3 h 1 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 3 h 1 minPaperback · 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.
Who will love it
You will love this poem if you enjoy fairy-tale adventure with a serious question inside it, songs and rich images, comic disguises, strong heroines, and old debates about education, equality and love.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A holiday game opens a debate
- The prince enters Ida's world disguised
- The college combines learning with exclusion
- Ida works for women yet unborn
- The disguise breaks into open conflict
- A just cause has imperfect defenders
- Feeling tests what seems real
- Many voices shape the poem's argument
- Independence and partnership remain in conversation
Who’s who
- The PrinceThe fair-haired narrator of the tale, haunted by a curse of shadows, who longs to win the bride promised to him.
- Princess IdaThe proud leader of the women's college, who has sworn never to marry and means to raise the standing of women.
- CyrilThe prince's witty, reckless friend, short of money, who falls for Lady Psyche and her three castles.
- FlorianThe prince's closest friend, brother of Lady Psyche, loyal and gentle, who finds himself drawn to Melissa.
- Lady PsycheFlorian's sister, Ida's favorite lecturer and mother of little Aglaia, torn between her duty and her family.
- Lady BlancheA sharp-tongued lecturer, jealous of Psyche, who once raised Ida and wants first place beside her.
- MelissaBlanche's gentle daughter, who keeps the visitors' secret and struggles to protect those she loves.
- AracIda's big, good-humored brother, who swears to stand by his sister and challenges the prince to combat.
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
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- 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.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
How it works
- 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, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
The Princess in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
The Princess
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson · 1847
Three young men in women's clothes sneak into a college where men are forbidden on pain of death.
Medium levelUnder 2 hours to read20 languages
Learn a language with medium classicsSpanishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseEnglishHow we measure levels
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then USD 0.14 a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
“Blow, bugle, blow, send the wild echoes flying,”
In short
What would you do if the princess you were promised in childhood had shut herself inside a college for women, with a law that any man who enters must die? That is the problem facing the prince in The Princess, a narrative poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, first published in 1847.
The Princess at a glance
- Reading time
- About 1 h 55 min1 h 30 min fast, 2 h 15 min slow
- Length
- 27,200 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1847by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A summer holiday frames the whole tale
The poem opens on a summer day at Vivian Place, the country house of Sir Walter Vivian. He opens his park to the neighbors until sunset, and the lawns fill with tenants, villagers and members of a local Institute.
Children watch model steam engines, a fire balloon and a little telegraph line. Science and play walk hand in hand. Inside the house, young Walter shows the narrator a family chronicle of knights, including a lady who rode out of her besieged gate and drove her enemies away.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer. Your place follows you, and you can make the type as big as you like.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1847
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 1 h 55 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Tennyson, Alfred. The Princess. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-princess.
Tennyson, A. (2026). The princess. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-princess (Original work published 1847)
Tennyson, Alfred. The Princess. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-princess.
@book{tennyson2026princess,
author = {Tennyson, Alfred},
title = {The Princess},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-princess},
note = {First published 1847}
}
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about The Princess
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 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.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is The Princess by Tennyson about?
It tells of a prince who disguises himself as a woman to enter a university founded by Princess Ida, to whom he was promised. The story raises questions about women's education, power and love, told as a game among friends.
Who is the narrator of The Princess?
Seven friends take turns telling the story at a summer party, so the tale has several voices. In the story itself, each speaker takes the part of the prince, and the women of the party sing the songs between.
What are the songs in The Princess?
The lyrics include Tears, Idle Tears and Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal within the story, and The Splendor Falls and Ask Me No More between parts. Many readers know them as separate short poems because they are musical and easy to enjoy alone.
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.
“Blow, bugle, blow, send the wild echoes flying,”
More by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
See all their booksMore like this
Our 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
