Alfred Lord Tennyson

Q: Discuss Tennyson as a representative of Victorian Age

Answer: Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892), English poet, one of the great representative figures of the Victorian Age. His writing encompasses many poetic styles and includes some of the finest idyllic poetry in the language. For nearly half of a century, he was not only a man and a poet; he was also a voice, the voice of a whole people of England. He is, perhaps, the most representative literary man of the Victorian Age. The Victorian Age was an age of action. It glorified the English life throughout the world by the message of the philosophy of action. The desire of unknown and unseen has led the Victorian young men to go to every nock and corner of the world in search of new knowledge and experience. The current poem “Ulysses” was first published in 1842. It was written soon after the death of Arthur Hallam who had been a very good friend of Tennyson. The poet was deeply shocked at his friend’s death. But he soon felt “about the need for going forward and braving the struggle of life”. The poem resulted from this feeling. However, Tennyson in this poem changed his passion into the Victorian passion for knowledge, for adventure, for exploration of the yet unexplored areas. The poem is based on Greek mythology. Ulysses, whom the Greek called Odysseus, was the king of Ithaca in Greece. He fought against the Trojans and defeated them. After the Trojan War he returned home as victorious warrior and soon he realized he became old, his wife Penelope became old too. His son, Telemachus grew up as a young man and who had been ruling the kingdom with great interest. But Ulysses lost attraction for it. His wife, son and kingdom appear dull to him. Life without adventures appears equal to self killing, it is clear in his voice- “How dull it is to pause, to make an end, to rust unfurnished, not to shine in use!” So he decided to out for a new adventure. He is a hero with insatiable thirst for knowledge even in his old age; he does not want to pass his time in idleness. He likes to spend time in action and thus his heroic spirit yearned for more knowledge and adventures. Ulysses has been presented here as an epitome of Victorian spirit of life. His heart always longs for new knowledge and experience. He has setup a tradition for travelling always with a hungry heart. He says- “I cannot rest from travel; I will drink life to the lees”.  Tennyson uses this spirit of Ulysses to represent the Victorian philosophy of life. The Victorian period is well known for enrichment of knowledge, expansion of empire and growth of economy. The age had a throbbing spirit. The mythical Ulysses in this poem adequately reflects this spirit. Victorian people, like Ulysses, believed in action, not in only living. They infact thrived in action-in geographical and philosophical explorations. In this poem Tennyson successfully captured the spirit of his period using the mythical hero as his mouthpiece