Tennysons Merlin and Vivien Essay -- Lord Alfred Tennyson Papers

Tennysons Merlin and Vivienknow as one of puritanical Englands finest poets, Lord Alfred Tennysonepitomized the agony and despondency of the debasement of ones character. His masterpiece, The Idylls of the King, explicates the grand scheme ofcorruption of the Authurian age while simultaneously paralleling Tennysons sustaininternal struggles. A most intriguing chapter of The Idylls, Merlin and Vivienportrays the manipulative Vivien, identify as pure evil and hatred, as hercorruptive beauty leads to Merlins self-destruction.The Victorian period, from the coronation of Queen Victoria in 1837 untilher death in 1901, was an era of several unsettling social developments thatforced writers more than ever before to distinguish positions on the immediate issuesanimating the rest of society. Thus, although romantic forms of expression inpoetry and prose continued to dominate English literature throughout some(prenominal) ofthe century, the attention of many writers was directed, sometim espassionately, to such issues as the growth of English democracy, theeducation of the masses, the progress of industrial enterprise and theconsequent rise of a materialistic philosophy, and the plight of the newlyindustrialized worker. In addition, the unsettling of religious belief by newadvances in science, particularly the theory of evolution and the historicalstudy of the Bible, drew other writers away from the immemorial subjects ofliterature into considerations of problems of creed and truth. Tennysons writingdisplays evidence of doubt and concern towards Englands government, bothpresent and past. His characteristic style can be differentiated from manyVictorian poets by diction and syntax alone. Also, Tennyson can b... ...harmony. His poem Merlin and Vivien of The Idylls of the King displaysMerlins self-chosen dip in exchange for the temptations of Vivien, themanipulative evil. For Merlin, overtalked and overworn,/ Had yielded, told herall the charm, and slept. (ll .963-964)BibliographyWorks CitedCuller, Dwight. The Poerty of Tennyson. London Yale UP, 1997. 238-239.Hain, Donald. Tennysons Language. Toronto Toronto UP, 1991. 144-148. Hellstrom, Ward. On the Poems of Tennyson. Gainsville University of FloridaPress, 1972. 117-118.Kincaid, James. The Major Poems of Tennyson The Comic and Ironic Patterns.London Yale UP, 1975. 177-182.Marshall, George. A Tennyson Handbook. New York Twayne Publishers, 1963.140-141.Reed, John. cognizance and Design in Tennysons Idylls of the King. AthensOhio UP, 1969. 48-58.