Merlin And Vivien Essay Research Paper Tennyson

Merlin And Vivien Essay, Research Paper

Tennyson s Merlin and Vivien

The Manipulative Evil

Known as one of Victorian England s finest poets, Lord Alfred Tennyson

epitomized the agony and despondency of the degradation of one s character.

His masterpiece, The Idylls of the King, explicates the grand scheme of

corruption of the Authurian age while simultaneously paralleling Tennyson s own

internal struggles. A most intriguing chapter of The Idylls, Merlin and Vivien

portrays the manipulative Vivien, identified as pure evil and hatred, as her

corruptive beauty leads to Merlin s self-destruction.

The Victorian era, from the coronation of Queen Victoria in 1837 until

her death in 1901, was an era of several unsettling social developments that

forced writers more than ever before to take positions on the immediate issues

animating the rest of society. Thus, although romantic forms of expression in

poetry and prose continued to dominate English literature throughout much of

the century, the attention of many writers was directed, sometimes

passionately, to such issues as the growth of English democracy, the

education of the masses, the progress of industrial enterprise and the

consequent rise of a materialistic philosophy, and the plight of the newly

industrialized worker. In addition, the unsettling of religious belief by new

advances in science, particularly the theory of evolution and the historical

study of the Bible, drew other writers away from the immemorial subjects of

literature into considerations of problems of faith and truth. Tennyson s writing

displays evidence of doubt and concern towards England s government, both

present and past. His distinctive style can be differentiated from many

Victorian poets by diction and syntax alone. Also, Tennyson can be identified

by his free-verse prose (Ricks, 89)

Tennyson s writing encompasses many poetic styles and includes some

of the finest idyllic poetry in the language. Growing up in Lincolnshire,

Somersby, Tennyson faced a troubled childhood plagued by insufficiency and

neglect. The severe physical and moral degradation of his father and brothers

left Tennyson a disgusted disposition with the world. These factors contributed

significantly to Tennyson s desolate attitude which was later displayed in his

works. Later in life, while attending college, Tennyson experienced a great

tragedy- the death of his best and beloved friend, Arthur Hallam. This travesty

produced in Tennyson profound spiritual depression, and he vowed to refrain

from issuing any more of his verse for a period of ten years. During these ten

years, he continued writing though without publishing his works. After his

depression, Tennyson returned to Authurian style and wrote his master piece,

The Idylls of the King, which attacked the corruption of Camelot (Ricks 92).

One of the most intriguing chapter of the Idylls is Merlin and Vivien, a

narrative poem with both allegorical and moral points (Reed 48).

Merlin and Vivien was written to demonstrate how comic expectations

are foiled by ironic actuality (Kincaid 177). Merlin and Vivien is said by many

to be one of the most ill-tasted chapters of The Idylls. Jerome Buckley

comments that Merlin s yielding to the seductive wiles of Vivien is… the

grossest example of the abject surrender of the intellect to the flesh (Hellstrom

117). This is a very representative opinion of Merlin and Vivien. Although

the literal interpretation of the poem suggests it is a narrative concerning the

inevitable doom of Camelot and the degradation of Authur, it centralizes on

Vivien and her manipulative ways. Until now, The Idylls has focused on the

effects of gossip, but Merlin and Vivien, the slanderer herself, now become the

central characters (Hain 148). In Merlin and Vivien, Tennyson describes how

the failure of the mind to make its first step in the progress of salvation, thereby

endangers the salvation of the soul itself (Reed 58).

She [Vivien] is about the most base and repulsive person ever set forth

in serious literature. Vivien causes complete destruction, misery, and agony

wherever she goes. Being the agent of death itself- born from death was I/

Among the dead and sown upon the wind (ll. 44-45), she malevolently

destroys hope and innocent love. Similarly, she is viewed as the cause of

Merlin s destruction (Kincaid 183). Love if love be perfect/ casts out fear./So

hate, if hate be perfect/ casts out fear (ll. 140-41) Thus she is described as the

element of pure hatred and deceit and can be paralleled to Delilah and Eve

(Hellstrom 117). Some critics, however, find it inexcusable of Tennyson to

portray a character with no dignity of any kind (Marshall, 140). Many believe,

though, that the effect of Vivien s character is meant to show the character of

a thoroughly evil woman in contrast to that of a good

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