Truth: Clothed or Naked

“‘live the strength and die the lust!’”
("The Coming of Arthur," l.491)

Points for Reflection

"Dedication" (1862; Pince Albert had died 14 Dec. 1861)

1. does Tennyson’s formal dedication of these stories appear to honor a good man, or eulogize a saint?  Pay close attention to the language the poet employs in his description of the deceased husband of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert?
2. what array of attributes attributed to the King Arthur of Tennyson’s Idylls does the author assign to Prince Albert, the deceased prince consort of Queen Victoria (ll.7-41)?  Does this feel like airy hagiography, or the grounded commendation of a real person?
3. what effect does the death of a loved one have on our understanding of him, according to Tennyson (ll.14-16)?
4. in speaking directly to “woman’s-heart” (l.42), do you imagine Tennyson is addressing the queen, or his own imagination—here gendered female?  (The context should make the answer rather clear.)

"The Coming of Arthur" (1869, dated 1870; 1st poem of The Holy Grail and Other Poems)

1. does the proximate mention of Leodogran’s delight in his daughter and her beauty suggest that one caused the other (ll.1-4)?
2. does the story entire suggest that the beasts of line 11 concern four-legged animals, or humans behaving as beasts?
3. trace the author’s use of the words “but” and “or” throughout this tale.  To what purpose does Tennyson signal so many distinct options as those indicated by these coordinating conjunctions?
4. does Guinevere’s presence distract or empower Arthur?
5. why does Arthur, when assisting King Leodogran, fell not only the heathen and wild animals, but the forest itself (ll.58-62)?  Do we fault him for this?
6. Guinevere looks towards Arthur but does not recognize him among his knights, while he senses her gaze without looking towards her (ll.47-57).  Does this odd interchange prefigure their later relational dynamic in any important ways?
7. what complex of motivations spurs Arthur to pursue Guinevere (ll.74-93)?  Do they veer towards either the selfish or selfless?
8. what are “the Powers” (l.106) that intervene in Arthur’s battle with the various petty kings arrayed against him, and which side do they support?
9. when Lancelot and Arthur pledge “a deathless love” to one another, do they cement their bond with anything beyond words (ll.129-33)?
10. does either Bedivere’s or Bellicent’s account sound more valid than the other?  Do they rely on similar types of evidence in reaching their respective conclusions?
11. are the different accounts of Arthur’s origins reconcilable with one another?  Compare the accounts of two of the following three speakers: the knight Bedivere (ll.177-236), Arthur’s step/half-sister Bellicent (ll.325-57), Bleys the mentor of Merlin (ll.358-96).
12. why might it matter which account of Arthur’s origins is true? How might it affect the standard of behavior by which the reader measures his actions?
13. does Bellicent’s defense of Arthur’s right to the throne (ll.253-308) cast him as a ruler by right of divine appointment?
14. is Bellicent equally clear about Arthur’s prowess and his heritage?
15. as a child did Bellicent’s love for Arthur wax and wane, or remain steadfast (ll.344-57)?
16. what characteristics of the dream King Leodogran has might convince him to accept Arthur’s request to marry Ledogran’s daughter (ll.426-45)?
17. make something out of the interesting similarity between Arthur’s friendship vow with Lancelot (ll.130-33) and the marriage vow he completes with Guinevere (ll.466-69).
18. does the section entitled “The Coming of Arthur” encourage the reader to question the validity of Arthur’s rule?
19. why use the phrase “deathless love” to describe Arthur’s relationship with both Lancelot (l.131) and Guinevere (l.465)?
20. what might be the “secret word,” the “secret “thing” that God has conveyed to King Arthur (ll.488, 500)?

"Gareth & Lynette" (1872)

1. 1. is Gareth’s mother’s definition of manhood (ll.84-97) complementary with that of Gareth, or are the two mutually exclusive?
2. 2. do doubts about King Arthur’s actual origins slow down Gareth at any point in his adventure?
3. 3. the old seer describes Arthur as the only true thing in Camelot (ll.260-61), yet likens his power of his knights to “enchantments” (l.265).  Is Arthur more grounded in the material world than he is linked to the magical one of Merlin?
4. 4. do Arthur’s responses to those who come before his throne in “Gareth and Lynette” mark him as the Christ-like king that Gareth (l.116) and others take him to be?
5. does Gareth fail at any point in his attempt to prove himself worthy of the moral imperative to which Arthur holds all of his knights?
6. which spurs Gareth on to greater deeds, Lynette’s disdain or her praise?
7. does rumor prove puissant in this tale?
8. do either the nature of Gareth’s victory over the second defender (named the “Noonday Sun”) or the true identity of the dread knight “Death” lessen the spectacle of Gareth’s heroism in this tale?
9. Tennyson equivocates once again in this story’s final lines (ll.1386-94).  Which seems more likely within the context of Tennyson’s version of the tale, that Gareth marries Lynette or the woman (her sister) whom he has rescued, Lady Lyonors?

"The Marriage of Geraint" (1859, 1873)

1. 1. should we fault the haughtiness exhibited by Prince Geraint as he enters the town once ruled by Earl Yniol (ll.273-93), or is his class consciousness attributable to his social position more than his character?  Do we forgive the other signs of disdain that appear throughout the story?
2. of the various qualities which attract Geraint to Enid—including her voice, her physical beauty, and her “sweet and serviceable” actions (l.393)—which feature plays a more central, necessary narratological role in the tale “The Marriage of Geraint”?  What of “Geraint and Enid”?
3. closely analyze and then apply a symbolic interpretation to the dream/vision Enid has (ll.651-75).
4. for what two reasons does Geraint ask Enid to put aside the beautiful clothing given her by her mother, and to put on again her old garments (ll.685-822)?  Is his reasoning honorable?
5. Geraint thoroughly enjoys the beauty of Enid, and encourages her to wear a wide array of clothes to set off her beauty (ll.5-14). Is her appearance what initially enthralled Geraint?
6. Geraint's wielding of the appreciative, sexualized gaze is unmistakable (ll.393-400). Does this tale register any sexual attraction on Enid's part?
7. what is Geraint's original stratagem to keep Enid from catching the adulterous fever that has tainted Guinevere (ll.24-54).
8. what demands does Enid quietly put on Geraint, as concerns his masculinity (ll.55-109)?
9. does the little person in this tale signify anything other than malevolence (ll.186-214)? Can you recall such a similarly facile, ableist formula being used to describe dwarves in the medieval literature that inspired Tennyson's narrative poem?
10. does Geraint's temper (ll.273-93) seem unbecoming in an Arthurian hero? Does it betray weakness? Is it righteous anger, or petulance?
11. why does Geraint refuse to allow Enid to wear a nice dress when first entering Arthur's court (ll.609-818)?

"Geraint & Enid" (1859, 1873)

1. which does the text implicitly incline towards more, criticism of Geraint’s jealous distrust, or praise of Enid’s humility?  Towards which character does readers direct more of their concern?
2. given that Queen Guinevere’s marred reputation catalyzed Geraint’s distrust of Enid (Marriage, ll.19-32), what does the reader make of Guinevere’s restoring Enid to her former, appareled glory at the end of this sequence (Geraint, ll.946-47)?  Does our knowledge of the queen’s duplicity (Marriage, ll.157-59) undercut or ironize her actions, or does the text encourage us to join Geraint in assuming that “all was well” (l.951)?
3. Sarah Ellis, author of such socially conservative works as The Wives of England (1843) and The Women of England (1845), forwarded the traditional notion that women should “suffer and be still.”  Does Tennyson’s Enid yield to or rebel against this edict?
4. what implicit dissertation on beauty is provided by the two stories dealing with Geraint and Enid?
5. does the narrator’s intermittent description of Geraint’s thoughts (ll.101-15, etc.) help us sympathize with his perspective, or judge him the more harshly?
6. does Geraint’s ill treatment of Enid parallel Lynette’s disdainful responses to Gareth in “Gareth and Lynette,” or is there a fundamental difference between the two tales (besides the gender reversal)?
7. what spin on the Biblical parable of “The Good Samaritan” does Tennyson create in lines 509-35, and towards what implied target does Tennyson direct his commentary?
8. does the “huge Earl Doorm” treat the women of his court (l.595-97, 631-38) in a profoundly different manner than Enid does his wife?
9. is the “penance” Enid places on himself equal to the crime he has committed against his wife (ll.734-44)?
10. who is the more fit knight of the Round Table, in light of King Arthur’s prescription for true heroism (ll.887-918), the ashamed Geraint or the reformed Edyrn?
11. “The Marriage of Geraint” and “Geraint and Enid” were originally published as a single story entitled “Enid” (1859).  They were split into two tales in 1873.  Was this division a wise narratological decision on Tennyson’s part?
12. should either Edyrn or Geraint be considered a more ideal knight than Gareth?

The Accolade (1901)
Edmund Blair Leighton

Dr. Paul Marchbanks
pmarchba@calpoly.edu