ENG 327

April 9, 2010

King, Queen, and In-Between: Gender Roles in Tennyson's Idylls

            Alfred Lord Tennyson's work Idylls of the King added a new facet to the legend of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table. Previous Arthurian writers such as Geoffrey of Monmouth and Sir Thomas Malory wrote about the adventures of the Round Table from more historical and biographical perspectives, respectively. Tennyson's writing steered away from the epic battle scenes of his predecessors and instead focused on the relationships between characters. In particular, Tennyson provides a deeper level of insight and adds dimension to the love triangle between King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, and Lancelot, over which previous authors glossed with minimal mention. Tennyson wrote during the Victorian era of England, during which great importance was placed on rigid gender roles. Men and women living during this time faced increased pressure to fit into these predetermined molds. Tennyson presents an interesting set of gender dichotomies in Idylls, manifested in the characters of Arthur and Guinevere. Though the reader might assume that Tennyson's royal couple, given the milieu, would naturally fall into their designated Victorian gender roles, closer reading and analysis reveals that each character is carefully nuanced independently of these roles. While the overarching themes of Victorian gender roles are present, these themes do not assume control over the characters of Arthur and Guinevere.

            In order to recognize the themes of gender which surround Arthur and Guinevere in Idylls of the King, it is first necessary to understand the views of Victorian England pertaining to

gender roles. Increased gender distinction coincided with the rise of industrialization during

the Victorian era. Industrialization created a separation between the public sphere, which contained work and labor, and the private sphere, which contained the home and family life. According to Karl Ittmann in his study Work, Gender and Family in Victorian England, "The idea of the home as a manufactory represents the antithesis of Victorian ideals that pictured the home as a separate sphere removed from the marketplace . . . The rise of industry and the spread of urban life transformed the home and family life" (141). This separation between spheres led to further discernment between male and female roles. Ittmann writes, "The belief in the separateness of the home and market denied the reality of the shift in working-class family life, while offering a solution to the disruption of family. This solution called on men and women to embrace domesticity and a specific set of gender roles and moral precepts to guide the family" (141). Society placed different responsibilities and restrictions on men and women as specified by the public and private spheres. To behave in ways outside of these guidelines would result in becoming socially ostracized.

            Male gender roles called for men to exist predominantly in the public sphere. Victorian men were expected to enter "the public world of business and politics, where their rationality, aggressiveness and intellectual power allowed them to succeed" (Ittmann 142). The series of assertive characteristics listed by Ittmann are a small sampling of masculine traits that men were expected to uphold. James Eli Adams delves further into aspects of masculinity in Victorian England in his book Dandies and Desert Saints. Adams states that there exists "a

contradiction within Victorian patriarchy, by which the same gender system that underwrote male dominance also called into question the 'manliness' of intellectual labor" (1). Men faced

the difficult task of balancing the contradictory elements of their gender role. From the start, men were taught that their sex was ranked higher than that of women. In the patriarchal society, the husband/father figure was always the head of the family and made the majority of, if not all, important decisions. The work that men performed in the public sphere mostly depended on their quality of intellect. Specifically, logic and rationality were key traits needed for problem solving in the working world. Contrarily, because using intellect does not necessitate any sort of physical strength, it was often regarded as slightly feminine. Adams asserts that a number of authors during the Victorian era, Tennyson included, wrote poetry and other works which "came to resemble models of feminine activity and authority, particularly the 'influence' assigned to the domestic woman' (1). Tennyson's career, therefore, placed him at risk for violating Victorian gender roles.

            According to some critics, Tennyson's Arthur is a debatably feminine version of the king. Elliot L. Gilbert's article "The Female King" argues in favor of this point and acknowledges the strong feminine influence of the idylls. Gilbert claims that Tennyson "calls attention to a major theme in the poem as well as to one of the central problems of Victorian society: the growing assertion of female authority" (865). Fittingly, the reigning royal couple in Tennyson's day also pushed the gender role limits. In the marriage between Prince Albert and Victoria, "Victoria is the true holder and wielder of power, the repository of enormous inherited authority, while Albert possesses what influence and significance he does almost solely through his marriage" (865). Tennyson's own life and career were also affected by gender role uncertainty. Tennyson was always "sensitive to his own ambiguous social status as a male poet in the Romantic

tradition, associated with the suspiciously feminized qualities of imaginative inwardness, emotive openness, [and] isolation from the aggressive 'entrepreneurial manhood' valorized by bourgeois ideals" (Machann 205). Tennyson's ambiguity manifests itself in his version of the characters of Arthur and Guinevere.

            The issue of inheritance is another point of argument for the more feminine Arthur. According to Gilbert, "Arthur's legitimacy [as king] is shown to derive from two sources: an inner strength, of which his successful military adventures are symbols, and the depths of nature, themselves metaphors for the young king's potent inwardness" (869). Strength is indicative of masculinity while nature is usually associated with femininity. Arthur needs both in order to become king. Arthur's reception of the sword Excalibur, which symbolizes his power as ruler of Camelot, is from the Lady of the Lake--a woman. The Lady of the Lake brings Excalibur from the depths of the lake, which "symbolizes access to one's own interior energy" (Gilbert 869). Thus, "Arthur's kingly mission is ultimately self-authorized; and in particular, it is authorized by that part of himself which, associated with creative, ahistorical nature, is most distinctly female" (869). Arthur's means for gaining authority come from feminine influences, and his advancement to king would not have been possible without the help of feminine powers. Arthur continues this strand of influence when he expects Guinevere to serve as a pawn in implementing his power.

            Women in Victorian society faced the similar responsibility of fostering men and their goals. While their husbands ventured into the world to work, women "remained at home in order to cultivate their moral and nurturing characters, which they used to guide their children

and husbands" (Ittmann 142). Women, therefore, were responsible for maintaining the virtues and moral standards of the time. They were expected to stay in the private sphere of the home and set an example for their families. Undoubtedly, the expectation for women to be spotless and exemplify a life of purity, otherwise known as acting the part of the "angel in the house," was an unfair burden to bear. Guinevere, as Arthur's wife, is expected to fill this role as "wives, through their innate moral superiority and freedom from the contamination of the world, have the power to ennoble their husbands, ameliorating the corrosive effects of male insensitivity and male aggression" (Machann 213). However, critics "have praised Tennyson's portraits of women like . . . Guinevere for [her] psychological complexity" (Platizkky 427). Guinevere is still able to maintain control over certain aspects of her life through her rejection of Arthur's role for her. The character of Guinevere "reflect[s] Tennyson's long-standing interest in a wide range of female representation rather than in a totalizing or morally prescriptive one" (427). Women arguably faced greater pressure to uphold their morality than their male counterparts. Society prescribed that "[a]n honorable or honest man was one who provided, kept his word, and told the truth. An honorable or honest woman meant one thing--a sexually pure one" (Frost 46). While many different factors contribute to whether or not a man is considered virtuous, a woman's virtue revolved solely around her chastity.

            Another Victorian element which is reiterated in the Idylls is that of the importance of spoken word and promises between men: "Correct masculine behavior consisted of several things; one of the most important was that a man should keep his word. If he made a promise, particularly to someone deemed inferior, he must fulfill it" (Frost 40). Arthur expresses this

idea in "The Coming of Arthur" when he states to Leodogran, "Man's word is God in man" (Tennyson 24). A knight's honor and reputation were simultaneously dependent on if he could make good on his promises. As Arthur explains it, a man's promise is also his connection to God and spirituality. The importance of promises was not just a figment of Tennyson's writing; the idea was evident in his reality as well. A "breach-of-promise . . . struck at the very heart of manliness" (Frost 40). In other words, a man's masculinity was as good as his word. If he was unable to keep a promise, then he was also unable to fulfill the expectations of manhood. Men must especially keep their word to those ranked lower than them. In the case of the Round Table, this emphasizes the knights' duty to help the damsels and others unable to protect themselves.

            Victorian gender roles affect how the male characters in the Idylls view the female characters. According to the article "Listening to Guinevere" by Stephen Ahern, Tennyson originally printed the first from his collection of idylls with the title Enid and Nimue: The True and the False (88). Ahern states that "Tennyson's early choice of title indicates much about the treatment of identity and gender in his poem cycle as a whole, for throughout the Idylls a model of femininity is elaborated in the terms of truth and falsity. Consistently, a woman's essential character is defined according to her degree of loyalty to a male counterpart" (88). Ahern's claim is certainly the case in Arthur and Guinevere's relationship, at least according to the king. Arthur strongly and genuinely believes that a union with Guinevere will enforce his power over the kingdom. He thinks to himself, " . . . for saving I be join'd / To her that is the fairest under heaven, / I seem as nothing in the mighty world, / And cannot will my will, nor

work my work / Wholly, nor make myself in mine own realm / Victor and lord" (Tennsyon 23). Arthur is unsure in his ability to reign solely but blindly believes that a marriage to Guinevere is the key to his success. Arthur continues, "But were I join'd with her, / Then might we live together as one life, / And reigning with one will in everything / Have power on this dark land to lighten it, / And power on this dead world to make it live" (23). Arthur's thought process clearly shows that he views Guinevere as an essential counterpart for him. Guinevere, as a woman, should also accordingly serve as a moral compass for Arthur and the kingdom of Camelot. Arthur describes that only with Guinevere can there be light and life in the dark and dead kingdom. Guinevere's presence is the determining factor that then allows these things to take place.

            Guinevere's importance in Arthur's story is evident from the opening lines of "The Coming of Arthur." The idyll opens with a description of Guinevere: "Leodogran, the King of Cameliard, / Had one fair daughter, and none other child; / And she was fairest of all flesh on earth, / Guinevere, and in her his one delight" (Tennyson 21). Guinevere's life is closely wound with Arthur's from the beginning to the completion of his reign. It is interesting to note that even at first appearance in the story, Guinevere is introduced in conjunction with a male. In this first case, the male is her father Leodogran. Even at her introduction, Guinevere is not portrayed as her own person but exists alongside and in relationship to a male character. Arthur arrives because Leodogran has called for his assistance. Leodogran's kingdom of Cameliard is in danger of being overrun by the wilderness: " . . . the land of Cameliard was waste, / Thick with wet woods, and many a beast therein, / And none or few to scare or chase the beast" (21). Arthur comes to Cameliard to protect the kingdom and, by default, Guinevere as well. Upon first sight, Arthur is immediately taken by Guinevere's beauty. Ahern states that the "interior monologue [Arthur] delivers when first captivated by Guinevere's beauty exemplifies the kind of Victorian rhetoric that proffers refuge in woman as the palliative to a life spent tossed about by the storms of fortune" (92). Though Guinevere does not recognize or take particular notice of Arthur, he, " . . . looking downward as he past, / Felt the light of her eyes into his life / Smite on the sudden . . ." (22). The imagery of light symbolizes the hope that Arthur places in Guinevere's abilities as his future queen. The Victorians believed it to be the woman's job to serve as the moral guide for her husband and family. Camelot and the Round Table serve as a metaphor for this family, and Arthur places his faith in Guinevere to act as an example of purity for the entire kingdom.

            Tennyson's Idylls follow the Victorian model of patriarchy; as far as control in the family, important decisions are made solely by the man. A "heterosexual model based on patriarchy frames the Idylls" (Shires 401). When Arthur decides he wants to wed Guinevere, he does not propose directly to her. Rather, he asks Leodogran for permission after he has proved himself on the battlefield, stating, "If I in aught have served thee well, / Give me thy daughter Guinevere to wife" (Tennyson 24). Guinevere is not discussed as a person with feelings and opinions. Her father and future husband discuss her as casually as if she were an item for bargain. Leodgran's character gains some redemption when he is hesitant to promise his daughter until he is certain of Arthur's identity and merit. However, his concern for the upstanding status of Guinevere's suitor does not change that he is in complete control over her

future spouse. Guinevere rebels against her lack of power in the marriage later when she begins an affair with Lancelot. Like Arthur, the people of Camelot see Guinevere as a symbol of hope. During the wedding, "[t]he Sun of May descended on their King, / They gazed on all earth's beauty in their Queen . . ." (33). Guinevere is personified as the earth, the embodiment of "the fecund grandeur of nature" (Ahern 94). Guinevere is seen to be "the otherness of nature, of emotional intensity and irrational potency" (95). The purpose of her marriage to Arthur, as viewed by Camelot and in conjunction with the king as the sun, is to guide and foster a moral kingdom. As a dutiful wife, she must aid in the fulfillment of all of Arthur's intentions.

            Guinevere blatantly rejects the gender role in which Arthur places her. Arthur possesses lofty goals for the direction of Camelot and "invests responsibility for his success in the image of ideal womanhood he projects onto his wife" (Ahern 94-95). Guinevere manifests her contempt of this forced gender role through her contempt of Arthur. Guinevere reveals her true and negative feelings for Arthur in Tennyson's idyll "Lancelot and Elaine" during a conversation with Lancelot. Lancelot questions Guinevere about her love for him, asking, " . . . would yourself, / Now weary of my service and devoir, / Henceforth be truer to your faultless lord?" (Tennyson 171). Lancelot acknowledges Arthur's perfection and purity as a character. However, the Queen sneeringly replies: "Arthur, my lord, Arthur, the faultless King, / That passionate perfection, my good lord -- / But who can gaze upon the Sun in heaven?" (171). Arthur is once again symbolized as the powerful and glorious sun. In this instance though, Guinevere uses the image in an adverse manner. From Guinevere's point of view, Arthur is too perfect in his purity. In likening Arthur to the sun, Guinevere asserts that trying to be with

Arthur is nearly impossible because his flawlessness, as with the sun's brightness, is too hard to endure. Guinevere does not feel that she is married to a real man, but rather must serve as an equal to the most admired man in all of England. The pressures of this position rest heavily on Guinevere, and she finds comfort in her affair with the more passionate and relatable Lancelot. The descriptions of Arthur's stainless and pure character seem to make him more similar to the angel in the house paradigm, as opposed to Guinevere.

            Guinevere cannot accept the role that Arthur places on her because her goals and ideals are separate from his own. According to Ahern, "The problem with Guinevere is that she does not want to 'reign with one will in everything' because that 'one will' is Arthur's, not hers" (97). Guinevere is not content with serving as a puppet for Arthur's lofty goals. Unfortunately, her feminine gender role leaves her little control over this. Guinevere does, however, hold "no qualms about asserting her agency in the one arena in which she as a woman of noble stature can exert control--the arena of love" (Ahern 97). This, then, brings Lancelot into the picture. Guinevere is able to use her power in this relationship, unlike the helplessness she feels in her marriage with Arthur. Guinevere even holds the fact that Arthur is oblivious to her affair against him: "He never spake word of reproach to me, / He never had a glimpse of mine untruth, / He cares not for me" (Tennyson 171). Guinevere assumes that Arthur is not truly in love with her, but rather, he is in love with how she can benefit him and the possibility that her position as queen of Camelot represents. Arthur does not love Guinevere as a person; instead, he is enamored with the role she will play in furthering his ideals for Camelot as a kingdom.

            Guinevere's romantic relationship with Lancelot is a means for her to escape her duties as Arthur's queen and wife. She "rejects an arid life as paragon of her husband's moral order for the sensual bond she shares with Lancelot" (Ahern 97). Lancelot is very much a passionate character, especially when contrasted with idyllic and spotless Arthur. Guinevere admits her attraction to Lancelot's flawed but emotional character when she states of Arthur, "He is all fault who hath no fault at all: / For who loves me must have a touch of earth; / The low sun makes the colour . . ." (Tennyson 171). Guinevere finds Arthur's flawlessness to be his biggest flaw of all. A perfect character is not interesting; there is no room for growth or development. Guinevere cannot force herself to love Arthur for this reason. The imagery of the sun reappears when Guinevere states that the most color comes when it is low, presumably at sunset. Interestingly, sun is not capitalized in this context, implying that the queen is referring to her paramour Lancelot. When signifying Arthur, the word sun is in fact capitalized. This subtle differentiation is indicative, once again, of the separate statuses of Arthur and Lancelot. Status, however, is of little importance for Guinevere, as her emotions are free of the social restraints of her day.

            Guinevere's relationship with Lancelot serves as a type of emotional solace; when she is around him, she is able to drop the pretenses that she must keep with Arthur. Lancelot does not hold the same high, unrealistic expectations of her. As Ahern writes, "Although Lancelot treats the queen with perhaps too much of the idolatry prescribed by the courtly love code, he does seem to accept her for what she is: a sexual being with a strongly individualist identity" (97). Lancelot does not expect Guinevere to behave in any particular way. He loves her out of passion rather than function, as Guinevere believes is Arthur's motive. Ironically, Arthur is so intent on his mission of implementing authority and order that he barely notices Guinevere and Lancelot's affair. His vision of purpose for Camelot blinds him from seeing the cracks within his marriage.

            The extent of Guinevere's duality between her relationships with Arthur and Lancelot is revealed when she believes Lancelot to have betrayed her with the maiden Elaine. Arthur blithely mentions to Guinevere, ". . . for goodly hopes are mine / That Lancelot is no more a lonely heart. / He wore, against his wont, upon his helm / A sleeve of scarlet, broider'd with great pearls, / Some gentle maid's gift" (Tennyson 183). Guinevere is shocked and hurt by the news: ". . . she said, / 'Thy hopes are mine,' and saying that, she choked, / And sharply turn'd about to hide her face . . ." (184). When Guinevere runs to the privacy of her own room, she allows herself to show her raw emotions; she clenches her fingers and screams, unafraid of showing her passionate nature in her solitude. After her weeping, Guinevere "rose again, / And moved about her palace, proud and pale" (184). The queen's episode in her own chamber is indicative of how she feels about Lancelot. With him, she is able to show her passionate side without fear of disappointing his expectations of her, for he has no expectations. Conversely, when Guinevere is in Arthur's presence she must maintain a façade which constricts her actual feelings. Arthur is never allowed insight into the queen's privy thoughts.

            Arthur and Guinevere are not able to be fully honest with each other until the idyll "Guinevere," yet this encounter is especially poignant; Guinevere realizes that her notions of Arthur may be as misconceived as his toward her. For the duration of their relationship, Guinevere has viewed Arthur in the same light as "where first she saw the King / Ride toward her from the city, sigh'd to find / Her journey done, glanced at him, thought him cold, / High, self-contain'd, and passionless . . ." (Tennyson 279). Her perception of Arthur has remained the same for the entirety of their marriage, and she responded by seeking love elsewhere. Arthur's perspective is finally given as he states, "Thou hast not made my life so sweet to me, / That I the King should greatly care to live; / For thou hast spoilt the purpose of my life" (281). Arthur's vision of Camelot revolved around Guinevere, and in his eyes, her infidelity served as the catalyst for the kingdom's demise. Gilbert writes that this idyll "focus[es] on the polar extremes of feminine purity and carnality" and, in particular, asserts that Tennyson maintained an "emphasis on the corrosiveness of female sexuality" (864). Interestingly, this final meeting between husband and wife is one of the few extended scenes that Arthur and Guinevere share in the Idylls.

            Arthur's expectations of Guinevere closely align with Victorian gender roles of femininity. The Victorian woman was expected to serve as a model for her husband and family to follow. Her presence swayed and molded the personalities of those around her. Arthur summarizes this sentiment exactly when he states to Guinevere: ". . . for indeed I knew / Of no more subtle master under heaven / Than is the maiden passion for a maid . . ." (Tennyson 281). Arthur admits that he was heavily influenced by his attraction to Guinevere. He did not consider her personality or characteristics before choosing her as a wife, but expected that she would automatically fit into his expectations of her. This assumption inevitably led to their marital problems. Arthur lists to Guinevere what he believes are the duties of women: ". . . Not only to keep down the base in man, / But teach high thought, and amiable words / And

courtliness, and the desire of fame, / And love of truth, and all that makes a man" (281). Arthur's statement, particularly the latter portion, implies that everything a man can be is determined by his female counterpart. A woman's role for a man's success is integral in Arthur's mind. Thus, Arthur believes that his plans fail because of Guinevere's refusal to silently comply.

            The fall of Camelot is placed primarily on Guinevere in Tennyson's version of the legend. Unlike Malory's version, where multiple characters were partially to blame, Guinevere is the solely culpable character in the Idylls. Arthur "wants his queen to act as a kind of private-sphere buttress to his public self, as the nurturing anima to his agonistic animus" (Ahern 97). Because Guinevere cannot do this for Arthur, the fall of Camelot is her responsibility. Guinevere, however, "consistently denies responsibility for this failure as she struggles against her society's censure. As a result, she becomes the most balanced and fully human figure in the Idylls" (97). Guinevere becomes an interesting character for exactly the same reason that she does not love Arthur. Her faults and flaws weave together to make a character that is relatable and real.

            Tennyson's interest in the influence of gender roles also appeared in his earlier work The Princess, and the development of his opinions is evident in the Idylls. His "protracted examination . . . of the formation (and deformation) of a masculine identity gradually led him to question the one-sided portraits of the "good mother" on which he had for so long relied" (Knoepflmacher 345). This prompted Tennyson to turn "the childless Guinevere into a defective maternal figure whose sexual nature proves ruinous . . ." (346). The culmination of

Guinevere's failure to be a perfect, Victorian model of femininity is explored by Tennyson as a new model of woman.

            The Victorian era during which Tennyson wrote promoted "the ideal of a woman as ennobling influence" and the time "saw a revival of interest in the culture of chivalry" (Ahern 90). Tennyson took the legendary tale of King Arthur and his court and transformed it into a story about a man and woman who are burdened by the roles of their society. Much like the men and women of the Victorian age, Arthur and Guinevere had prescribed duties which they were expected to execute. A refusal to cooperate resulted in the devastating destruction of their entire community. Tennyson's Idylls are reflective of the gender issues he saw present in his own society. By immortalizing Arthur and Guinevere's struggle within their own gender roles, Tennyson makes an interesting commentary that is applicable to his own society and continuously transcends the relationships that remain between men and women.

Works Cited

Adams, James Eli. Dandies and Desert Saints: Styles of Victorian Manhood. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1995.

Ahem, Stephen. "Listening to Guinevere: Female Agency and the Politics of Chivarly in Tennyson's 'Idylls.'" Studies in Philology 101 (2004): 88-112. JSTOR. Web. 22 March 2010.

Frost, Ginger S. Promises Broken: Courtship, Class, and Gender in Victorian England. Charlottesville: The University Press of Virginia, 1995.

Gilbert, Elliot L. "The Female King: Tennyson's Arthurian Apocalypse." PMLA 98 (1983): 863-878. JSTOR. Web. 22 March 2010.

Ittmann, Karl. Work, Gender and Family in Victorian England. Washington Square, NY: New York University Press, 1995.

Knoepflmacher, U. C. "Idling in the Gardens of the Queen: Tennyson's Boys, Princes, and Kings." Victorian Poetry 30 (1992): 343-364. JSTOR. Web. 22 March 2010.

Machann, Clinton. "Tennyson's King Arthur and the Violence of Manliness." Victorian Poetry 38 (2000): 199-226. JSTOR. Web. 22 March 2010.

Platizky, Roger. "Tennyson's 'Angel in the House': Candy-Coated or Opiate-Laced?" Victorian Poetry 31 (1993): 427-433. JSTOR. Web. 22 March 2010.

Shires, Linda M. "Patriarchy, Dead Men, and Tennyson's 'Idylls of the King.'" Victorian Poetry 30 (1992): 401-419. JSTOR. Web. 22 March 2010.

Tennyson, Alfred Lord. Idylls of the King. London: Penguin Group, 2004.