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A review by christinecc
Idylls of the King by Alfred Tennyson
3.0
Truth be told, I... did not love this. I'm sorry. I tried, I really did. The poetry was alright, clearly Tennyson knew what he was doing, but it is very hard to enjoy a work for its form when it makes little to no effort to hide the fact that it blatantly hates women. And I know there are some people who love this book in spite of Tennyson's misogyny, and that is fine! I just wasn't able to do so myself.
The problem is that after reading "The Once and Future King," you can't go back. Heck, even Malory ruins you for life. White and Malory write the King Arthur ensemble cast with nuance and understanding. Tennyson decided that his time would be best spent ragging on all of the female characters and blaming the men's faults on them. Malory's version of the Tale of Sir Gareth read like 90s "i hate you i love you" romance in the best way, whereas Tennyson's reminded me of "Taming of the Shrew" done straight and crudely. My god. Why did Tennyson hate women so much? Did women kill his parents or something?
I still recommend this for (a) poetic value and (b) the influence Tennyson had on Arthuriana. I can't deny that "Idylls of the King" is a touchstone in the line of King Arthur retellings, but personally, I felt relieved when it ended. Also I may or may not be bitter at the utter lack of development of Gawain and the rest of the Orkney brothers. Tennyson, how could you?
The problem is that after reading "The Once and Future King," you can't go back. Heck, even Malory ruins you for life. White and Malory write the King Arthur ensemble cast with nuance and understanding. Tennyson decided that his time would be best spent ragging on all of the female characters and blaming the men's faults on them. Malory's version of the Tale of Sir Gareth read like 90s "i hate you i love you" romance in the best way, whereas Tennyson's reminded me of "Taming of the Shrew" done straight and crudely. My god. Why did Tennyson hate women so much? Did women kill his parents or something?
I still recommend this for (a) poetic value and (b) the influence Tennyson had on Arthuriana. I can't deny that "Idylls of the King" is a touchstone in the line of King Arthur retellings, but personally, I felt relieved when it ended. Also I may or may not be bitter at the utter lack of development of Gawain and the rest of the Orkney brothers. Tennyson, how could you?