Maud Part 1 13 - Analysis

Introduction

Maud - Part 1 - 13 presents a speaker torn between wounded pride and an unexpected tenderness toward Maud. The tone shifts from bitter scorn and mockery to a softer, almost defensive admiration. Moments of irony and social contempt sit beside personal longing, creating a mood that moves from contempt to reluctant vulnerability.

Context and social setting

The poem reflects Victorian concerns with class, inheritance, and reputation: the speaker reacts to a wealthy, outwardly comely rival who embodies barbarous opulence. Tennyson often treats social rank and moral character as distinct, which shapes the speaker’s suspicion of lineage and the moral arithmetic applied to Maud and her brother.

Main themes: pride, social class, and contested lineage

One theme is wounded pride: the speaker repeatedly frames himself as scorned — "Scorn'd, to be scorn'd by one that I scorn" — revealing a reflex to retaliate verbally while masking insecurity. Social class and material display are denounced through images like "barbarous opulence jewel-thick" and the rival's "glossy boot," which mark him as ostentatious and morally suspect. A third theme is heredity and moral inheritance: the speaker obsesses over descent and guilt, arguing that Maud's sweetness derives from her mother's line while "the whole inherited sin / On that huge scapegoat of the race" falls on the brother, showing how blame and purity are projected within families.

Imagery and recurring symbols

The poem uses strong visual symbols to encode judgment. The rival's body — "six feet two" and "broad-blown comeliness, red and white" — contrasts with his corrupting presence: "his essences turn'd the live air sick." The "stony British stare" and "Gorgonised me" invoke petrifying contempt, turning social rejection into a mythic, almost supernatural assault. Maud herself is symbolized as purity and exception: "Fair without, faithful within," a counter-symbol to the brother's piled guilt. The recurring image of lineage (mother vs. brother) raises an open question: is the speaker disentangling truth about character or merely rationalizing his attraction by moralizing family history?

Final insight

The passage stages a tension between external social contempt and private feeling: contempt seeks to preserve self-respect, while attraction forces a softer appraisal of Maud. Tennyson uses vivid physical and social detail to expose how pride, class, and inherited reputation intersect, leaving readers to wonder whether moral judgment here is evidence-based or defensive projection.