Excerpt

Excerpt from The Princess, by Baron Alfred Tennyson Tennyson

    And me that morning Walter showed the house,<br />

Greek, set with busts: from vases in the hall
Flowers of all heavens, and lovelier than their names,
Grew side by side; and on the pavement lay
Carved stones of the Abbey-ruin in the park,
Huge Ammonites, and the first bones of Time;
And on the tables every clime and age
Jumbled together; celts and calumets,
Claymore and snowshoe, toys in lava, fans
Of sandal, amber, ancient rosaries,
Laborious orient ivory sphere in sphere,
The cursed Malayan crease, and battle-clubs
From the isles of palm: and higher on the walls,
Betwixt the monstrous horns of elk and deer,
His own forefathers' arms and armour hung.

    And 'this' he said 'was Hugh's at Agincourt;<br />

And that was old Sir Ralph's at Ascalon:
A good knight he! we keep a chronicle
With all about him'--which he brought, and I
Dived in a hoard of tales that dealt with knights,
Half-legend, half-historic, counts and kings
Who laid about them at their wills and died;
And mixt with these, a lady, one that armed
Her own fair head, and sallying through the gate,
Had beat her foes with slaughter from her walls.

    'O miracle of women,' said the book,<br />

'O noble heart who, being strait-besieged
By this wild king to force her to his wish,
Nor bent, nor broke, nor shunned a soldier's death,
But now when all was lost or seemed as lost--
Her stature more than mortal in the burst
Of sunrise, her arm lifted, eyes on fire--
Brake with a blast of trumpets from the gate,
And, falling on them like a thunderbolt,
She trampled some beneath her horses' heels,
And some were whelmed with missiles of the wall,
And some were pushed with lances from the rock,
And part were drowned within the whirling brook:
O miracle of noble womanhood!'

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Explanation

Detailed Explanation of the Excerpt from The Princess by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Context of The Princess

The Princess (1847) is a long narrative poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, written in the form of a medieval-style romance with a feminist twist. The poem explores themes of gender roles, education, chivalry, and the conflict between tradition and progress. The story revolves around Princess Ida, who founds a women’s university to challenge patriarchal norms, and Prince Florimel, who disguises himself as a woman to infiltrate the college. The excerpt provided describes a scene where Walter (a male character) shows the narrator a grand house filled with historical and cultural artifacts, leading into a tale of a warrior woman from a chronicle.

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Analysis of the Excerpt

1. The House as a Microcosm of History and Power

The opening lines describe a grand, eclectic house that serves as a museum of human history, conquest, and art. The imagery is rich with symbolism of time, empire, and masculinity:

• "Greek, set with busts" → Classical antiquity, intellectual and artistic legacy.
• "Flowers of all heavens, and lovelier than their names" → Beauty and exoticism, suggesting a colonial collection of global flora.
• "Carved stones of the Abbey-ruin in the park, / Huge Ammonites, and the first bones of Time" → Fossils and ruins symbolize deep history, decay, and the passage of time.
• "Every clime and age / Jumbled together" → The house is a chaotic archive of human civilization, blending war, religion, and art:
  • Weapons (claymore, battle-clubs, snowshoe) → Conquest, violence, and exploration.
  • Religious artifacts (rosaries, "cursed Malayan crease") → Spirituality and superstition.
  • Luxury items (fans of sandal, amber, ivory spheres) → Wealth and craftsmanship.
  • "His own forefathers' arms and armour hung" → Patriarchal lineage, chivalry, and hereditary power.

The house represents male-dominated history—war, inheritance, and the accumulation of knowledge and artifacts. The disorganized display ("jumbled together") suggests that history is fragmented, contradictory, and often violent.

2. The Chronicle: Warrior Women in a Man’s World

Walter then shares a chronicle—a medieval-style record of knights and kings—but within it is a rare story of a female warrior. This interruption in the male-dominated narrative is significant:

• "Half-legend, half-historic" → The tale blurs myth and reality, suggesting that women’s heroism is often erased or mythologized.
• The woman arms herself and leads a defense against a besieging king, refusing to submit to his will.
• "O miracle of women" → The narrator’s exclamation frames her as an exception, reinforcing the idea that female bravery is unusual in a patriarchal world.

3. The Battle Scene: Female Agency and Violent Resistance

The description of the woman’s battle is epic and almost supernatural:

• "Her stature more than mortal in the burst of sunrise" → She is divine, larger than life, associated with light and power.
• "Arm lifted, eyes on fire" → Fury and determination, defying feminine passivity.
• "Brake with a blast of trumpets from the gate" → She takes the offensive, reversing the siege.
• Violent imagery:
  • "Trampled some beneath her horses' heels" → Brutal dominance.
  • "Whelmed with missiles of the wall" → Defensive warfare.
  • "Pushed with lances from the rock" → Precision and force.
  • "Drowned within the whirling brook" → Nature itself aids her destruction.

The language is heroic and mythic, elevating her to the level of male warriors in epics (like Achilles or Arthur). Yet, the phrase "O miracle of noble womanhood!" underscores that her actions are seen as extraordinary because she is a woman—implying that such bravery is not expected of her gender.

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Themes in the Excerpt

1. Gender and Power

   • The house represents male-dominated history (war, inheritance, conquest).
   • The warrior woman disrupts this narrative, but she is still framed as an exception ("miracle").
   • Tennyson, while praising her, still reinforces the idea that women’s heroism is rare and remarkable—not the norm.

2. History as a Male Construct

   • The jumbled artifacts suggest history is controlled and curated by men.
   • The chronicle’s focus on knights and kings (with one woman) reflects how women are often sidelined in historical records.

3. Violence and Heroism

   • The woman’s victory is as bloody as any male warrior’s, challenging the idea that women are passive or non-violent.
   • Yet, her violence is defensive—she fights to protect her home and autonomy, not for conquest.

4. Myth vs. Reality

   • The tale is "half-legend", suggesting that women’s achievements are often dismissed as myth rather than historical fact.

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Literary Devices

1. Imagery & Symbolism

   • Fossils, ruins, weapons → Symbolize time, decay, and violence.
   • Sunrise, fire, thunderbolt → The woman is associated with light, power, and divine force.

2. Juxtaposition

   • The ordered male lineage (arms and armor of forefathers) vs. the chaotic, global artifacts (jumbled together).
   • The male knights’ tales vs. the single female warrior’s story.

3. Epic & Heroic Diction

   • "Brake with a blast of trumpets", "falling on them like a thunderbolt" → Mimics Homeric or medieval battle poetry, elevating the woman to epic hero status.

4. Irony

   • The woman is called a "miracle", implying that female bravery is unnatural—yet her actions mirror those of celebrated male warriors.

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Significance in The Princess and Victorian Society

• Tennyson’s poem was written during the Victorian era, when women’s rights were a growing debate (e.g., suffrage, education).
• The warrior woman prefigures Princess Ida, who challenges male authority by creating a women’s university.
• The excerpt critiques how history erases women, yet it also romanticizes female resistance as something exceptional rather than normal.
• The violence of the woman’s act may reflect Tennyson’s ambivalence—admiring female strength but also seeing it as disruptive to traditional gender roles.

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Conclusion: A Feminist Reading

The excerpt simultaneously celebrates and contains female power:

• It praise a woman who fights like a man, but frames her as a rare "miracle".
• The male narrator (Walter) controls the telling of her story, reinforcing that history is still filtered through male perspectives.
• The house full of male relics contrasts with the single female warrior, highlighting how women’s stories are often isolated within male-dominated narratives.

Tennyson, while progressive for his time, still struggles with the idea of female agency—his warrior woman is heroic but exceptional, not part of a broader movement. This tension reflects Victorian anxieties about women’s changing roles in society.

Would you like a deeper dive into any particular aspect, such as the historical context of The Princess or comparisons to other feminist works of the era?