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This thesis, which is a close textual analysis of Tennyson's The Idylls of the King, attempts to explicate the poem in terms of Arthur's Vow. The Vow is seen as the thematic and structural centre of the poem. Accordingly, the thesis falls into two sections. The first is concerned with a discussion of the themes found in the Idylls and how they relate to the Vow; the second is concerned with the structural unity of the poem in terms of its imagery, mood and motifs. The thesis attempts to explain why in a world characterized by the eternal conflict between good and evil, between man and nature, it is necessary for the knights to obey Arthur's Vow. The knights and ladies are then discussed, in particular their failure to obey the Vow, and the consequences of their failure. Since the adultery between Lancelot and Guinevere is at the heart of the dissolution of the Round Table, and is never described explicitly, an attempt is made to interpret their relationship in terms of disobedience to the Vow. The thesis also examines the ways in which Tennyson gives unity to what appears to be a collection of independent poems. Unity, in particular in mood, is supplied by the poet's moralistic voice as well as by the use of lyrics. Imagistic and verbal motifs are traced through, the poem, and are shown to have a cumulative effect corresponding to the narrative climax. Finally, the use of nature imagery is shown to emphasize the struggle between man and nature as well as to sharpen the contrast between the civilization of Camelot and the ever-constant threat of anarchic nature, which threatens to erupt once the knights fail to obey the Vow. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

This thesis is a study of themes and genre in Tennyson's Idylls of the King. I have not attempted to present a survey of the body of critisicm on the cycle, nor have I attempted a comprehensive comparison of the poem with any of Tennyson's sources. The first chapter is based on A. Fowler's study of genres and I follow the implications of his work in my reading of the Idylls. Tennyson blends various generic strands in his cycle, in particular allegory, epic, dramatic monologue and the Alexandrian idyll, to create a complex psychological allegory of epic scope which both draws on traditional genres and extends them. I believe the Idylls should be read as a cycle and in the order in which Tennyson finally presented them; the ordering process is as much part of the creative process as the actual act of composition. I have adopted Priestley's sensible division of the twelve poems which he says "falls naturally into three groups of four, corresponding closely to the three acts of modern drama" (1960, p.252-254)" The second chapter begins the sequential examination of the first four "spring" and "summer" poems beginning with the symbolic The Coming of Arthur. This idyll begins Tennyson's Arthurian mythopoeia, creating a poetic kingdom of the mind. The "act" closes with the Geraint and Enid idylls, all four works in this section ending happily. The third chapter deals with the idylls which plot the corrupting and ever-widening influence of the adulterous relationship of Lancelot and Guinevere, one cause of the destruction of the institution of the Round Table. Other causes of the demise of Arthur's order are the pernicious influences of the evil Vivien and Modred and the meaningless and sterile spirituality that prompts the quest of The Holy Grail. The last four idylls chart the final collapse of Arthur's realm, the utter disillusionment of individual idealism - personified by Pelleas, an anachronistic spring figure who appears in Camelot's bleak and hostile winter - and the complete social decay which is demonstrated by the fiasco of The Last Tournament. The tragic denouement of the cycle, on both individual and social levels, is evident in Guinevere, in which Arthur's wretched and traitorous queen understands Arthur's vision, but too late to save Camelot from ruin. In the final framing idyll, The Passing of Arthur, Tennyson's myth is elevated to the level of universal significance, the Idylls of the King becoming "not the history of one man or one generation but of a whole cycle of generations" (Memoir, ii, p.127).

The 19th century's Victorian England revived interest in medieval traditions and myths, including King Arthur and the knights of the round table. British artist Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale painted a set of watercolor illustrations that were published in an edition of Idylls of the King, A collection of poems about the legend of King Arthur, written by Lord Alfred Tennyson. Focusing on a special edition from 1913, this essay aims to explore the intermedial relationship between word and image through a comparative study of Brickdale's illustrations and Tennyson's poem. With questions centering around the rise of book illustration, the relationship between the two mediums and how these aspects affect the viewers reception. The material for analysis includes five of Brickdale's illustrations from the "Elaine-idyll” of Tennyson's collection, as well as other artists interpretations andillustrations for comparison.

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This thesis explores representations of wild nature in two Arthurian texts – one British and one American – produced in an age characterised by rapid social transformation: Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s Idylls of the King (1859-1885) and Howard Pyle’s Story of King Arthur and His Knights (1903). By investigation of the textual descriptions of wilderness and the portrayals of characters living there, the study aims to investigate what attitudes towards unkempt nature are displayed in the two texts. While both narratives give evidence of a powerful nostalgia for a vanishing paradise, the yearning for Eden is expressed quite differently. Pyle’s text fuses the concepts of wilderness and paradise together by depicting the unkempt landscape as a place of splendour and spiritual enjoyment. Such a celebration of nature might well be seen a reaction against the rapid loss of wild spaces across America (and Britain) during the life-time of the author. In the Idylls, paradise is represented in the domesticated yet green landscape of the faraway fairy island of Avilion. Wilderness, on the other hand, is depicted as a harmful disease progressively spreading across the realm, arguably bringing about a moral degeneration among the human characters. In the end, however, it is not wilderness, but the corruption of the supposedly civilised characters that causes the collapse of Arthur’s empire. On closer inspection, the real danger thus seems to come from culture and material conditions rather than from nature.