The Victorian Age brought about great changes in all areas of everyday living. There were great political, economical, religious, and social changes which influenced the attitudes and values of the emerging society along with many writers of that time. Countries were rapidly changing from an agricultural to an industrial society. Life during this time was moving at a much faster pace. Although many thought, including Bathd, "of the Victorian Age as a smug complacency, of hypocritical and unhealthy prudery", (Bathd 22) it was much more than that. The Victorian Era marked freedom in a way of which poets felt they had an immediate mission. Alfred Tennyson was among one of the greatest poets of this time. His work completely sums up and expresses the great Victorian Era in which he lived.
             The Victorian Age lasted from 1837 - 1901. During this time Queen Victoria ruled and her reign was so outstanding it became known as the "Victorian Era". Around this time Victorian England saw great expansion of wealth, power and culture that influenced not only England but most parts of the world. "This was also a time of several unsettling social developments such as the growth of English democracy, the education of the masses, the progress of industrial enterprise and the consequent rise of a materialistic philosophy" (Wright 4). Yet, it can be said without much fear of contradiction that this age represents the glory of the middle classes. The people of this period experienced a rise in their moral sense and social conscience, which animated the middle class. They had a very high moral tone to maintain and managed to do just that. This was due to the fact that Queen Victoria grew up as part of this class. Her ethics, respectability and personal tastes generally reflected those belonging to the "great" middle class. Cooke believed "that what made them so Victorian is their sense of social responsibility, a basic attitude that obviously different...