Poem's Setting:
The poem takes place in Peru in the 1530s.  Toward the end of the poem, the setting is Chile. Pizarro's troops total about 180; the Inca (Peruvians) number about 5000 in attendance during the “conference,” although the overall number was much greater than that.

Themes
Personification of the Virtues:
Charity, Innocence, Simplicity (p. 6)
Personification of the Zephyr:
The Zephyr (wind) summons the power of the skies and nature to stall Peru’s fate (p.14). The Virtues flee the shore once the Spanish arrive.

Characters (These are types--not fully developed)
Ataliba-descendent of a sceptered, noble race, people of the Sun
Alzira-his betrothed, kills herself after Ataliba dies
Zorai-Alzira’s father and a Priest of the Sun
Zilia- lover of Aza and daughter to another priest (31)
Aciloe: lover of Zamor--she survives
Zamor: Bard--he survives
Cora: Manco Capac's wife
Manco Capac: has son who survives the conquest

Historical figures
From the Encyclopedia Britannica, Online.
*Las Casas-Catholic Priest and spokesman for the Indians

*Valverde – Priest who presented prayer book and recited the notice to soon to be conquered
peoples.  This notice is about the Biblical creation of the world, supremacy of the Pope.

*Francisco Pizarro-c.1476–1541, (Spain) Spanish conquistador, conqueror of Peru as Captain-General
Born in Trujillo, he was an illegitimate son of a Spanish gentleman and as a child was an illiterate swineherd. Pizarro accompanied Ojeda to Colombia in 1510 and was with Balboa when he discovered the Pacific. Hearing of the fabled wealth of the Incas, he formed (1524) a partnership with Diego de Almagro and Fernando de Luque (a priest who secured funds). The first expedition reached the San Juan River, part of the present boundary between Ecuador and Colombia. On the second (1526–28), Pizarro explored the swampy coast farther south while his pilot, Bartolomé Ruiz, crossed the equator and then returned to bring definite news of the southern realms. In 1528 his partners sent him to Spain to secure aid from Emperor Charles V; he achieved this and gained for himself most of the future profits. Pizarro managed to soothe the disgruntled Almagro. Sailing south, Pizarro landed at Tumbes (1532) and ascended the Andes to Cajamarca, where the Inca, Atahualpa, awaited him. Professing friendship, he enticed Atahualpa into the power of the Spanish, seized him, exacted a stupendous ransom, and then treacherously had him executed. The
conquest of Peru was virtually completed by the capture of Cuzco, which was later defended against Inca forces led by Manco Capac. Pizarro set about consolidating his conquest by founding new settlements, notably the present capital of Peru, Lima, and allotting land and Native Americans in encomienda to his followers. An attempt by Pedro de Alvarado to claim Quito was forestalled by Sebastián de  Benalcázar and Almagro. Pizarro now made a pact with Almagro, whom he had cheated several times in the division of spoils, granting him the conquest of Chile. When he failed to receive the territory promised him, Almagro attempted to redress the injustice by seizing Cuzco. Pizarro sent his half brother, Hernando Pizarro, to Cuzco, and Almagro was defeated and put to death. In 1539, Francisco appointed his brother Gonzalo Pizarro governor of Quito. Francisco’s greed and ambition, extreme even in a conquistador, had, however, offset his resourcefulness, courage, and cunning. By alienating the Almagro faction he paved the way for conspiracy. A band of assassins surprised him at dinner, and although he fought desperately, he was overpowered and slain.
The account by W. H. Prescott, History of the Conquest of Peru (1847), is classic. An early account is Pedro Pizarro, Relation of the Discovery and Conquest of the Kingdoms of Peru (tr. 1921).

*Almagro c. 1475–1538 Spanish conquistador, a leader in the conquest of Peru. A partner of Francisco Pizarro, he took part in the first (1524) and second (1526–28) expeditions and in the bloody subjugation of the Incas after 1532. He aided (1534) Benalcázar in thwarting Pedro de Alvarado in the conquest of Ecuador. No match for the Pizarro brothers, he lost out in the division of spoils but was granted the lands S of Cuzco. In 1535, Almagro set out on a march that was incredible in its hardships—south through the freezing cordillera of the Andes, probably as far as Coquimbo in present Chile, and then, after finding no gold, back north through the desert wastes of Atacama. He believed Cuzco was within his jurisdiction and so seized (1537) the city from Hernando Pizarro, whom he injudiciously set free. Civil war ensued, and Almagro’s forces were defeated. Almagro begged for his life and was promised it, but he was garroted by orders of Hernando Pizarro.

Write for 10 minutes on how the canto reflects the romantic period.
Canto 2
Pizarro and his men take over Incan court (Ataliba)
Ataliba and Alzira are imprisoned and they seek one another in after life
Comparison between the cold Spanish and Peruvians as  noble savages
Passion associated with love, but also greed
Choice of death over imprisonment
Use of Nature to set a mood

Canto 3
Nature reflects the tension between Spanish and Peruvians
Whole new host of images:vultures, adders
Overflowing of emotion
Pizarro takes over Cuzco
Williams represents Valverde as a cruel fanatic
Las Casas saves Peruvian priest and his daughter, though they succumb to their woes

Canto 4
Almagro searches for gold in Chile
He hears of Manco Capac’s success in Cuzco and he begins to return to Peru
His party weakens because of little food and shelter as they traverse the mountains and deserts
Sacrifices made in the name of freedom (Manco Capac and Cora)
Use of I to make Capac real and an individual
Revolt led by Capac
Williams’s elevation of Peruvians to individuals
 

Here are study questions for the Reading Response:

What is the setting of the poem?
Explain two ways in which Williams's Peru partakes in conventions of the Romantic period.  Be specific.
Why and how does Williams represent Peru as a paradise, or edenic site?
Why is the survival of Manco-Capac and Cora's child important?
What kind of critique does Williams make in representing the Spanish rivalry between Almagro and Pizarro?
Explain how Charlotte Smith's use of imagery reflects concerns/themes of the Romantic period.
Describe the use of nature in relation to the mood of the poem and the representation of the land.
How does Williams use the supernatural?
How does Williams use imagery to describe Spanish and Peruvia?
How does Peru represent a critique of Catholicism without criticizing Christianity as a whole?
How does Williams use doubles?
How does Williams portray Pizarro?
How do hope and despair operate in the poem?
How does the poem reflect the revolutionary thought of the times?
How does Williams use first person in the text and what effect does it have?