St Simeon Stylites One of the re-occurring themes in Tennyson's is the conflict between personal fulfillment and public responsibility. That is, often the character in the poem is pulled one way by something he or she wants to do, and another way by a sense of duty or obligation that must be performed. This is obvious in St. Simeon Stylites where he is inflicting constant harm and pain apon himself, but only for a reason, …
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…irony is found in pain and suffering. But none of Tennyson's works speak of the grotesque more so than St. Simeon Stylites. But the ending of the poem is the most evidently grotesque. At the end after all the pain and suffering that the Saint has been through he is ultimately denied access because of his egotistical attitude, and this happening alone is the most portraying element of grotesque in the poem. By Stephen Collison