Greate Expectation
Tennyson as a representative of the Victorian Period
The Victorian era is well-known for its enrichment of knowledge, expansion of empire and growth of economy. The age had a throbbing spirit, spirit of activity. In his famous poem “Ulysses” Tennyson reflects this indomitable spirit of the people of his society. In it we notice that Ulysses has spent twenty years of his life in battles and adventure. He has seen and learnt many things, yet he is not satisfied. His thirst for knowledge is unquenchable. He comments,
“How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
“To rust unfurnished, not to shine in use !”
His Victorian spirit is fully reflected when he says that even in old age his ambition is
“To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”
The Victorian age is also marked with a note of pessimism and frustration. People of the age felt exhausted with their never ending race against time and longed for a life of settled order, stability and peace. Tennyson reflects this trend of the period in his poem “The Lotos-Eaters”. Here we see that after reaching the lotos island and eating lotos fruits, the mariners are fascinated by the calm and quiet atmosphere of the island. Although still they have a long way to go to reach their homeland, they wish to travel or struggle no more and plan to live in this island in a state of permanent rest, peace and tranquility. They express their disgust at the extremely toilsome life which they have so far lived.
“Hateful is the dark-blue sky,
Vaulted o’er the dark-blue sea,
Death is the end of life; ah, why
Should life all labour be?”
The Victorian age was an age of great problems and conflicts which could not be easily resolved. But as they wanted to live in peace, they approached these problems obliquely and from the gentler angle of compromise in order to avoid any grave danger to their sense of equanimity. And Tennyson, being the representative poet of his times, embodies this spirit of compromise in his poetry more than any
The Victorian era is well-known for its enrichment of knowledge, expansion of empire and growth of economy. The age had a throbbing spirit, spirit of activity. In his famous poem “Ulysses” Tennyson reflects this indomitable spirit of the people of his society. In it we notice that Ulysses has spent twenty years of his life in battles and adventure. He has seen and learnt many things, yet he is not satisfied. His thirst for knowledge is unquenchable. He comments,
“How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
“To rust unfurnished, not to shine in use !”
His Victorian spirit is fully reflected when he says that even in old age his ambition is
“To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”
The Victorian age is also marked with a note of pessimism and frustration. People of the age felt exhausted with their never ending race against time and longed for a life of settled order, stability and peace. Tennyson reflects this trend of the period in his poem “The Lotos-Eaters”. Here we see that after reaching the lotos island and eating lotos fruits, the mariners are fascinated by the calm and quiet atmosphere of the island. Although still they have a long way to go to reach their homeland, they wish to travel or struggle no more and plan to live in this island in a state of permanent rest, peace and tranquility. They express their disgust at the extremely toilsome life which they have so far lived.
“Hateful is the dark-blue sky,
Vaulted o’er the dark-blue sea,
Death is the end of life; ah, why
Should life all labour be?”
The Victorian age was an age of great problems and conflicts which could not be easily resolved. But as they wanted to live in peace, they approached these problems obliquely and from the gentler angle of compromise in order to avoid any grave danger to their sense of equanimity. And Tennyson, being the representative poet of his times, embodies this spirit of compromise in his poetry more than any