Power and Conflict

Exposure Quote 1

“merciless iced east winds that knife us”

“merciless iced east winds that knife us” meaning

the freezing winds feel like a sharp blade stabbing soldiers. owen uses personification merciless and violent verb knive to show that nature is deadlier than the opposition

my last duchess quote

“i have commands / then all smiles stopped together”

“i gave commands then all smiles stopped together”

the duke casually admitting he ordered his wife to be killed because she smiled at others. the cold blunt caesura shows how ruthless he is. treating murder like simple business

remains quote

“his bloody life in my bloody hands”

my last ditches context

victorian patriachy. women had no legal rights and became arrogant controlling husbands property who trat those wine. like objects to be silenced

“his bloody life in my bloody hands”

the solider feels haunted by killing a looter and cannot wash the guilt. armitage repeats bloody first as casual swear word then to show how it turns to inescapable trauma of the memory

exposure context

newspapers made war sound glorious and heroic. owen wrote exposure to expose grim reality that soldiers erred freezing to death and acheiveing nothing

context of remains

armitage highlights how society trains soldiers to kill then abandons them to deal with ptsd alone

what is exposure about

war natur and suffering

my last duchess about

power pride control and status

remains about

guilt memory inner conflict