme then as the subordinate one. We see that it is not her best friend come to plant flowers or her worst enemy to desecrate the gravesite, but instead her little dog. The poem "Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave" is a somewhat anomalous piece.
Common topics in this essay:
Emily Dickenson,
Digging Grave,
Tennyson Ulysses,
Era Literature,
Team Ploughing,
Greek Mythology,
Robert Browning,
Tennyson's Ulysses,
Romantic Age,
Death Victorian,
victorian era,
live life,
|
Acceptance Essays
