Tennyson dramatises an assertion of the self in his poem Ulysses. Explain.

Tennyson's poem, although about Ulysses, also reflects his own personal journey in life, a reaction to the death of a beloved friend. In essence, Ulysses serves as a symbol of the grieving poet, and in Tennyson's own words, it describes the "need of going forward and braving the struggle of life”.