What are the features of Victorian poetry, specifically in Tennyson and Browning's works?

While Victorian interest in medievalism does depart from Romantic poetry, it cannot be overlooked that Romantics, such as Keats and Coleridge, did use medieval themes in their poetry. For examples of this see “La Belle Dame Sans Merci,” “Christabel,” or “The Eve of St. Agnes.”

The Victorian interest in science and technology is one characteristic of the Victorian age and Victorian poetry. The Victorians, for instance, invented the modern idea of invention, meaning that the Victorians came up with the notion that an individual can create solutions to problems. In other words, the Victorians, believed that the individual could create new means of bettering the self and the environment.

This leads to what is, perhaps, the defining feature of the Victorian age: social responsibility. This is the basic attitude that differentiates the Victorians from their immediate predecessors, the Romantics. Tennyson, for example, traveled to Spain to help the insurgents, as Byron had gone to Greece and Wordsworth to France. Tennyson, unlike Byron and Wordsworth, would also posit the need to educate the poor. Tennyson, like Dickens, would write to promulgate a need for larger social responsibility on the part of the middle and upper classes.

In terms of religion, the Victorians experienced a great age of doubt. This was the first age that called institutional Christianity into question on such a large scale. In literature and the visual arts, the Victorians worked to combine Romantic emphases on self, emotion, and imagination with Neoclassical features that called upon the public role of art and a corollary responsibility of the artist.

Tennyson was a public and a nationalistic figure for the Victorians. As poet laureate, he readily accepted the mores of his day. His poetry willingly conformed to popular taste, and he wrote poetry that was easily understood and enjoyed. This contrasts Robert Browning, whose poetry was rejected by the Victorians. Interestingly, the poetry of Robert Browning’s wife – Elizabeth Barrett Browning – was readily accepted and enjoyed by the Victorians. Tennyson utilized medieval themes – as in poetry such as “The Lady of Shalott” – classical themes – as noted in “Ulysses” and “The Lotus Eaters” – and even wrote personal elegy – such as “In Memoriam.”

Robert Browning’s themes varied. He wrote of art as prophecy in “Fra Lippo Lippi,” psychology in “Childe Roland,” and the pursuit of wealth in “The Bishop Orders his Tomb at Saint Praxed’s Church.”

Discuss the significance of Tennyson and Browning as central figures in Victorian poetry.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

"The Lady of Shalott"-- Easily one of Tennyson's most well-known poems, "The Lady of Shalott" features the ideal Victorian woman, one who is virginal, focused on her womanly tasks, aloof from common society.  This poem also contains many Romantic elements such as the focus on nature, the value of love, and the search for freedom. 

"The Charge of the Light Brigade"-- Another one of Tennyson's most famous poems, "The Charge of the Light Brigade" tells the story of a heroic, but ill-advised charge, of the British Cavalry during the Crimean war.  Tennyson's poem glorifies patriotism but honestly portrays the horrific cost of war.

"Idylls of the King"-- Tennyson's take on Le Morte d'Arthur, "Idylls" is a collection of twelve poems, capturing the most famous of the characters from the Arthurian legends.  This collection is extremely representative of Victorian's interest in courtship and 'courtly love' as well as 'the ideal woman' (which Guinevere turns out NOT to be).

*All three of these poems by Tennyson are extremely emblematic of the poet's interest in the ideals of love and heroics, as well as his focus on natural world's relationship to man.  Tennyson is extremely representative of the Victorian poets, not only because of his Poet Laureate status, but also because of his portrayal of many Victorian ideals of style and subject.

Robert Browning

"My Last Duchess"--A powerful example of dramatic monologue, "My Last Duchess" tells the story of an egoistic duke who recounts the flaws of his former wife, who he may have had murdered. Browning's poem examines the psychology behind the duke's motives.

"The Ring and the Book"-- Browning's longest narrative poem, almost like a poem in novel length, "The Ring and the Book" tells the story of a murder trial set in Rome of a poor nobleman who is accused of murdering his wife and her parents.  "The Ring and the Book" was Browning's most popular work, perfectly capturing the poet's views on the role of truth and human perception in society.

*Both of these poems for Browning are extremely characteristic of his interest in human psychology  and motives as well as the flaws in human perception of events and truth. In my opinion, Browning may not epitomize the Victorian era the way that Tennyson's collective works do, but Browing is a central figure to Victorian poetics, not only because of his sweeping achievement with a work like "The Ring and the Book," but also because of his deep insight and uncanny portrayal of humanity.