First and foremost, in the opening of the passage Virgil instantly uses language of isolation
and distance to demonstrate the now desolate, lonely and heart-broken Dido who has been
abandoned in her “high tower” looking down onto the “deserted shore” with “not an
oarsman in sight”. Her Virgil effectively uses her tower and the empty shore in juxtaposition
with the “light whitening and the fleet moving out to sea” to reveal how Aeneas had simply
left the poor Dido without a true goodbye, drawing sympathy from the audience. This sets
the scene of Dido’s state of mind to the audience as we can image the sheer bitterness and
heartache she must feel at this desolate sight.
Furthermore, Virgil very vividly demonstrates Dido’s frustrated state of mind through using
short snappy sentences and a variety of rhetorical questions in Dido’s abrupt speech. The
Queen wails “O Jupiter!” and labels Aeneas as an “intruder” who has made a “mockery of
our kingdom,”; producing an intense image of her thought process as she jumps from
question to question in a confused and angry tone. We also see these short snappy
sentences such as the one-word line “Move!” as Virgil effectively demonstrates Dido’s
growing state of anger and betrayal.
Additionally, Virgil most effectively draws sympathy from the audience towards Dido while
indicating her confused and somewhat lost state of mind as she addresses herself “Poor
Dido, you have done wrong and it is only now coming to you,”. At this point we see how the
Queen resorts to blaming herself, clearly and most vividly displaying how what once was an
organised and respectable Queen now feels as though she has lost herself and her pride.
Dido goes on to repeat the phrase “So much for his right hand! So much for his pledge,”
again demonstrating her level of frustration and ever-growing anger as she realises her
betrayal.
Most vividly of all, at the end of the passage Virgil uses extremely graphic and vivid imagery
as Dido questions how she could not have just “torn him limb from limb,” or put his men to
the sword … and served his flesh at his fathers table,”. These most graphic images
successfully allow Virgil to look into the sheer fury that has developed in Dido’s mind as she
is filled with hatred and bitterness.
and distance to demonstrate the now desolate, lonely and heart-broken Dido who has been
abandoned in her “high tower” looking down onto the “deserted shore” with “not an
oarsman in sight”. Her Virgil effectively uses her tower and the empty shore in juxtaposition
with the “light whitening and the fleet moving out to sea” to reveal how Aeneas had simply
left the poor Dido without a true goodbye, drawing sympathy from the audience. This sets
the scene of Dido’s state of mind to the audience as we can image the sheer bitterness and
heartache she must feel at this desolate sight.
Furthermore, Virgil very vividly demonstrates Dido’s frustrated state of mind through using
short snappy sentences and a variety of rhetorical questions in Dido’s abrupt speech. The
Queen wails “O Jupiter!” and labels Aeneas as an “intruder” who has made a “mockery of
our kingdom,”; producing an intense image of her thought process as she jumps from
question to question in a confused and angry tone. We also see these short snappy
sentences such as the one-word line “Move!” as Virgil effectively demonstrates Dido’s
growing state of anger and betrayal.
Additionally, Virgil most effectively draws sympathy from the audience towards Dido while
indicating her confused and somewhat lost state of mind as she addresses herself “Poor
Dido, you have done wrong and it is only now coming to you,”. At this point we see how the
Queen resorts to blaming herself, clearly and most vividly displaying how what once was an
organised and respectable Queen now feels as though she has lost herself and her pride.
Dido goes on to repeat the phrase “So much for his right hand! So much for his pledge,”
again demonstrating her level of frustration and ever-growing anger as she realises her
betrayal.
Most vividly of all, at the end of the passage Virgil uses extremely graphic and vivid imagery
as Dido questions how she could not have just “torn him limb from limb,” or put his men to
the sword … and served his flesh at his fathers table,”. These most graphic images
successfully allow Virgil to look into the sheer fury that has developed in Dido’s mind as she
is filled with hatred and bitterness.
