Tennyson
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Alfred Lord Tennyson, the author of The Princess, 1847, was born as the fourth of twelve children on August 6th, 1809, in Somersby, Lincolnshire to George and Elizabeth Tennyson. In 1827 he began his higher education at Trinity College, Cambridge; where he won university prizes for his poetry and became involved in an undergraduate club, The Apostles, which greatly influenced his life and later works. Tennyson died on October 6, 1892 at the age of 83 years after enjoying a delayed but satisfying and profitable literary career (Everett)
The Princess was the work that turned Tennysons struggling career around and laid the foundation for his continued success and ultimate acclaim as the Poet and Prophet of the Victorian era. The composition of The Princess was a lengthy process beginning in 1839 and culminating in its publication in 1847. Tennysons works, in general and The Princess, in particular are representative of the Victorian era and the societal quest for self-identification. During this time period there existed a strong desire to understand and in some cases, remake male/female relations. Many of Tennysons works deal with this Victorian issue – “The Womans Cause is Mans” is one example of a literary attempt to define a social issue. The Victorian era also highly prized the value of self-control, which was considered the defining quality of masculinity (Riede). Due to the influences of industrialization during this time period and the residual class distinctions of previous time periods, this work addresses the male/female issue as it relates to middle and upper class men and women and does not attempt to include the issues facing men and women of the working class, which were distinctly different.
“The Womans Cause is Mans” is an excerpt from the long narrative poem, The Princess. The story is set in a fairy-tale realm and deals with the effort to establish a womens college. Interestingly, the very first British institution of higher education for women, Queens College in London, was opened the year following the publication of The Princess. The storys heroine, Princess Ida, has sworn never to marry and has dedicated her life to the founding of a womens college. The Prince, on the other hand, is determined to win the Princess and to convince her that her efforts on behalf of feminists are futile. In the end – the Princess concedes, turns her college into a hospital and agrees to marry the Prince. The Womans Cause is Mans is the Princes concluding speech, in which he envisions a future where men and women are more alike and relations between them are idyllic. Portions of The Princess, written as a dramatic monologue, allow the reader to observe events as they unfold. In drama a line can be voiced in only one way, with only one tone; the printed dramatic monologue allows for numerous interpretations – it gives the character(s) the ability to present more than one mindset on a subject (Hair). Therefore, the dramatic monologue was the ideal vehicle to express the concerns related to the volatile subject of womens rights issues of the time. Queen Victoria, the matriarch of the Victorian era, was no supporter of womens rights issues. She symbolized Duty, Family and Propriety and those who held opinions that did not convey these foundational principles of Victorian times were denounced for their “mad, wicked folly”(pg 1785).
Known as the “saddest of all English poets”(T.S.