Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Ulysses and The Lady of Shallott

Alfred, Lord Tennyson is the greatest poet of the Victorian Era. It was an age of astonishing progress in Britain. The global empire brought about by the combination of Industrial Revolution, the might of the British navy, and the commitment to human liberty and the rule of law brought an unexpected golden age upon the country.
But this blessing of power came with a burden. The British had never been a great power in Europe. There was no memory within its people of how to act with their new-found power and responsibility. A public-minded Stoicism akin to that in the Roman Empire, the famous 'stiff-upper lip', was one response, but from its own history, the appeal of the mythic King Arthur and Camelot was more appealing.
In his poetry, Tennyson seemed to intuit that the age of progress and dominion had come at the cost of something essential to its virtuous exercise, the stories that bound its people together. These two poems, one appealing to the figure of an aged Odysseus and the other to that same Camelot express an awareness that progress was threatening to leave virtue behind.
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[@johnhwang5153]

Isn't it great to have these wonderful lectures shared so freely?

[@LitProf]

Thanks John. Slowly gaining some traction.

[@idankatz8085]

Thank you! One of my favorite poems ever!

[@TajaVit]

Ulysses is one of my favourite poems! Even translated it into Belarusian a few years ago.

[@LitProf]

I can’t imagine it would be easy to translate. It very much depends on Tennyson’s marvellous poetic voice.

[@TajaVit]

@@LitProf it wasn't. But my own voice was very much akin to his at the time of translation (which is why I did it in the first place).

[@teejaymz742]

The Lady of Shalott always reminds me of the scene in Anne of Green Gables, where she acts out the poem and her boat starts to sink.

[@jakebalc]

Thank you for uploading these

[@LitProf]

Glad you like them!

[@sattarabus]

Thank you, professor, for a multimedia presentation. It could have been curtailed to 45 minutes by eliminating the longueurs of repetition and improvisation. Video in the video may potentially add to the value of the discourse, but it also detracts from the attention span of the speaker as well as the viewers.

[@LitProf]

For sure. I wanted to demonstrate how a literary text had had an effect on the visual arts and music

[@stevehays5029]

It would be considerate if you enable subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.

[@LitProf]

I thought that they were! Thanks for letting me know. I will look into it.

[@anwaressaheb4827]

@@LitProf Hello Dr Scott Thank you ver for your analysis of the two poems.Really great.Does that have a written lecture of yoyrs about thecabove poesms? Can we compare Tennyson with T.S.Eliot?Which poems can be compared?Thank you,Dr Scott

[@claudettedavis4113]

Wonderful clip from Skyfall

[@mauropainter]

Judi Dench is great but can she compare to Leo Mckern in Rumpole S2 E6??? Love the videos. I’m learning a lot!

[@edwardlouisbernays2469]

The Curse was upon the Lady, The Curse was spoken by a fairy. ' 'Tis the fairy, Lady of Shalott.' How and Why no one reveals that Fraizer's Golden Bough and Child's English & Scottish Ballads plainly identify the Fairy's Curses ' 'Tis the fairy, Lady of Shalott.'l were well known in those days. Do you people ever read SOURCE MATERIAL? I have 5 Volumes of E.J. Child's Ballads and The Golden Bough by Frazer, and many other lesser olde published studies and all SEE ~Beneath the moon, the reaper weary Listening whispers, ' ~'Tis the fairy,

[@LitProf]

Not sure how Fraser can be Tennyson’s source since Tennyson died long before Frazer published his work. Thanks for the feedback.