Throughout his long working life, Tennyson was experimenting with new forms and subjects. Widely read in a range of disciplines, he responsed to many of the personalities, events and discoveries of the Victorian age. Still widely regarded as an apologist for the 'establishment', Tennyson was always an outsider. Scourged by reviewers, and haunted by his own nervous disposition, Tennyson endured years of despair. Even when the tide turned in 1850 Tennyson remained a stern critic of his contemporaries.