Alex Brooks

Professor Marchbanks

English 21

16 April 2004

The Wailing of Women and the Muscle of Men

Alfred Lord Tennyson composed a number of poems dealing with the subject of love lost. In doing so, he often created stirring images which provoked intense feelings from readers.

People in real life who are abandoned by a lover will usually experience a natural period in which they feel nothing but loneliness and despair, and sometimes even a desire to die.

However, an abandoned lover in real life will usually find a way to cleanse himself or herself of negative sentiments and move on to other things, placing the loss of his or her lover in the past and viewing it as a learning experience. Humans possess a natural instinct of optimism and a tendency to strive for emotional independence. Tennyson wrote three poems which deal with the specific subject of love lost. One poem is narrated by a man, and the other two detail the experiences of distraught women. In comparing these poems one can see marked differences between the outlook of the man and his method of dealing with his situation and the outlooks and actions of the two women. In “Locksley Hall” (1842), the male narrator deals with his feelings in a sophisticated and mature manner and moves back toward happiness, while in “Mariana”

(1830) and “Oenone” (1833) the female narrators wallow in self-pity, wish for death, and repeat their despairing cries over and over. The male analyses his own psyche and moves on, flowing forward like a great, wide river, while the females sit like stagnant puddles collecting dead worms. Whether it is a reflection of sexist views or simply an inability to empathize with females, Tennyson’s male characters are much more confident and capable than his females. Brooks 2

Tennyson is much respected as a poet and is well-known for his moving emotional works, the foremost of which is “In Memoriam” (1850). However, critics have pointed out that his most touching work was often autobiographical, and that he lacked the ability to create such heartfelt emotion in fictional characters. The Cambridge History of English and American

Literature ( ) decrees that “It was no deepening insight into his subjects that guided

Tennyson’s efforts, for they were to him subjects and no more” (114). This lack of insight could account for the portrayal of women as clueless and helpless, as Tennyson wrote about them not with the intention of getting inside their heads but only with the intention of describing what he saw. And some scholars agree that that what he saw may not have been at all indicative of true human feeling. In fact, Robert Bernard Martin argued in his detailed biography of Tennyson that a physical defect prevented the poet from accurately perceiving emotions in people: “Tennyson’s acute myopia seemed emblematic of his usual perception of persons and emotions in unity rather than duality” (394). This point of view (or lack of one) is helpful in explaining the one- dimensional nature of Tennyson’s female characters. His women often seem as if they were created by someone with limited perception of emotion. Other critics have taken a more active stance in stating that Tennyson actually tried to create an image of weakness in association with females. One woman has decreed that his female narratives “represent the most devastating attempt to subsume the female voice in English literary history” (Peterson 14). In any case,

Tennyson’s female subjects’ lack of real feeling and power exposes itself frequently in his work.

The most telling distinction between male and female characters is that the males often make significant emotional and psychological progress, while the females simply collapse. Self- awareness and self-analyses are integral to any sort of progress in life. The real people or fictional characters who achieve happiness are usually the ones who ask themselves how they Brooks 3 feel, why, and what they can do to improve the situation. The male narrator in “Locksley Hall” takes this very approach to himself, questioning whether he should let go of his feelings for his cousin Amy, who continually hurts him. He wonders, “Am I mad that I should cherish that which bears but bitter fruit?” (ll. 65-66). This is a significant emotional step, as he questions the value of his relationship with his cousin. He realizes that he needs to stop allowing himself to be hurt. In stark contrast to the man’s self-analysis, the female subjects of “Mariana” and “Oenone” do not even begin to ask themselves questions or to hash out their feelings. Instead, they take the resigned approach of wishing for death. While this may be an appropriate feeling that needs to be expressed, the fact that it is unaccompanied by any sort of deeper thought gives these women an image of pathetic helplessness rather than self-motivation.

The difference between the mature psychological approach of the man and the childish approach of the two women is reflected in the progress made by the one versus the stagnancy of the others. At the beginning of “Locksley Hall,” the narrator says to his friends that he is sad and needs some time alone, but to rouse him with the bugle horn when he tells them to. Near the end of the poems, he alerts his comrades that he has come to terms with his grief and is ready to rejoin them. Neither Oenone nor Mariana makes any progress of this sort. In fact, it is particularly striking that each woman concludes her narrative with almost exactly the same statement with which she began it. Oenone begins and ends, talking to the valley around her as opposed to friends, by saying “Dear mother Ida, harken ere I die…” (ll. 24). The only progress made by Mariana is from the slight ambiguity of “My life is dreary, / He cometh not” (ll. 9-10) to the dark certainty of “I am very dreary, / He will not come” (ll. 81-82). There is a noticeable difference here, as the man moves from incredible grief back to a sociable mood while Oenone Brooks 4 makes no progress and Mariana moves only from stating that her man is not present to stating that he definitely will not come.

Another important issue concerning psychological and emotional progress is anger. If a character is betrayed by a lover and simply mourns the lover’s departure, that character will not be able to move forward and will simply dwell on the past. A character that experiences anger at a lover who betrayed him and her realizes that he or she has been wronged and is ready to follow the path of self-righteousness on to new experiences in life. The narrator of “Locksley Hall” exhibits his anger at his cousin Amy when he harshly criticizes her: “Puppet to a father’s threat, and servile to a shrewish tongue!” (ll. 41). This passage is significant in that it shows, once again, progress from sadness to rage. The fact that he can speak of Amy in this way indicates that he realizes she is not the ideal person for him, and that he is getting ready to move on.

Oenone and Mariana show no anger at their departed partners, and pine for them instead.

Mariana even goes as far as to ask herself if it was her fault that she lost Paris, on account of not being attractive enough. She then boosts her self esteem by saying that she saw a leopard that looked as if it was attracted to her (ll. 194-197). The contrast here, as in other aspects of the poems, is fairly sharp: the man looks ahead, confident and self-righteous, and blames his past troubles on the weakness and servility of his ex. The woman vainly questions her sex appeal, worrying that she is not pleasing to the opposite sex, and reproaches herself instead of reproaching her lover. Women are hereby portrayed not only as being not only weak but also shallow.

Many scholars have noted a trend in Alfred Lord Tennyson’s work of ideals consistent with those of the “Romantic male quest,” a progression of events in which men triumph over obstacles and clear emotional turmoil while women weep and mourn. As Angela Leighton Brooks 5 points out, Tennyson’s poems concerning Mariana seem to have a set plot structure: “the man aspires, but the woman mourns; he scales the heights, but she longs for home” (14). This structure certainly seems to have been demonstrated in the comparison of “Locksley Hall” to

“Mariana” and “Oenone.” The man is looking ahead to a bright future while the women dwell on the sadness of the past. The man’s attitude brings him success and friendship, while the women are depicted “in isolation from any human or natural community. Such isolation is the feminine consequence of the Romantic male quest” (Lipking 10). The idea of the male’s quest as a continuous process that leaves the female bereft in a desolate corner of society seems to be quite applicable to Tennyson’s work. In this instance, “Locksley Hall,” “Mariana,” and

“Oenone” all have companion poems involving the same characters at later points in time. The events, descriptions, and dialogue from these later poems continue the trends originally established, and fulfill the timeline of the Romantic male quest as it is described by Lipking.

The poem “Locksley Hall Sixty Years After” (1886) serves as a companion to “Locksley

Hall,” and provides the reader with a glimpse into the future of the man whose emotional journey was described in the earlier poem. In this case, he stands near Locksley Hall and speaks to his grandson, advising him about a love interest of his own. The narrator appears to have had a peaceful and successful life, and has found a new love, a woman named Edith. In addition to the happiness he has reaped from his life, he shows that he has gained wisdom. He speaks frequently of the stupidity of his youth, on one occasion saying, “Gone the fires of youth, the follies, furies, curses, passionate tears” (ll. 39). Evidently, the old man has broadened his mind and his spirit, and has, in the internal sense, grown up. During the process of growing, he was not at all hindered by dwelling on any of his lost loves of the past. He says without regret “All I loved are vanished voices, all my steps are on the dead” (ll. 252). This clearly indicates that he Brooks 6 has not pined for any women who left him, and has not felt any tugs on his sleeves. Incidentally, he also reveals that Amy, the cousin whose betrayal he mourned in the first poem, has since died.

This character is old, but wise. While he may have withered physically with age, his thoughts and emotions are perfectly intact, and he has continued to progress through a successful life of new loves, children, and grandchildren.

“The Death of Oenone” (1882), intuitively, carries on the story of Oenone that was introduced by the original poem bearing her name. As can be expected, Oenone has not recovered from the episode with Paris. When he comes to her, mortally wounded from the

Trojan War, she takes no pity on him and refuses to save him. This is an encouraging sign to the reader that Oenone may have stopped pining for Paris enough to be angry at him. However, she soon decides that she has made a mistake in not saving him and, as his body is being burned on the funeral pyre, she throws herself on the pyre to die along with him (Brooke 142). The symbolism here is stunning, as it implies that a woman cannot live without her man. Although

Tennyson obviously did not create this plot but simply retold an ancient myth, he could have chosen to change the myth, perhaps empowering Oenone or changing her actions in some subtle way. However, he chose to retell the myth without changing the plot, and portrayed Oenone as heartbroken, confused and impotent.

Oenone’s predicament shows that, unlike the man from “Locksley Hall,” she has made no progress and is still dependent upon Paris. Tennyson shows a similar trend involving the character Mariana in the poem “Mariana in the South” (1842). Mariana initially complained of the dreariness of her life that was brought on by her lover’s betrayal of her. In the later poem she has a new mournful line that she repeats at the end of every stanza: “to be all alone / to live forgotten, and love forlorn” (ll. 11-12). Although the words are different from those of the first Brooks 7 poem involving Mariana, the message is about the same: “I am sad, and I need my man to be happy.” Mariana has made no progress at all. She is still weeping for her lost love, and, as in

“Mariana,” makes no progress within the poem, ending it with the same phrase with which she began it. The characterization of Mariana in this case furthers the idea of female stagnancy.

These three companion poems portray their characters as embodiments of the Romantic male quest. The man from “Locksley Hall” has had a successful life of love and is now old and wise. Oenone, on the other hand, doesn’t even make it to old age, as she dies a death that is closely linked to her unreciprocated love for Paris. While Mariana grows old, she does not achieve any of the joyous successes of the man but instead is still mournful, still dwelling on the husband that left her. The dramatic contrast between the progress of the man and the stagnancy of the two women is thus illustrated in the long term as well as in the short term.

Along with the characterization of the women in “Mariana” and “Oenone” that portrays them as helpless, lazy, and pathetic, there are numerous passages from “Locksley Hall” that seem to directly degrade the female gender. Although this poem is by no means an autobiographical work, the statements made by the narrator are not refuted and the narrator is not judged as being misogynistic. Therefore the passages stand in the mind of the reader as statements made and lessons taught by the poem.

The first of these passages involves the narrator’s condemnation of his cousin’s choice of man: “As the husband is, the wife is: thou art mated with a clown, / And the grossness of his nature will have weight to drag you down” (ll. 47-48). While his jealousy is understandable, the implication that his cousin’s destiny is controlled not by her character but by her husband’s, that in marriage she is simply an appendage of him, is quite demeaning and is consistent with the lack of independence Tennyson gives to Mariana and Oenone. A later quote not only slights Brooks 8 women’s ability to control their destiny, but flatly states that their emotions are bland and impotent compared to those of men: “Woman is the lesser man, and all thy passions, match’d with mine, / Are as moonlight unto sunlight, and as water unto wine” (ll. 151-152). This idea perfectly matches the sense that neither Oenone nor Mariana can do anything constructive with her emotions, and merely sits and mourns pitifully, changing nothing around her. In the lines preceding these, the narrator has already established his idea of the mental and emotional inferiority of women. He says, “women’s pleasure, women’s pain-- / Nature made them blinder motions bounded in a shallower brain” (ll. 149-150). The “Nature made” part of this quote is perhaps the most significant, as it underscores the notion that women are biologically inferior to men. These passages all echo the ideals of the Romantic male quest that are often seen in

Tennyson’s work: women are naturally weak, dependent, and malleable creatures. Thus it is no wonder that the man strives for the stars while the two women choke on their tears.

There is an abundance of evidence which shows that Alfred Lord Tennyson consistently characterized his male characters as strong and powerful and his female characters as weak and callow. Numerous passages from his poetry openly degrade women. Mariana and Oenone have no complex inner monologues or other indicators of thought while the male narrator of

“Locksley Hall” has an inner monologue that comprises whole poems and demonstrates acute self-awareness. These three poems show different treatment of men and women, as the man makes tremendous psychological progress over the course of his poem and the two women end in the same mental place where they started. The three companion poems show the correlation over time of the idea of the Romantic male quest; the man overcomes the obstacles of losing love and finds happiness, whereas one woman dies still in grief and the other lives in perpetual Brooks 9 mourning. Overall, the abilities of Tennyson’s characters can be strictly divided along the lines of gender.

The characters being what they are, the question of why Tennyson portrayed them as such remains. He may have been trying to represent repressed women of his time in order to speak out on feminist issues, or he may have been simply perpetuating unfair stereotypes. The repetitive dialogue of “Mariana” and “Oenone” strongly suggests the latter. If Tennyson had been attempting to make the statement that women should have more rights or a more important place in society, it is likely that he would have given his female characters more intelligence, to suggest that they are smart, capable people who deserve better. Instead, his females simply drone on and on, repeating their statements of mourning and displaying no critical thinking. A reader who hears a female character repeating the same statement twelve times in a poem does not think “Wow, women are really underappreciated!” The reader probably thinks “Wow girl, your brain doesn’t move very quickly, does it?” If Tennyson had been attempting to show that society was repressive of women, he would have included some kind of harsh treatment or unfair societal convention in his poems, making it impossible for women to achieve equality even when they try. Instead of trying to move up and being unfairly repressed, Tennyson’s women never try, which gives the reader the impression that their fate is a consequence of their own actions.

Hence the reader arrives at the conclusion that Tennyson, perhaps because of his myopia or perhaps through general ignorance, did not think too highly of the mental capacity of women.

A poet can hardly be blamed for letting his own beliefs slip into his work, just as a reader can hardly be blamed for committing the biographical fallacy. In the end, there is no one to be blamed, only regret over the inaccurate portrayal of human characters. Brooks 10

Works Cited

Brooke, Stopford. Tennyson: His Art and Relation to Modern Life. New York: G.P Putnam &

Sons, 1909.

Cambridge History of English and American Literature, The (online). New York:

Barteleby.com, 2000.

Leighton, Angela. Sappho and the Tennysonian Lyric (online). Toronto: University of Toronto,

Department of English, 1998.

Lipking, Jennifer. Tennyson and the Romantic Male Quest (online). Toronto: University of

Toronto, Department of English, 1998.

Martin, Robert Bernard. Tennyson: The Unquiet Heart. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980.

Peterson, Jennifer. Tennyson’s Repressive Strains (online). Represenatative Poetry Criticism,

2001.

Representative Poetry (online). Toronto: University of Toronto, Department of English, 1998.