Tennyson and Women It is proven in psychology that people have the ability to affect your mood and/or way of thinking. Queen Guinevere and other women in Arthurian literature have shown how their moods affect or don’t affect other characters. Specifically, it is the men that are affected the most. Guinevere’s characterization throughout Arthurian literature has been a negative one, but we have not fully looked through the scope of her own eyes. It is deemed that Guinevere was the cause of the fall of Camelot and the Round Table. Her disobedience, and betrayal of Arthur is what makes the story, but this does not mean that we should put the sole blame on both her and Lancelot. As we grow older, we learn that the heart wants what they heart
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Tennyson’s writing was much influenced by his era of writing. He was a poet during the time Queen Victoria was reigning, which caused him to base his woman characters off of what he experienced in Britain. Women were to be obedient to men, whether it is there father, brother, or husband. If a woman were not to comply she would be considered “evil.” Gender roles played an important responsibility; good women and “evil” women were defined as well. A good woman was a woman of virtue; a woman untouched. An “evil” woman would be a woman who often times is sorcerous and considered to be independent or outspoken. In Lara Struve’s article “The Public Life and Private Desires of Women in William Morris’s Defence of Guenevere” she states Tennyson “represents a moral and social order that revolves around the public and private roles of women (17).” Women were to stay in their place and abide by the rules that are set for them. Tennyson’s writing style is based on prose because of his poetic style of writing, while Malory is more of a storyteller. Tennyson bases his work around Malory’s Morte d’Arthur and gives us his reactions to the female characters. His work can be considered a series of love poems. Theses are stories based upon female heroines. Elaine of Astolate, lynette, and Enid all are considered to be pure. Guinevere is the parallel, unchaste, to those women, but that does not make her any less of a heroine in the
Tennyson’s writing was much influenced by his era of writing. He was a poet during the time Queen Victoria was reigning, which caused him to base his woman characters off of what he experienced in Britain. Women were to be obedient to men, whether it is there father, brother, or husband. If a woman were not to comply she would be considered “evil.” Gender roles played an important responsibility; good women and “evil” women were defined as well. A good woman was a woman of virtue; a woman untouched. An “evil” woman would be a woman who often times is sorcerous and considered to be independent or outspoken. In Lara Struve’s article “The Public Life and Private Desires of Women in William Morris’s Defence of Guenevere” she states Tennyson “represents a moral and social order that revolves around the public and private roles of women (17).” Women were to stay in their place and abide by the rules that are set for them. Tennyson’s writing style is based on prose because of his poetic style of writing, while Malory is more of a storyteller. Tennyson bases his work around Malory’s Morte d’Arthur and gives us his reactions to the female characters. His work can be considered a series of love poems. Theses are stories based upon female heroines. Elaine of Astolate, lynette, and Enid all are considered to be pure. Guinevere is the parallel, unchaste, to those women, but that does not make her any less of a heroine in the