Conflicting Sensibility in Alfred Tennyson’s Ulysses and A.J.M. Smith’s “Like an Old Proud King in a Parable”
Author : Dr. Basavana Gowda OG
Abstract :
The Victorian age is marked by a profound duality between the desire for intellectual expansion and the urge to withdraw from an increasingly materialistic society. This tension is vividly expressed in Ulysses by Alfred Tennyson. Similarly, Canadian literary consciousness reflects a divided sensibility, which Northrop Frye characterizes as “creative schizophrenia” (Frye 22). This duality is central to Like an Old Proud King in a Parable by A.J.M. Smith. Through a comparative analysis, this paper examines how both poets employ the Homeric figure of Ulysses as an intertext to explore internal conflict, while simultaneously reflecting broader cultural tensions within their respective literary traditions.
Keywords :
Victorian sensibility, Canadian sensibility, conflicting sensibility, intertextuality, modernism, romanticism, Ulysses, Like an Old Proud King in a Parable, creative schizophrenia.
