Alfred Tennyson has long been acclaimed for his poetic art in English literature. His Idylls of the King has been recognized as a masterpiece in terms of Arthurian literature, narrative poetry and romantic writing. The present study intends to analyze Tennyson’s peculiar characterization of two female figures fromIdylls and interpret the Victorian poet’s intention to address the issue of feminism. Breaking away from the angel/whore dichotomy of women popular in Victorian literary works, Tennyson managed to recognize and praise the complexity of authentic femininity. Though social and cultural factors prevented him from a complete subversion of the gender ideology of his time, the strong sense of agency in figures such as Elaine and Guineverehas given his medieval-setpoetry as much human reality as possible.
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