Tennyson's Art of Portrayal: Examining His Handling of Women Characters

Abstract

This paper explores Alfred Lord Tennyson’s nuanced approach to portraying women characters in his poetry, with a particular focus on The Lady of Shalott, Mariana, and Idylls of the King. Tennyson's representations reflect the ideological tensions of the Victorian era, 
oscillating between idealization and constraint. His female figures are often cast as passive, tragic, or morally emblematic, yet they possess a symbolic depth that complicates straightforward readings.