Farewell For Ever - Analysis

Introduction and Tone

This excerpt from Alfred Lord Tennyson records a dramatic rupture between Tostig and Harold, marked by accusation and finality. The tone moves from taunting and conciliatory to bitter and defiant, culminating in Tostig's curt "Farewell for ever!" The scene is emotionally charged, intimate in address yet public in its political stakes.

Historical and Biographical Context

Set against the backdrop of Anglo-Saxon power struggles, the dialogue evokes the real House of Godwin and the fraught relationship between brothers vying for authority. Knowing Tennyson's interest in heroic and historical subjects helps explain his emphasis on honor, reputation, and the public consequences of private betrayal.

Main Theme: Betrayal and Honor

Tostig's speech centers on betrayal: he accuses Harold of selling him out—"Thou hast sold me for a cry"—and of abandoning familial duty for personal kingship—"Thou hast but cared to make thyself a king". The language frames political maneuvering as moral treachery, turning public actions into questions of honor and loyalty.

Main Theme: Power and Identity

The exchange links identity to territory and status: Harold's offer to restore Tostig as "a son of Godwin" and Tostig's reference to "Seven feet of English land" tie personal worth to land and lineage. Tostig's insistence that he will not be remembered as the one who summoned Harold only to abandon him shows an acute concern for legacy and how power reshapes familial bonds.

Imagery and Symbolism

Key images—land, voice, and council—symbolize concrete bases of authority. "Seven feet of English land" compresses the monumental into the measurable, hinting at the absurdity and gravity of territorial claims. The repeated references to voice and council expose the mechanisms of legitimacy: public endorsement versus private resentment.

Ambiguity and Open Question

Tostig's final denunciation leaves ambiguity: is his scorn primarily wounded pride, righteous outrage, or a calculated political posture? This uncertainty invites readers to weigh personal grievance against the possibility of self-justification in exile.

Conclusion

The passage dramatizes how political ambition corrodes family ties and how reputation governs actions in a high-stakes world. Tennyson compresses history, emotion, and social judgment into terse, charged lines, leaving the rupture both specific to its moment and emblematic of broader conflicts between duty and power.