Tennyson and Morris: Questions for Discussion and Further Research
Arthurian legend saw a huge resurgence in popularity during the 19th century. Poets and painters alike returned to source material like Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur in order to create new perspectives on King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. In some cases, the storylines stayed similar. However, many Victorian versions of Camelot took liberties with the source material, inserting new plot twists, character traits, and social issues into the tales.
As you consider the retellings within “The Lady of Shalott” and “The Defence of Guenevere,” make an effort to judge them within their contemporaneous (Victorian) cultural and historical context — rather than the medieval world and its standards. They are poems written by Victorians, for Victorians.
Discuss:
- Who is the central figure in each poem? How does she measure up to Victorian standards of womanhood and morality? Would Tennyson’s or Morris’s readers have thought her to be an ideal woman? Why or why not? Explain.
- Is the woman in each poem depicted sympathetically? (In other words, is the reader expected to sympathize or identify with her?) Do these poems reinforce or subvert Victorian standards of morality or behavior for women? Explain your answer, in detail.
- Compare the two versions of “The Lady of Shalott.” Whose perspective is emphasized at the end of each version? How does this shape the way the reader views the Lady and her actions?
Do further research:
- After writing “The Defence of Guenevere,” William Morris was caught in a painful love triangle of his own: His wife, Jane Morris, had a well-documented affair with Morris’s friend and colleague, the Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Research this unhappy chapter in William Morris’s biography. Did he stay true to the ideals he espoused in his defense of the famed, fictional adulterer?
