Leda and the Swan

Leda and the Swan

1. Colonilisation a cultural exchange

   • "Did she put on his knowledge with his power"
   • Consequences of the rape
     • Burning of Troy (Helen of Troy)
       • Foundation of Rome
         • Spreading of Western (Greek) culture
           • Modern civilisation
     • Zuegma
       • Suggests that one action leads to many consequences
       • Engenders
     • Consequences of Colonisation
       • Maud Gonne (Helen of Troy)
       • Yeats enriching Irish culture
       • Cultural Exchange between Ireland and England
   • Ireland-Leda
     • Ireland reduced to vunerable beautiful woman -When You are Old
     • suggestion Leda was complicit in the rape
       • "losening thighs"
   • Zeus - England
     • More powerful than Ireland

2. Unity

   • Yeats is Protestant
     • personal culture hybridity leads to wanting unity- Yeats and Postcolonialism
     • Conflicted by his English background and Irish Culture
   • Leda and the swan are united
     • Can not tell the difference between them
       • Yeats does not specify who

3. Form

   • Sonnet
     • Ironic -a love poem about a rape
   • Absence of rhyming couplet at the end
     • On going consequences
     • No difference between England and Ireland anymore