Classic poetry

The Princess: A Medley

by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

184 pages · First published 1920

At a summer gathering on a Victorian country estate, a group of young men and women invent a tale about a princess determined to challenge the expectations of her age. Princess Ida, promised in marriage as a child, rejects her arranged betrothal and establishes a university devoted entirely to women's education. But the unnamed prince who hopes to marry her refuses to surrender his claim. Disguised as female students, he and his companions Florian and Cyril enter the forbidden college, where their deception leads to romantic complications, comic misunderstandings, and an increasingly dangerous conflict between two royal families. As the dispute escalates into a battle, Ida and the prince must reconsider their opposing ideals. Blending mock-heroic storytelling, Victorian social commentary, romance, and lyrical poetry, Alfred, Lord Tennyson's The Princess: A Medley offers a fascinating exploration of women's education, marriage, and the relationship between intellectual independence and love. Readers who enjoy classic poetry, beautiful language, literary satire, and nineteenth-century debates about gender will find much to consider.