The Poet As Hero
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Degree Project The Poet as Hero A Study of the Clash Between the Hero and the First World War in British Trench Poetry, and Its Use in the Swedish School System Within the Subject of English. Author: Carl Olsson Supervisor: Anna Greek Examiner: Anne Holm Term: Spring 2018 Subject: English Level: G3 Course code: 4ENÄ2E Abstract This thesis studies the clash between the hero and the First World War in the works of Rupert Brooke, Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen. It explores the impact on their poetry and attitude towards the concept of the hero as it applied to them as people and poets. The study shows that over prolonged contact with the horrors of the First World War, it is evident in both literary sources and their poetry that both Sassoon and Owen changed their attitudes negatively towards both the idea of heroes and heroism, as well as the War as a just and glorious cause. However, the myth of the hero was still a core belief of their society, and in order to not be branded cowards and discarded along with their warnings, they had to become heroes in the eyes of their society, to openly attack the concept and the war it fueled. This thesis then studies how and why First World War poetry and literature should be utilized within the subject of English in the Swedish School System, as a means to provide a multicultural and critical education. Key words The Great War, The First World War, First World War Poetry, The hero in the First World War, Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen, Rupert Brooke, Trench Poetry, Poetry, First World War poetry in the Swedish education system, Heroes, Heroism, The hero in poetry, The hero as weapon, New Historicism, Critical Literature Pedagogy. Thanks Thank you to Anna Greek, my supervisor, for all of your time and assistance. Thank you Johan Höglund for helping me find my direction in the jungle of pre-war literature on the hero. Thank you also to Marthin Lindstammer and Anthon Sannestam for being excellent fellow students and proof-readers. And thank you to Sanne Uvelind, for being such a fantastic ear and companion on this journey. Contents 1 Introduction............................................................................................ 2 2 Theoretical Background ........................................................................ 5 Introduction ...................................................................................... 5 New Historicism: The Wish to Speak with the Dead ........................ 6 Didactic Theory on the Use of World War One Poetry in the Classroom .................................................................................................... 8 The Hero in British Culture Before the First World War and its Early Stages ............................................................................................... 10 The Gentleman and Hero ............................................................... 14 3 Method, Ethical and Practical Concerns ........................................... 17 4 The Idealist Notion of War ................................................................. 19 1914 - “The Soldier” by Rupert Brooke ........................................ 20 1915 – “Absolution” by Siegfried Sassoon .................................... 24 5 The Realities of War ............................................................................ 26 1916 – “The Poet as Hero” by Siegfried Sassoon ......................... 26 1917 – “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen ........................ 35 1918 – “S. I. W” by Wilfred Owen ................................................. 38 6 The Aftermath of War ......................................................................... 41 1918 – “Repression of War Experience” by Siegfried Sassoon .... 41 7 Didactic Reflection: Highlighting Norms and Values Through the Analysis of First World War Poetry ......................................................... 45 8 Conclusion ............................................................................................ 51 9 Works Cited ......................................................................................... 53 Appendices Appendix A “The Soldier” by Rupert Brooke Ⅰ Appendix B “Absolution” by Siegfried Sassoon Ⅱ Appendix C “The Poet as Hero” by Siegfried Sassoon. Ⅲ Appendix D “Repression of War experience” by Siegfried Sassoon Ⅳ Appendix E “S.I.W” by Wilfred Owen Ⅴ DULCE ET DECORUM EST Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs, And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots, But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of gas-shells dropping softly behind. Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time, But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime.— Dim through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,— My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori. (Owen) 1 1 Introduction The First World War, in Britain known as “The Great War” affected millions of lives and has shaped our world today. But the voices of its veterans and victims have fallen silent, and the year this thesis is being written marks the 100-year anniversary of the end of the war. Now, the First World War is the subject of movies like Wonder Woman and games such as Battlefield One, where you can fight in the trenches of the Western front yourself. Before the big charge, your digital officer reminds you of the Zimmerman telegram and that you must defend your wives, mothers and sisters back home. A few seconds after, your hero rushes forward and is wiped away by an incoming shell. Who is this hero that has survived into our recreation of the horrific capabilities of man? The knight on a holy quest, to defend the people back home? What norms and values were instilled in these men, to enforce them to don this mask of the hero? And how did these men change their disposition towards this concept of the hero and heroism when they were faced with modern warfare? In reading poems such as “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen, the voices awaken yet again, and for a moment, the people who endured so long ago are resurrected. Owen’s words prove the old lie false, it is not sweet and proper to die for the fatherland. These poems created by the survivors are seldom read in Swedish schools, and then only within the subject of History. But with the recent influx of interest from younger generations in the subject of the First World War, I believe it wise to introduce this aspect of the human experience to the English subject, because it is through language that these authors can convey their messages, from beyond the grave. This thesis is therefore a fusing of interests between my two subjects, History and the English language. In my previous thesis, I studied the wartime diaries of a Swedish volunteer for the French army, Sven Blom, and his shifting attitude to and experience of the First World 2 War. His diaries, which stylistically were influenced by his aspiration of becoming an author, interested me. How were these ideas about the Gentleman’s war and the hero displayed in the literature created during the war? Kate MacDonald argues in her article “Rethinking the Depiction of Shell-shock in British Literature of the First World War, 1914–1918” that: Ann-Marie Einhaus notes that, in the context of wartime memoirs, the realist approach was also favored by readers and critics. While contemporary reviewers naturally expected war memoirs to be well written, the core issue was the veracity of the author’s account of his war experiences, or the authenticity of what was depicted in comparison to the real thing, life at the front. Readers and critics alike expected war books to show them war as it really was, or rather, as they expected it to be. (57) And what did they expect life at the front to be like? The poets themselves realized the hollow myth of the hero when they experienced the brutality of modern warfare. This prompted them to denounce it through their poetry, although they were forced to conform to the concept in life. In 2018, soldier poets such as Rupert Brooke, Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon are widely read and taught, and their poetry has changed the way that British society views the First World War. However, the focus often lies on the horror they experienced, and the value of their sacrifice, rather than on the ideological and cultural influences which shaped both their preconceived ideas of heroes and heroism, and the society to which these virtues were unquestionable. This study examines how the hero was perceived before the First World War in British literature and culture, and subsequently how Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen changed their disposition negatively towards the concept of heroism and heroes in the encounter