This study of the contemporary criticism of Tennyson’s Idylls of the King provides a completely annotated, chronologically listed bibliography of the criticism and reviews which both commented on and participated in the development of Tennyson’s complex, yet unified examination of the nature of duty, kingship, and the progress and responsibilities of individuals in an everchanging society. Offering insights into the literary and intellectual milieu of the poem, which was published serially over a period of nearly thirty years, the study and bibliography examines the way the Idylls reflected clearly many of the complexities and moral dilemmas present in Victorian society, recurring in our own.