Contains a summary of the Charge of the light Brigade with key quotes , critical analysis, contains context, form and structure and more. Everything you need to secure and A/A* in AQA GCSE English Literature. This helped me to go from a C to an A.
GCSE English Lit AQA Poetry Anthology - Power and Conflict
- Charge of the light brigade (Alfred, Lord Tennyson)
Content, Meaning and Purpose:
● The poem was published 6 weeks after a battle against the Russians in the
Crimean war.
● The poem describes a cavalry charge against Russians who shoot the British
who were lightly-armed with a cannon.
● Over half were killed or taken prisoner out of the 600 soldiers who started.
● The purpose of the poem is to celebrate the courage and devotion of the soldiers
to their country whilst symbolising the might of the British empire.
Context:
● By being a poet laureate he had the responsibility to inspire the nation and
portray the war in a positive light by using propaganda
● Eventhough Tennyson glorifies the soldiers who had taken part, he draws
attention to the commander who made a mistake: ‘Someone had blunder’d’.
● In Victorian times this was a very controversial point as there was blind devotion
to power which was expected.
Language:
● ‘Into the valley of death’: Biblical imagery which portrays war as powerful or as a
spiritual experience.
● ‘Jaws of death’,’Mouth of hell’: Describes war as an animal that consumes its
victims.
● ‘Honour the light brigade/Noble six hundred’: Glorifies the soldiers even in death.
The ‘six hundred’ is a celebrated group.
● ‘Stormed at with shot and shell’: Soldiers are being ‘stormed at’ by gunfire ‘shot’
and ‘shell’ are violent, noisy and destructive also by using pathetic fallacy adds to
the brutality and sibilance sounds of the battle.
● ‘When can their glory fade?’ - Rhetorical question as how the poet is more
concerned with the glory of the soldiers, rather than the fact they’ve died and
their courage will live on. ‘Glory’ shows the blind faith in those in charge and that
they believed they would win as they were glorious.
Form and Structure:
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