Tennyson+and+Victorian+Medievalism

Medievalism, which is also known as Neo-Medievalism, is a term that refers to a social phenomenon in which there is an influx in interest about the medieval times, history, and especially the period’s value system. The Victorian interest in the times of King Arthur began around 1838 and lasted until around the First World War (A Companion to Victoria Poetry 246-247). It was especially prominent in the Victorian Era when “a reified language of medievalism was current and visible in politics, literature, art, architecture, theology, love-making, and popular entertainments” (A Companion to Victorian Poetry 246-247).



 John William Waterhouses' The Lady of Shalott 1888 (wikimedia commons)

An important figure in Victorian medievalism was Alfred Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate of England. His work displays significant devotion to this theme and topic. He stated that “the greatest of all poetic subjects” is the Arthurian legend (Zanzucchi). For Tennyson, as well as for many other Victorian poets, the Medieval times with their epic journeys, were not simply escapist and irrelevant (Zanzucchi). Rather, they could be utilized to connect with the reader and even to establish a contemporary social commentary. Tennyson’s son Hallam elaborated that his father wished to combat "the cynical indifference, the intellectual selfishness, the sloth of will, [and] the utilitarian materialism of a transition age" (Eggers).

Lord Alfred Tennyson, taken between 1870-1879 (wikimedia commons)

 Tennyson discovered the medieval motif’s usefulness early on in his career. In fact, in one of his first collections, // Poems // (1832), Tennyson included “The Lady of Shalott” (Zanzucchi). This tale of a woman cursed to stay in a tower, weaving only what she sees out of a mirror, forbidden to look out at the real world, was based on an Italian novelette called La Dona di Scalotta (Alexander 117-123). The novelette focuses less on a woman cursed and more on the unrequited love of Lancelot and on the woman's last voyage down the river to Camelot. In Tennyson’s reworking, he uses the medieval setting to comment on how art and artists are shaped by the world as they see it, just as the Lady of Shalott sees Camelot through the mirror. The poem also implicity comments on women’s changing roles in society (Zanzucchi). Many poets followed Tennyson in utilizing the medieval setting to contrast Victorian values and societal rules to those of a simpler time.

In the same collection, Tennyson also makes brief reference to the Arthurian tradition in a stanza from “The Palace of Art,” another of his most famous works (Zanzucchi). Tennyson’s ties to Medievalism were just beginning: he wrote many other poems which took the vision of the Medieval quests and tales, and gave them new life. “Sir Launcelot and Queen Guinevere”, “Sir Galahad”, and “Morte d’Arthur” all offer new approaches to medieval romances (Zanzucchi).

Significant among these is “Morte d’ Arthur”. This poem was important on a personal level to Tennyson since it (as well as "In Memoriam A.H.H.") honored his closest friend (also named Arthur) who had recently died (Alexander 117-123). “Morte d’Arthur” also has profound literary significance in its use of the Arthurian legend to impart a profound message about change and it’s inevitability. The message would not have been so beautifully and significantly conveyed without the contrast that the Medieval and the Victorian parts of the poem provides.

Around the 1850’s, Tennyson began circling around the idea of returning to Arthurian topics, and especially about undertaking an epic cycle. In 1859, he published his first four books under the title //Idylls// //of the King//: “Enid”, “Vivien” “Elaine” and “Guinevere” (Zanzucchi). The books were so popular that “Forty thousand copies of the first edition were issued. Ten thousand copies sold within 6 weeks” (A Companion to Victorian Poetry 246-247). The popularity is possibly explained by the convergence of a popular author and popular subject matter in a cultural project that benefited from the public’s engagement with both” (A Companion to Victorian Poetry 246-247). Unlike his previous work with the Arthurian legend, which focused more on true and false love (as with “Sir Launcelot and Guinevere”), //Idylls// offers great insight into the rise and fall of a society. It can be taken as an expansive allegory about the culture of the Victorian era (Zanzucchi). Tennyson continued his epic, and it continued to resonate with his Victorian audience, as he published another volume containing: “The Holy Grail”, “The Coming of Arthur", “Pellas and Ettarre”, and “The Passing of Arthur”. He then added even more in "The Last Tournament", "Gareth and Lynette", and "Other Poems", "To the Queen", "Balin and Balan," and "Geraint and Enid" (Zanzucchi).

Tennyson influence inspired many other Victorian poets to use the motif of medievalism, including Robert Browning, Matthew Arnold, and the Pre-Raphaelite poets D.G. and Christina Rossetti, William Morris, and A.C. Swinburne (A Companion to Victorian Poetry 246-247). Tennyson’s influence spans far beyond the Victorian period, as it continues to transform the way the Arthurian legends are approached by authors and by average people today.

-- A. B./Engl335/Whittier College/Fall2012

Works Cited:

Alexander, Micheal. //Medievalism: The Middle Ages in Modern England//. Yale University Press, 2007. 117-123. Print.

Chapman, Alison, and Cronin, Ciaron, and Cronin, Richard, and Harrison, Antony, eds. //A Companion to Victorian Poetry//. Wiley-Blackwell, 2007. 246-247. Print.

Eggers, J. Philip. "King Arthur's Leareate: A Study of Tennyson's Idylls of the King." New York University Press, 1970. Print.

Zanzucchi, Anne. "Alfred Lord Tennyson." The Camelot Project at University of Rochester. University of Rochester. Web. 19 Nov 2012.

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