Alfred Tennyson, Study Questions

(adapted from guides by Al Drake and Florence Boos)

“Mariana”

1. What is Mariana's plight? On what Shakespearian situation is the poem based, and how would this allusion have shaped the Victorian audience's reading of the poem?

2. Which of the poem's features seem to derive from romanticism?

3. What is the effect of the stanza form? What is added by the use of a refrain?

4. Is there a progression in the poem's structure?

5. There are two voices in the poem. What are they and why are they used?

6. What are some of the poem's dominant images? What form of light appears in the poem? What role does the poplar play?

7. What is the relationship between Mariana's state of mind and the natural setting? Is it mimetic or disjunctive - i.e. out of sync with the external surroundings? Explain.

8. Why do you think this poem was admired?

"The Lady of Shalott"

1. From whose point of view is it told, and why is this significant? How would the poem have been altered if told from the Lady's own view?

2. What are some of the poem's striking images? What is added by its visual details?

3. What effect do the poem's rhyme scheme, metre, and presentation of imagery have on the themes it pursues? How do these elements help move the plot forward?

4. What seems to be the significance of her enclosure in the tower? her remoteness from daily life? the loom, weaving and ruptured web? the procession of old, young and lovers?

5. This poem employs metaphors of weaving, singing, and reflection (the "mirror" and "shadows") -- what significance do those metaphors have in establishing the poem's meaning?

6. What do you make of the detail that repears reaping early in the bearded barley cannot see but only hear her voice, and must whisper to each other to record its effect?

7. How is Launcelot presented? What imagery is adduced to render him attractive?

8. How does the poem's descriptive quality change when Sir Lancelot enters the scene? How is his appearance connected with what the Lady has called a "curse"? Why does the sight of Lancelot induce her to leave her loom and "look down to Camelot" (110)?

9. What seems to be her response to him? Is hers a spiritual or physical response, do you think? What do you think is the poem's attitude toward her "love"?

10. How do the Lady's death and the villagers' perceptions of her raise the issue of art's relation to life? What statement, if any, do you think the poem as a whole makes about that relation? Why, for example, must the Lady die "singing in her song" (152) -- why is it impossible that she should arrive safely at her destination?

11. What is added to the poem by its legendary and medieval setting? How would its effect have changed had it been set in contemporary (that is, Victorian) Britain?

12. How may the poem mirror the position of the Victorian woman, especially of the upper classes? If the poem to some degree represents constraints on women of the period, to what extent is it a fantasy, and to what extent a lament?

13. Some have interpreted the poem as an allegory of the poet's relationship with his own imagination, or artistic processes? Can you see any validity for this reading?

14. Is the poem a warning? A celebration of life? Is its message, if any, gendered, or may it apply to all?

15. Why do you think the Lady of Shalott became the subject of so many Victorian paintings? (Hunt, Grimshaw, Waterhouse)

16. How do you interpret this poem? What does it seem to represent?

"Ulysses"

1. What is the basic situation when the poem begins? At what point in his career does Ulysses (i.e. Odysseus, hero of Homer's Odyssey) find himself, and in what state of mind is he?

2. To what extent is Tennyson's Ulysses like Homer's Odysseus? How does he differ from the Greek hero in Homer's epic?

3. How indebted is Tennyson's construction of Ulysses to Dante's treatment of the epic hero in Canto 26 of Inferno? How does Dante cast Ulysses - what was the epic hero's sin? Is that sin something we need to consider in understanding Ulysses in Tennyson's poem?

4. What would have been significant about the choice of this protagonist? What are some ways Tennyson's Ulysses is different from his classical forerunner?

5. What is the poem's meter? Is it appropriate for its subject? What are other striking features of Tennyson's use of sounds and word placement?

6. Tennyson wrote this poem as a young man, after the death of his friend Arthur Hallam. Can you see possible autobiographical elements in its tone and subject?

7. Why might a young man in the Victorian period have assumed the poetic mask of an old one?

8. What is the stated purpose of Ulysses's voyage? Does this purpose have more pragmatic or allegorical resonance?

9. What is Ulysses's view of his home, family and occupation? Why do you think a segment of the poem is devoted to Telemachus's virtues? Does his father seem to respect these highly?

10. What is Ulysses' attitude towards his son Telemachus and towards the domestic realm that the young man will be left to tend? How does Ulysses understand his own people?

11. What is Ulysses's view of the nature of kingship? Does he have a high respect for the task of governing a portion of Greece?

12. At what point does Ulysses begin addressing his old crew members rather than addressing himself in thought? How does his internal commentary on his past experiences and current state of mind differ from the rhetoric he aims at the crew?

13. What are Ulysses's ideals for travel? Do they seem very concrete? (i. e., the remarks of an actual sailor and sea-captain?) What sights does he hope he and his men will see?

14. What may be important about the fact that the voyagers set off on their journey in twilight, as the moon is rising?

15. What are some rhetorical features of the conclusion, especially the last line? What are some final reflections prompted by the poem? Why do you think this poem has been highly admired?

16. How do you think we are intended to judge Ulysses and his voyage? In the author's view are he and his voyage altogether noble?

17. Which Victorian ideals or interests may they embody? Would you describe his proposed voyage as the embodiment of romantic aspiration, a love of exploration, or the Victorian work ethic?

18. How do you find Ulysses different from his other protagonists of his early poems? (e. g., does he experience a "fall" or change, as does the Lady in "The Lady of Shalott"; or experience the loss of a romantic partner, as does Mariana?)

19. Of all Tennyson's early poems, this is the one which over the years has been most often assigned in courses. Why do you think this may have been the case? Is this a good choice?

"The Charge of the Light Brigade"

1. How does the use of the word rhythm contribute to the message of the poem?

2. What is the function of this poem? What ideal of heroism does the poem set forth? Do you find it convincing? Why or why not?

"Crossing the Bar"

How does the treatment of death in Tennyson's farewell poem compare to his treatment of the same event in other poems? How does he want to go out of the world? With what hopes does he bid the world farewell?

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