3 h 1 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A princess opens the doors of learning to women—and bars men on pain of death.
Princess Ida founds a women's college and swears off marriage. But the unnamed Prince, promised to her in childhood, refuses to stay away. With his friends Cyril and Florian, he dresses as a woman and seeks admission as a student. Their disguise brings a stubborn wish for love into a place built to keep men outside.
In The Princess, Alfred, Lord Tennyson sets this conflict within a summer gathering, where friends tell the tale aloud. His long poem blends fairy tale, comedy, battle and debate with lyric songs. Mostly written in blank verse, it moves between playfulness and serious questions: what should women learn, and what should women and men be to each other?
What you’ll discover
- A princess with purpose Meet Ida, whose fierce belief in education challenges the rules that bind women.
- An audacious college disguise Follow the Prince, Cyril and Florian as they enter Ida's forbidden world as students.
- Learning, love and power Explore a debate in which the desire for learning meets the claims of marriage.
- A summer day's storytelling Step onto Sir Walter Vivian's estate, where a celebration frames the tale.
- Verse with shifting moods Discover lyric songs woven through a story that pairs wit with tenderness.
Is it for you?
This is for readers who like Victorian poetry, stories with debate in them, or the history of ideas about women's education. It may suit you less if you want a fast, realistic plot, since the poem moves in a stately, playful and sometimes mock-heroic way.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A summer day frames a tale
- A prince promised to a vanished bride
- Three young men in women's dress
- Ida, her laws, and a disguise that fails
- What the poem argues about women and men
- A medley told by many voices
Who’s who
- The PrinceA gentle, stubborn young man, betrothed in childhood to Ida, who sets out in disguise to win her despite the law against men.
- Princess IdaA proud and brilliant princess who founds a women's college and swears off marriage, hoping to free women through learning.
- CyrilThe prince's lively, joking friend, who joins the disguise and is the least careful of the three.
- FlorianThe prince's friend, whose sister teaches at the college, and who goes with him into the forbidden place.
- Lady PsycheA warm and learned teacher at the college, who has a baby daughter and is Florian's sister.
- Lady BlancheA sharp, ambitious teacher at the college and mother of Melissa, who watches Ida's power with envy.
- King GamaIda's father, a nervous and sly king who cannot bring his daughter home and fears the prince's family.
- MelissaA gentle young student at the college and daughter of Lady Blanche, kind to those around her.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 3 h 1 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works · 60-day guarantee
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, for the whole household.
- We remind you first. We email you 7 days before your first payment. Then your first year is 50% off: 0,14 USD a day, then 0,27 USD a day, never raised. Or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
60-day money-back guarantee. If the library is not for you, ask within 60 days of your first payment and we refund it in full.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear La princesa in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Read it side by side
La princesa
by Alfred, lord Tennyson· 1847
A prince enters a princess's university where men are forbidden.
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- The whole household
Starts right away, on any device
Read free60-day money-back guaranteeRenews every yearCancel anytimeHow it works
Language: Español
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A summer day frames a tale
The poem opens in a prologue on the estate of Sir Walter Vivian. It is a day of celebration, and the local people have been invited to the grounds. There are games, science demonstrations and tours of the house. Among the guests are a group of young men from a university and Sir Walter's son and daughters.
While they wander, the young people look over the family's old papers and find a record of an ancestress who once fought in a battle. This sets off a lively talk about women and what they can do. One of the young women, Lilia, speaks with spirit about how women might build their own college and have their own learning. The young men tease her, half in fun and half in earnest.
Renews every year · Cancel anytime
The author
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
1809–1892 · English Victorian poet
Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892) was an English poet born in Somersby, Lincolnshire. He later lived on the Isle of Wight and in Surrey. He wrote The Princess (1847), In Memoriam (1850), and Enoch Arden (1864). Idylls of the King appeared between 1859 and 1885. He became Poet Laureate in 1850.
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, for the whole household. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - The whole householdUp to 5 readers
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
More like this
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
FreeOur mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
Questions about La princesa
Can I read it free?
Yes. The beginning, from the first page to the end of chapter 1, and the first 5 minutes of the audiobook are free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 90 days, with the eBook to keep. After that, your first year is 50% off. You also get 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
Can my family read too?
Yes. The whole household reads and listens: up to 5 readers, each with their own shelf and their own place in every book.
What if it is not for me?
Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. If you have paid and the library is not for you, ask within 60 days of your first payment and we refund it in full.
What is The Princess by Tennyson about?
It tells of a prince promised in childhood to Princess Ida, who has founded a women's college and barred men from it. He enters in disguise. The poem weighs women's education against love and marriage.
Why is The Princess called a medley?
Tennyson gave it that subtitle because it mixes many things: fairy tale, comedy, battle, debate and songs. It is also told by a group of friends who take turns, each adding to the tale.
Is The Princess a feminist poem?
It is mixed. It treats women's learning with respect, which was bold in the 1840s, yet it also worries about what is lost when the sexes are kept apart. Readers still argue about how far Tennyson went.
Popular in poetry and plays
See all
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
