In the poem we are reminded of her lack of dress, however we are also reminded that despite the selfless act she is doing she is still an innocent woman and even when she is naked – she is clothed! ‘Then she rode back, clothed on with chastity...’ This sentence perhaps makes all the more apparent the difficulty and gravity of the situation she is in.
The repetition of this sentence: ‘…clothed on with chastity…’ reminds us that she is naked throughout the poem and it is again used later to drive the point.
In the poem it is stressed that the villagers didn’t look at her as a gesture of respect and appreciation for Lady Godiva's actions on their behalf; this was done as a way of preserving her modesty. However, harsh imagery is used when ‘…one low churl...’ peeped at her riding. Everyone did the right thing, except this one young boy, whose curiosity compelled him to gaze at her. This boy was then struck blind in punishment and his eyesight was taken away from him as it was thought he couldn’t use it properly ‘…were shrivell’d into darkness in his head, And dropt before him. So the Powers, who wait On noble deeds, cancell'd a sense misused…’
Passivity would have made Godiva’s life completely different to how it was after this event; her people would not have been freed and she would not have made the name for herself that she did; ‘To meet her lord, she took the tax away, And built herself an everlasting name.’
Godiva belongs as a member of the ruling class who sympathizes with the plight of ordinary people.
The act of riding through the town naked astride her horse, earned Godiva two very important things; the afore mentioned freedom of her people, as well as a legendary name as a heroine.
At the time this poem was written it was not acceptable for any women to go against her husband and embarrass him, or to appear sexually open in any way. Despite this she stood up for her people and even though the act was extremely embarrassing for her, as anyone could see her and she had no way of hiding herself, she succeeded for selfless reasons, and if she had not have acted in this way, then she would not have gained anything.
So we see that the quote, ‘For Tennyson, to act is vital; there is nothing to be gained by passivity,’ is seemingly true. From this great act she gained a lot, not only for herself, but for the good of the community in which she lived.
A theme that reoccurs throughout Tennyson’s poetry is the advantages of not being passive. The characters presented to us in some of his poems have personal conflict between their duties of the times they are in and what they feel and think they should do.
However, I agree with the argument that Tennyson’s poetry presents the advantages of following personal fulfilment instead of public obligations. This can be seen in ‘Godvia’; the female character still rode through the village naked fighting for something she believed in instead of leaving the issue and letting her people down. She stood up to her husband although this would’ve been frowned upon and followed her heart instead. This theme can also be seen in another of Tennyson’s poems ‘The lady of Shalott’; the lady was cursed to spend life locked away not looking at the village. She had to spin in her tapestry what she saw through a mirror, despite longing for relationships and interaction with other people. This changed though when she heard the knight and fell in love; even though the poem ends tragically The Lady of Shalott embodies the woman who abandons her social responsibility in her pursuit of love. In the poem ‘Mariana’ the lady is filled with despair, she is isolated waiting around a man to turn up that never does. This is unlike Tennyson’s other poems when the female characters in one way or another makes an attempt to take control of their situation. The female in ‘Mariana’ doesn’t attempt the change her situation and at the end she is filled with the serious reality that in fact she does wish she was seriously dead. This character gained nothing from waiting for someone else and just despaired of her situation.