Themes of Tithonus
Tithonus is a popular poem by famous victorian writer Alfred Lord Tennyson. This man is the most impressive poet of this literary period. The poem Tithonus is his one of the most celebrated poems where he presents his psychological thought with the mythological character Tithonus. There are a number of themes in this poem. Some people even want to know what are the themes of the poem Tithonus. So, to inform these people we present this article. We will discuss all the themes of the poem Tithonus by Tennyson.
Themes of Tithonus
There are a number of themes that Tennyson tries to bring under this poem. Among these themes, some are very much strong and it takes a huge area in this novel. On the other hand, some themes are very minor and have less importance. Let’s see all these themes in short.
Importance of Death
We all know that death is a very much inavoidable thing for all the beings of this universe. The thing that god gives life is must die. But what if someone is immortal? Tithonus is one such character of Greek mythology who was a human and mortal. But after being the husband of Aurora, he was granted immortality. This was great news to him. But there was one mistake that he did not notice.
But when he starts growing old and the older diseases start coming to him and he realizes that he got immortality but not the youth. Then he starts crying to die. The aloneness and his wife Aurora’s left of him fall him in a more dangerous situation. Tithonus realized that death is a blessing for all humans. Because this leads them to the way of heaven.
Passes of Time
Another important theme of the poem Tithonus is the flying nature of time. We all know that time flies very fast. But most of us have no such experience of this nature of time. For this reason, Tennyson presents this thing in this poem. As Tithonus was a young man and he was a very beautiful person, Aurora fall in love with him. And out of love, she granted immortality for him. Tithonus was very happy with what he got.
But the thing that is unexpected happens when Tithonus feel that he is growing old and his wife has no such love for him anymore. He is immortal but not the ever youth person. That’s why he grew old and lost his youthful power. This thing recurrently reminds us of the flying nature of time very much. We all have seen this. If Tithonus was a bit aware of his youth, he could be every young man.
Nature
Another important theme of the poem Tithonus is nature. We have seen that Tennyson uses nature a number of times in his poems. Sometimes nature plays a very important part and sometimes nature has symbolic meaning in Tennyson’s poem. Sometimes they are just the background of it.
But the nature in the poem Tithonus has both purposes. In one sense the nature is the background of the poem. It creates a green background that attracts the attention of readers. But the great role of nature in this poem is to present the changing nature of the universe. The changes in nature remained as the changes inside out self. From birth to death, we change a number of times. In the same way, nature also changes. Some part of nature get their birth and some part dies. This is the teaching for Tithonus, but this man did not understand what is going to happen to him. He gets immortality but he forgets about eternal youth.
Sufferings
Suffering is another theme of the poem Tithonus. We have seen the main character of the poem Tithonus is suffering huge grief. He wanted immortality but he forget to secure eternal youth. That's why at one stage, he starts losing his youthful power. Then he tried to get immortality back. But his wife Aurora did not hear him. She start flirting with someone other and left Tithonus alone. Now it is in great suffering.
He cannot die and he cannot live. The old-age diseases make his life more difficult. Even he is trying to die but known allowing him. A person who is asking death for himself is the evidence of the highest suffering inside himself. So grief or suffering is another theme of Tithonus by Tennyson.
Isolation
We have seen that the main character is left alone. No one is with him and no one is helping him. Once he was a very beautiful one and people were around him all the time. But now the situation changes and he is left alone. When the hero is losing his youth and growing older then his wife left him.
Tithonus is trying to be mortal and asking other gods and goddesses to get rid of his immortality. But no one is helping him. He is not getting any help from anyone to die and get rid of the suffering. This is how the poet presents the theme of isolation here in this poem.
Conclusion
These are the themes of the poem Tithonus. There are a number of minor themes in this novel. They are also important but not worth discussing. That’s why I just mentioned some of the strongest themes here. I hope you get all that you were expecting. Thanks for reading from us.
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