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Why did Maud cause controversy when Alfred, Lord Tennyson published it?
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Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Portrait of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, lithograph published in The Modern Portrait Gallery, 1890.
When Alfred, Lord Tennyson published Maud in 1855, the poem provoked a significant storm of protest among his readers and admirers.12
The controversy stemmed primarily from the poem's dark and unsettling content. Critics and the public were shocked by the following elements:
- Morbidity: The narrative, which centers on a man struggling with his father’s suicide and his own mental instability, was viewed as excessively grim.12
- Hysteria: The intense, unstable emotional state of the poem's narrator was perceived as disturbing and hysterical.12
- Bellicosity: Many readers were troubled by the aggressive, war-mongering nature of the hero.12
Despite this initial backlash, Maud—a "monodrama" exploring themes of madness and recovery through war—remained Tennyson’s personal favorite among his works.12