Lord Alfred Tennyson’s Idylls of the King was written in Victorian England and the latest version was published in 1885, though the actual writing process covered a span of almost 50 years. Tennyson bases the series of poems comprising the Idylls on the European myth of King Arthur and the court of Camelot and various other adaptations of that legend. The evolution of Tennyson’s female characters to their final stages underscores an undermining of traditional Victorian gender roles by highlighting the non-sustainability of the one-dimensional, symbolic woman.
The Idylls detail the rise and fall of King Arthur, leader of the Round Table and King of Camelot. The work opens with a dedication to the late Prince Consort, Albert; then the plot follows …show more content…
Tennyson uses language to connect them; his title for Arthur “the Good King” (XI. 207) parallels the language used to describe the Prince Consort, whom Tennyson describes as “Albert the Good” (I. 42). Similarly, Tennyson claims that Albert seems “scarce other than my king’s ideal knight” (I. 7). However, once this connection is established, the list of characteristics which Tennyson attributes to both the fictional King Arthur and the Prince Consort actually serves to prove the deficiencies in the King. For example, despite the claims that Arthur “spake no slander, no, nor listen’d to it” (I. 9), at several points he is actually “vexed at a rumor issued from [Vivien]/ of some corruption among his knights” (VI. 151-152). When Arthur ignores the rumors around him, the gossip which permeates the kingdom concerning Guinevere’s infidelity leads to the slow degeneration of his realm. Similarly, Tennyson refers to both Arthur and Albert as expressing “sublime repression” (I. 18). However, as will later be proved, this repression of nature is actually one of the forces which leads to Arthur’s …show more content…
Questions about male power and “women’s roles in private and public life” (qtd. in Simpson 348) were pervasive during the time, causing general anxiety within the public about the moral status of the country. Tennyson’s capitalizes on this uneasiness by establishing “for the Victorians that they [had] monarchical, literary, and ethical traditions, but [isolating] a narrative moment when the stability of those traditions is shaken” (Shires 412). This juxtaposition betweenof traditionalism and female agency can be charted through the increased displays of personal choice and human characteristics depicted in Tennyson’s female
The Idylls detail the rise and fall of King Arthur, leader of the Round Table and King of Camelot. The work opens with a dedication to the late Prince Consort, Albert; then the plot follows …show more content…
Tennyson uses language to connect them; his title for Arthur “the Good King” (XI. 207) parallels the language used to describe the Prince Consort, whom Tennyson describes as “Albert the Good” (I. 42). Similarly, Tennyson claims that Albert seems “scarce other than my king’s ideal knight” (I. 7). However, once this connection is established, the list of characteristics which Tennyson attributes to both the fictional King Arthur and the Prince Consort actually serves to prove the deficiencies in the King. For example, despite the claims that Arthur “spake no slander, no, nor listen’d to it” (I. 9), at several points he is actually “vexed at a rumor issued from [Vivien]/ of some corruption among his knights” (VI. 151-152). When Arthur ignores the rumors around him, the gossip which permeates the kingdom concerning Guinevere’s infidelity leads to the slow degeneration of his realm. Similarly, Tennyson refers to both Arthur and Albert as expressing “sublime repression” (I. 18). However, as will later be proved, this repression of nature is actually one of the forces which leads to Arthur’s …show more content…
Questions about male power and “women’s roles in private and public life” (qtd. in Simpson 348) were pervasive during the time, causing general anxiety within the public about the moral status of the country. Tennyson’s capitalizes on this uneasiness by establishing “for the Victorians that they [had] monarchical, literary, and ethical traditions, but [isolating] a narrative moment when the stability of those traditions is shaken” (Shires 412). This juxtaposition betweenof traditionalism and female agency can be charted through the increased displays of personal choice and human characteristics depicted in Tennyson’s female