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Alfred Lord Tennyson's The Charge Of The Light Brigade

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The Victorian Era is categorized by the huge amount of dramatic changes that occurred during the time period. Technological inventions were made that completely changed the manufacturing business, economies were expanding, medical advancements changed lives, and science came out on top over religion. An actual change happened throughout the people too. Population was growing so rapidly in England; there were not enough jobs available for people. This meant middle class workers were fired frequently and, when they were forced to look for new jobs, had to compete with immigrants for positions. Cries for social reforms were heard all throughout the country, demanding labor improvements and equality. Of course, because of these huge changes people …show more content…

This was based on a true battle during the Crimean War which was between Turkey and Russia where the British stepped in to stop Russia from gaining territory. Due to a misunderstanding, on October 25, 1854 a light brigade (i.e. a group of soldiers with the primary function of reconnaissance not battle) was sent to fight a large group of heavily armed Russian soldiers. It was a suicide mission. The heroic aspect that makes this such an interesting story is the fact that the light brigade, though aware they would die, followed orders without hesitation and successfully killed or injured many enemy soldiers. Nonetheless, the almost the entire light brigade was either killed or injured despite their bold actions. The War, and this specific battle, is usually tossed aside as failed military tactics by the British and is only remembered because of the famous healing of the nurse Florence Nightingale (Source C). For Lord Tennyson, however, the six hundred men of the light brigade represented more than incompetent decisions: it represented strong bravery and unyielding patriotism which is evident through the poem he wrote about the event. “The Charge of the Light Brigade” is a narrative poem based on an actual event during the Crimean War. These types of poems were frequent during the Victorian Era. In his poem Tennyson tells the story of the six hundred men that rushed into a battle they knew they couldn’t win and the bravery, heroism, and patriotism they possessed. His poem has a distinct rhythm and style along with several rhetorical devices which bring the poem to life and stress the importance of the soldiers’

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