Tennyson's The Princess: A Medley

The Princess was first printed in 1847, and the fifth and definitive edition was published in 1853. An important poem, about the place of women in society, advocating gradual reform. It was generally well received, but Tennyson had grave doubts and subjected it to much revision. At the time of its first publication, the movement in favor of woman's rights was in great danger, because of the absurd length to which it had been carried by ill-advised and short-sighted reformers, of defeating its own ends.

Tennyson was undoubtedly the greatest of the Victorian poets -- acclaimed in his own day as the chief poetic voice of his age, and he remains one of the most highly regarded masters of the music and mood of poetry.

Edited for school use, with an introduction, notes, questions, and suggestions for students, by Mary Bowen, who at the time of original publication was Instructor in English Literature at Wellesley College.