The Lady Of Shalott

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1842

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Symbols & Motifs

The Mirror

The Lady of Shalott’s mirror is her experiential filter to the outside world. It allows her to see the landscape surrounding her tower and the activities of the citizens of Camelot through a particular, circumscribed perspective. Read as a symbol in the context of art and humanity, the mirror has advantages and disadvantages. It provides her with a limited viewpoint, mediated by the mirror’s angle, range, and distance from the images it reflects. In this way, it represents the finite and distorted perspectives of all humans. However, it also allows the Lady of Shalott to experience the world without having to interact with it, which makes it a significant element of an artist’s observational practice. The mirror is also a ubiquitous symbol of femininity and reifies the Lady of Shalott’s position as a depiction of the Victorian woman.

The Web

Like her mirror, the Lady of Shalott’s tapestry weaving (referred to often in the poem as a “web”) has symbolic associations that support various thematic readings. If the Lady of Shalott is an artist or a substitute for Tennyson himself, then the tapestry is her ongoing artistic project, a beautiful work to which she must devote her life and undivided attention, and which is compromised the minute she chooses to engage in outside life. Additionally, the tapestry represents the domestic sphere of women in the Victorian age and its separation from public life.

The River

The Lady of Shalott’s tower is immobile, and she is stationary inside it. In contrast, the river that surrounds the tower and flows to Camelot is constantly moving, a symbol of the constant flow of life. Tennyson’s 1842 version of the poem mentions “heavy barges” and a “shallop… silken-sail’d” (Lines 20, 22). Like the country roads, the river is a route for commerce, and thus represents the outside world’s interconnected activity. The Lady of Shalott breaks her curse and floats down the river, representing her brief inclusion in the “flow” of outside life.

Camelot

Like the river, Camelot is a representation of freedom and everyday life, set in contrast with the Lady of Shalott’s lonely sequestration. It is a hub of commerce, activity, freedom, and connection. Sir Lancelot, another symbol of freedom and masculinity, is a knight of Camelot, and comes and goes as he pleases. In every stanza except the ninth, in which Sir Lancelot is first introduced, the fifth and ninth lines rhyme Camelot with Shalott, emphasizing the distance and contrast between the two castles and their inhabitants.