English

The names Shakespeare, Owen, Tennyson and Browning are well renowned names in literature. Their poems and plays are loved by many and have earned praise across the years. Their pieces overflow with many emotions and controversial themes, all portrayed through many methods such as language structure and form. This essay will explore the ways strong feelings are portrayed in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by William Shakespeare, ‘The send-off’ and ‘Dulce et decorum est’ by Wilfred Owen, ‘My last duchess’ by Robert Browning and ‘The charge of the light brigade’ by Alfred Tennyson.
The start of the play immediately depicts Shakespeare’s sentiments on the futility of conflict. Shakespeare in the prologue uses the noun phrase ‘ancient grudge’ to tell us of this futile war between the two ‘households’. The adjective ‘ancient’ indicates that the ‘grudge’ started long ago, and the reason for it has now become lost; therefore, the ‘grudge’ is trivial though the resulting outcome is not. Shakespeare goes further to portray the ‘grudge’ as contagious in the way that ‘civil blood makes civil hands unclean.’ The use of the powerful adjective ‘civil’ shows the conflict has now spread to the surrounding society just like and infection. Shakespeare also portrays the civil cycle of violence through the dialogue between the servants of both houses, ‘Do you bite your thumb at us, sir’ not only reveals the extent of the ‘infection’ but also reveals many of the strong feelings within the society; pride and honour.
Similarly, Owen in his poem ‘Dulce et decorum est’ profoundly explores the futility of war and the emotions of frustration and confusion of war. However, Owen expresses his sentiment of bitter resentment through the use of the simile ‘like old beggars under sacks’. The adjective ‘old’ implies that even though the men who signed up were full of youthful fervour, believing the ‘old lie’, in actual fact lost their youth and longevity cut short. Owen, like Shakespeare, portrays the