To An Athlete Dying Young Pessimism

A Theory that Change the Age
During the Victorian Ages, the optimism found in Alfred Tennyson’s “Ulysses” differs from the pessimism found in Mathew Arnold’s “Dover Beach” and A.E. Housman’s “To an Athlete Dying Young.” Between 1837 and 1901, a period of optimism flourished in England due to new improvements within the society. However, when Darwin and Lyell introduced their theories to the world, the optimism began to wither away. The optimistic writers wrote about hopes and dreams while the pessimistic authors wrote about death and negative outcomes. When Darwin’s book The Origin of Species emerged, the people of England questioned everything they ever believed. They did the same with Lyell’s theory about the true age of the earth. All of

Houseman is another author that expresses pessimistic views in his poem “To an Athlete Dying Young” that is different from Tennyson’s optimistic attitude. In his work, he expresses the pessimistic idea of dying young and famous rather than old and unknown. As the narrator speaks to the dead athlete, he tells him that he is better off dying young because when a man is famous and lives until he is old, “the name [dies] before the man” ( Houseman l. 24). His idea refutes the optimism in “Ulysses.” Ulysses is not going to let old age keep him from achieving his goal. No matter how old Ulysses is he is still well-known and wants to continue leaving his mark: “I am a part of all that I have met” (Tennyson l. 19). Ulysses travelled and left his mark on people, and they have left their mark on him. His outlook is positive unlike Housman who recommends dying young. Ulysses is more hopeful about his future. He believes that his upcoming adventures will be successful, and if not, he will accept his faith and enjoy death. In Housman’s work, he considers honor as something that “lads…wore …out” (Housman l.22). Ulysses still has his honor in his old age, proving honor does not disappear due to age. Houseman presents a more negative look on life due to the introduction of Darwin’s and Lyell’s new ideas that contributed to the waning of optimism in

The beginning of the Victorian age was full of new inventions and technologies like the telephone and the sewing machine. The people were hopeful and optimistic about the future. Once Darwin stated his theory that humans evolved from a single cell organism, the people became raddle, creating the period of pessimism and waning of optimism. The poets during the period began to write about the downfall of the earth rather than a bright future. In “Ulysses,” Tennyson relays the positive attitude of a character who is old but still yearns for adventure. He explains that all ages have the ability to fulfill their dreams. On the other hand, Arnold and Housman relay negative attributes about life and the earth. Arnold explains how the world lacks what is desired by humans. Housman explains why dying young is better than dying old. Both authors relay pessimistic attitudes that are different from Tennyson. The authors prove that when new theories and ideas arise, they can quickly change a society’s