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Man's View of Women in Tennyson's Poetry
Man is incomplete without woman, wrote a Church of God minister recently, citing And the Lord God said, It is not good that man should be alone.
I will make a companion who will help him. He added that Eve was created for the express purpose of being the perfect complement to Adam, as his helper, and was a vital part of God's overall purpose to uplift mankind as a whole. (Hornsby, p. 1).
Although contemporary, this statement mirrors Victorian outlook, and particularly Alfred Tennyson's views. As Tennyson wrote in The Princess, verse 7,
either sex alone
Is half itself, and in true marriage lies
Nor equal, nor unequal: each fulfils
Defect in each, and always thought in thought,
Purpose in purpose, will in will, they grow,
The single pure and perfect animal,
The two-celled heart beating, with one full stroke,
Life.
What then, according to Tennyson, should man be looking for in a woman, and why? And what does this say about Victorian sensibilities and Tennyson himself? To find answers, we shall examine influences upon Tennyson: the historical context, Tennyson's personal history, and the norms of Victorian society.
Historical Context
During the late 1700s and early 1800s, British citizens viewed with a baleful eye the decadent antics of their king, George IV, and his brothers. Indulging in gluttony and womanizing, the royalty were caricatured in the press, humiliating their countrymen and prompting the poet Shelley to scorn them as the dregs of their dull race.
(National Portrait Gallery, The Regency)
Even those that Tennyson idolized were found morally wanting. In the early 1800s, the poet Lord Byron was condemned by his contemporaries for his indebtedness, bisexuality, incestuous relationship with his half sister, and other extramarital affairs, one with the wife of a member of the House of Lords (The Literature Network, Lord George Gordon Byron).
About the same time, the poet Percy Shelley came under judgment even as he criticized royalty. Shelley's Romantic poetry, such as Asia from Prometheus Bound and Emilia of Epipsychidion idealized women as goddesses of spiritual love, but was read by some as justifying illicit affairs, since Shelley had a tendency to form intense relationships with women he admired. Shelley, a self-proclaimed atheist, eloped with a 16-year-old girl, and his young wife later drowned herself after the marriage fell apart and he took up with someone else. Allegations of other affairs also haunted Shelley. (Joseph, pp. 20 and 21) and (The Literature Network, Percy Bysshe Shelley).
As part of the growing British citizenry who were repulsed by the perceived sexual excesses of the aristocracy, Tennyson would have seen a warning in the lives of Byron and Shelley, even as he admired the craftsmanship of their poetry. Tennyson elevates the spiritual and pure above the sensual and passionate in his writings, or attributes to the latter undesirable traits.
This is illustrated in Tennyson's poems Isabel and Kate, which are a study in contrasts. Isabel, whom Tennyson calls Revered, has the qualities of chastity, pure vestal thoughts, prudence, gentleness, etc. In contrast, Kate, who cannot find a fitting mate, has rapid laughters wild and shrill, and a spirit ever strung/Like a new bow, and bright and sharp/As edges of a scimitar.
Tennyson's Personal History
Tennyson's father George suffered fits of severe depression and epilepsy, made all the worse because as first-born son, he was in line to inherit the family fortune, but instead it was given to his younger brother. George was forced into the ministry, which did not pay well and which was at odds with imaginative and impulsive temperament (Richardson, p. 17) and (Thwaite, p. 52). Alcoholic, and given to beating his children and wife, George Tennyson exhibited a need for self-control which his son Alfred internalized. (Joseph, p15)
Providing a welcome counterbalance to the father's negative model, Alfred's mother Elizabeth was a center of emotional stability. Indeed, his mother was the inspiration for Tennyson's poem Isabel. (Gordon, p. 73.) In Isabel, we see how Tennyson painted the perfect wife. In contrast to Tennyson's father, who was unpredictable and temperamental, Isabel is steady and temperate, with Eyes not dropt-down nor over-bright; she is without heat and has a still spirit, with perpetual calm and a fixed mood. She is also the upward guiding force for her husband:
The mellow'd reflex of a winter moon; A clear stream flowing with a muddy one, Till in its onward current it absorbs With swifter movement and in purer light The vexed eddies of its wayward brother;
Again in contrast from Kate, Kate has an angry air and unbridled tongue, which, in Tennyson's childhood, would not have brought harmony to the household; therefore, women with those qualities must be avoided. Also, the ideal Victorian woman should be man's complement, not his duplicate. In Kate, the subject is a woman-soldier, having manly traits, and the conclusion is that none are bold enough for Kate/She cannot find a fitting mate.
Elizabeth Tennyson further influenced her son through her gentle evangelical creed. The following, which she wrote at eighty to her son when Idylls of the King was published, gives an idea of her faith:
O dearest Ally, how fervently have I prayed for years that our merciful Redeemer would intercede with our Heavenly Father, to grant thee His Holy Spirit to urge thee to employ the talents He has given thee, by taking every opportunity of endeavouring to impress the precepts of His Holy Word on the minds of others. My beloved son, words are too feeble to express the joy of my heart in perceiving that thou art earnestly endeavouring to do so. Dearest Ally, there is nothing for a moment to be compared to the favour of God: I need not ask thee if thou art of the same opinion. Thy writings are a convincive proof that thou art. My beloved child, when our Heavenly Father summons us hence, may we meet, and all that are dear to us, in that blessed state where sorrow is unknown, never more to be separated (Tennyson, p. 452).
Tennyson received several religious doctrines from his mother, which remained and grew with him: that the ultimate reality is not material but spiritual; that the human soul is immortal; and that God, the central principle of the universe, is Love. (Joseph, p. 16).
Naturally, then, for Tennyson, sensual love is nothing next to spiritual love, which is Godlike and pure. This is why Kate, who loves the bold and fierce is desirable only for a moment, while Isabel, winning her way with extreme gentleness is crowned the queen of marriage, a most perfect wife.
As a young man, Tennyson pined for marriage. A young man with whom Tennyson had been socializing recalled that Tennyson
railed against the whole system of society, and said he was miserable,that he could no longer bear to be knocked about the world, and that he must marry and find love and peace or die Said that he could not stand the chattering and conceit of clever men, or the worry of society, or the meanness of tuft-hunters, or the trouble of poverty, or the labour of a place, or the preying of the heart on itself. I told him he wanted occupation, a wife, and orthodox principles, which he took well (Richardson, p. 43).
Tennyson would later express his appreciation for married life in poems expressing domestic bliss, such as in the climax of Enoch Arden (Joseph, p. 5).
Norms of Victorian Society
Apart from ethereal ideals about love, morality, and spiritual growth, in practical terms it was impossible for a Victorian man to have what was considered a normal home life without someone to bear children and/or at least keep house. Considering the lack of modern conveniences such as hot running water, washing machines, and vacuum cleaners, it was a dauntless job keeping the house clean, clothes washed and mended, and family fed, to say nothing of watching over the children and nursing the sick.
This was considered women's work, bestowed upon her by God as part of the marriage covenant. A letter from English novelist Elizabeth Gaskill to an unknown friend wishing to become an author, dated Sept. 25, 1862, illustrates:
My dear Madam,
I can see thatyou are rather overwhelmed with all you have to do the birth of two childrenmay have made you unfit to cope with your many household duties. Tryto economize strength as much as possible in all your household laborsI hope (for instance) that you soap & soak your dirty clothes well for some hours before beginning to wash; and that you understand the comfort of preparing a dinner & putting in on to cook slowly, early in the morning, as well as having always some kind of sewing ready arranged to your hand, so that you can take it up at any odd minute and do a few stitchesthere are thousand little bits of work, which no sempstress ever does so well as the wife or mother... try hard to arrange your work well. That is a regular piece of headwork and taxes a woman's powers of organization, but the reward is immediate and great. The exercise of a talent or power is always a great pleasure; but one should weigh well whether this pleasure may not be obtained by the sacrifice of some duty. When I had little children I do not think I could have written stories, because I should have become too much absorbed in my fictitious people to attend to my real ones.
let us try what will - How much have you in your own power? How much must you submit to because it is God's appointment? You have it in your own power to arrange your day's work to the very best of your ability, making the various household arts into real studiesYour want of strength may be remedied possibly by care & attention, if not, you must submit to what is God's ordinance (Hellerstein, p. 336-338.)
Tennyson's own wife Emily certainly took care of him. English poet Philip Larkin wrote this poem about the couple, which was accurate though mocking (Thwaite, p. xv):
Mrs. Alfred Tennyson
Answered
begging letters
admiring letters
insulting letters
enquiring letters
business letters
and publishers' letters
She also
looked after his clothes
saw to his food and drink
entertained visitors
protected him from gossip and criticism
And finally
(apart from running the household)
brought up and educated the children
While all this was going on
Mister Alfred Tennyson sat like a baby
Doing his poetic business
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Conclusion
Tennyson yearned for and cherished the married life, and felt incomplete without it. His wariness of sensuality and exaltation of spirituality, as well as his desire to avoid domestic chores, caused him to envision the ideal woman as one who has Christian traits rather than sexual ones, and who gladly takes care of her family and home.
In Tennyson's view, the marriage of man and woman and the blending of their complementary qualities creates a sanctuary on earth, in which each may safely work out his and her own salvation.
Bibliography
Gordon, William Clark (1906) The Social Ideals of Alfred Tennyson As Related to His Time, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Hellerstein, E.O, Hume, L.P, and Offen, K.M. (1981) Victorian Women: A Documentary Account of Women's Lives in Nineteenth-Century England, France, and the United States, Stanford University Press, Stanford.
Hornsby, Don (2004) 'Analyzing Our Marriages -- Part 2: The Role of a Wife', Church of God News, http://www.church-of-god.org/cogn/cogn04/cn0408/marrge2.htm
Joseph, Gerhard (1969) Tennysonian Love: The Strange Diagonal, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.
The Literature Network (2005) Lord George Gordon Byron, The Literature Network, http://www.online-literature.com/byron/.
The Literature Network (2005) Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Literature Network, http://www.online-literature.com/shelley_percy/ ) .
National Portrait Gallery (2005) The Regency, Room 17: Royalty, Celebrity & Scandal, http://www.npg.org.uk/live/regroyal.asp, London.
Richardson, Joanna (1962) The Pre-Eminent Victorian: A Study of Tennyson, Alden Press, Oxford.
Tennyson, Lord Hallam (1897) Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir by His Son, Volume I, London.
Thwaite, Ann (1996) Emily Tennyson: The Poet's Wife, Faber and Faber Limited, London.
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