Theorist William Rathbone Greg best summaries the feelings of the Victorian age towards fallen women: "If the passions of woman were ready, strong, and spontaneous, in a degree ... ideals. Tennyson portrays her as mad in a bid to hide the fact that there are problems in his society in general (Tennyson and Roberts 56). In his poem "Mariana" Tennyson attempts to review and challenge a common male literary custom by taking cue from another writer, namely Shakespeare, and putting a minor female ... broken and now appear strange are a reflection of Mariana's unconventional behavior that has challe...

• Word Count: 3387
• Approx Pages: 14
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate