In the 28 poems of which Maud: A Monodrama consists, a somewhat mentally fragile young man narrates step by step (almost in stream-of-consciousness) the progress and aftermath of his feelings for Maud, whose father, the owner of the neighboring estate and Hall, he blames for his own father's death and his family's ruin. Many of the themes of the work are related to Tennyson's own experiences and those of his close family.

Maud was written in 1854 and first published in 1855 (later slightly revised), at a time when the British press and public were enthusiastically supporting the nation's involvement in the Crimean war, regarded by some as a remedy for the vices of current peace and prosperity - the backdrop to Maud.