A Comparison of Two Media Representations of the Charge of the Light Brigade

A Comparison of Two Media Representations of the Charge of the Light Brigade

In this essay I will be comparing 2 very different media

representations. The first was written by the poet laureate of the

time Alfred Lord Tennyson in 1854 and the second was a film made in

1968 and directed by Tony Richardson, a bisexual who died of aids.

of In this essay I will be comparing a film made in 1968 and directed

by Tony Richardson with a poem written a couple of weeks after the

charge in 1854 by Lord Alfred Tennyson.

The Charge of the Light Brigade was an ill-advised Cavalry charge

during the battle of Balaclava on October 25th 1854 during the Crimean

war. It is believed to have come about due to an order from Lord

Raglan to Lord Lucan; it read "Lord Raglan wishes the cavalry to

advance rapidly to the front and to prevent the enemy carrying away

the guns. Horse Artillery may accompany. French cavalry is on your

left. Immediate." It was drafted by Brigadier Airey and delivered by

Captain Nolan.

The two pieces have very different purposes. The film was made to try

and portray the uselessness and incompetence of the generals whereas

the poem was written as a tribute to the loyalty and nobleness of the

soldiers who took part in the charge. “Theirs not to make reply,

theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die. The two different

pieces of media portray the event in very different ways. Partly due

to the fact they were made over 100 years apart. In this time what was

sociably acceptable had changed drastically. The film was made when

society was much more willing to hear critcism of their country more

prepared to accept a true portr...

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people in the 1850’s were much less likely to accept having criticism

of their generals than people in the 1960’s. Tennyson was focusing on

the nobility of the ordinary soldiers and not pointing the finger at

who’s fault it was. Richardson however wrote his film in the 60’s at

the time of the vietnam war when people were much more willing to

accept critisism of their countries war efforts. He doesn’t criticize

the ordinary soldiers but focuses more on the uselessness of the

generals and how they don’t have a clue whats going on. Richardson

basically says that this complete waste of life could have been

prevented had the generals been trained and knew what they were doing.

He especially focuses in on Raglan and shows us he was an old

incompetent fool who shouldn’t have been anywhere neart a battlefield

at his age.