Tennyson's Ulysses

The poem was wrote by Alfred Tennyson, one of the most important writers of dramatic monologue during the Victorian Age.

In a dramatic monologue the Novelist adopts a character used like "speaking voice", who's voice the reader can hear. In this case it is Ulysses.

The character speaks about a crucial moment in his like and uses the first person speaking.

Ulysses is an icon for Victorians, indeed he became famous for his courage, curiosity and for his journey.

In the first part of the monologue the setting is Itaca: Ulysses came back from his journey and he doesn't recognize his people and country anymore. He feels detached from them.

He has got a negative opinion of his people (and it is evident in the semantic choices) and considers them "people without civilization".

In the second part of the monologue the speaking voice changes his focus, indeed he speaks of himself: he can't stop traveling because he wants to live an intense life and it is not possibile if he stay in Itaca. He experienced negative and positive aspects and situations of life and he found himself. He is an experienced man because he is in contact with different people, setting and situation.

Ulysses is attracted by what he doesn't know indeed Dante places him into "Inferno". Ulysses can be considered a myth because he wants to be different from other people.