Log In
|
My Passes
|
Sign Up
Learning Guides
Teacher Resources
Test Prep
College Readiness
Schools & Districts
All of Shmoop
Literature
Bible
Poetry
Shakespeare
Mythology
Bestsellers
Dr. Seuss
Pre-Algebra
Algebra
Algebra II
Geometry
Biology
US History
Flashcards
DMV
Careers
SAT
ACT
AP Exams
En Español
Essay Lab
Videos
Literary Critics
Shmoop Shtuff
Cite This Page
To Go
The Charge of the Light Brigade
by
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Home
Poetry
The Charge of the Light Brigade
Themes
Intro
The Poem
Summary
Analysis
Themes
Quotes
Study Questions
Best of the Web
How to Read a Poem
Advertisement
Table of Contents
The Charge of the Light Brigade Quotes
AP English Language
AP English Literature
SAT Test Prep
ACT Exam Prep
ADVERTISEMENT
The Charge of the Light Brigade Themes
Little Words, Big Ideas
Warfare
Warfare is probably the #1 theme here. Ultimately, "The Charge of the Light Brigade" is a poem about a battle. It spends a lot of time describing the confusion, the terror, the bloodshe...
Courage
There's no question that the Light Brigade has guts. Every last one of them (according to Tennyson) charges forward to the enemy line and does his job. Tennyson makes sure to point out...
Death
The tragedy here is that many of the brave soldiers in the Light Brigade die in this battle. Tennyson doesn't say how many, and he doesn't go into gory details. Still, death is everywhe...
Duty
The men in the Light Brigade are just doing their job; they're soldiers and it's their duty to fight. That's the core of what makes them appealing and heroic, but it's also the thing that mak...
Respect and Reputation
Tennyson doesn't write "The Charge of the Light Brigade" because it's a good story, or because he just thinks you'd be kind of interested. He wants to accomplish something specific. He...