The lady of Shalott- Alfred Lord Tennyson- 1842

The Lady of Shalott by Alfred Lord Tennyson is a popular ballad that illustrates the

isolation of a woman in a tower far from what she wants to live and experience. She lives a
life imprisoned by a curse she knows no consequence for and so hesitates to live her life
the way she would have liked.
PART 1
Stanza 1:
Contrast between two places: Island most of the time associated with desolation, nature.
Camelot where the human activity is. There’s movement, social life. Tennyson uses the
opening stanza of his poem to really set the tone for the rest of the poem. We are
introduced to two high contrasting places: Camelot and Shalott. Camelot can effortlessly
represent the dream of any and every person: a world full of life and opportunities, even
the roads to which look attractive and inviting. There are roads that lead to a life of
opportunity for every person. Each individual has their own Camelot and every tower
within, symbolizes the desires and hopes that they would love to reach one day. Shalott,
however, can just as easily represent the bubble that we as individuals create for
ourselves. It is a place that people merely notice in passing. So the comfort zones and
rules that we create for ourselves that no one else really pays attention to, are without
much difficulty represented by Shalott in this poem

Stanza 2:
It’s introduced for the first time the Lady of Shallot. She remains imprisoned in a tower,
isolated from Camelot. The Lady of Shalott is described to be sheltered in a building or
structure, which is described to have four grey walls and towers and is located on a lifeless
island The towers are a construction of human beings, in contrast with nature where it’s
situated. The river implies the idea of movement, change. Like the lady, we as humans
often live our lives with caution and safety; so the depiction of four grey walls and towers
fits well in representing a dull bubble that we have created for ourselves in order to stay
alive and afloat in the world. Our dreams and desires for our futures, however, reside in
the attractive world of Camelot.
(Water running forever as the lady’s weaving)

Stanza 3:
The narrator here starts to throw around questions that force the reader to wonder more
about who the lady of Shalott actually is.
The reference to barges and horses makes us think that there is movement in the outside
world, people doing heavy work, there’s production, movement, life in the city as opposed
to the lady’s life. There’s uncertainty whether the lady of Shallot exits, no one in Camelot
has seen her before. There’s a denial of her existence. If she doesn’t participate, does she
exit?

Stanza 4:
This stanza begins by answering the questions stanza three concluded with. The only
people who  just acknowledge her existence were the “reapers” who were harvesting
barley in the early hours. Her song is the first clue about her existence. The reapers
cannot hear this song directly but only though echoes.  Because they don’t know much
about her and she is a mystery to most, they consider her a fairy The words echoes, airy,
fairy are perspectives of the outside world.
If we want to be acknowledged we have to take the risk of stepping out of what is normal
for us.

PART II
Stanza 5:
INSIDE THE TOWER, there’s movement as well.
There’s a curse on the lady that blocks her contact and sight to Camelot. She weaves a
magic web. This action is related with creating art, as a way to reflect her view of the
world. This is a symbol of many artists. She‘s isolated in herself to create art, if she
involves with society or if she has an active social life, she cannot create. She represents
the conflict that each artist faces. The curse and the magic web represent supernatural
elements, she is creating art, and she is reflecting what she sees of the real world. She
finds pleasure there.
Curse: There is indifference, a passive acceptance of the curse, no aim to challenge it.
Every individual has a web of thoughts and ideas that they are busy with on a daily basis.
Like the Lady of Shalott we busy ourselves with weaving them in routine like rituals, every
single day. She was cursed with an unknown curse if she ever looked towards Camelot.
 
Stanza 6:
Stanza six continues in giving the readers a little insight on the character of the lady of
Shalott. Here, we learn that she owns a mirror that hangs in front of her as she weaves.
The interesting quality of the mirror is that it shows her “shadows” of the world around her,
so the images are unclear or blurred. From this mirror she can get a glimpse of the
whirlpools in the river and some people. There are various kinds of people that the lady of
Shalott can make out in her mirror of “shadows. Some of these people are depicted as
impolite and rude, most probably describing the peasants. Others are described to be girls
from the market who are passing by Shalott, wearing red cloaks.
As result of the spell, she has no access to the real world, she cannot do it directly but
through a mirror where shadows of the world appear, otherwise, the curse makes effect.
She obeys passively.  The mirror mediates the view between the lady and reapers. That’s
the mediation-connection between them, with the outside world.
The mirror is an extremely important symbol. It represents the perceptions, views, bias,
and experiences in our lives that shape what we see. We never see situations or events in
life for what they are, we can only understand them through our understanding of what
happened; and that will vary person to person.

Stanza 7:
The lady mentions different social classes that she perceive by her mirror (knights) but
country people as well: damsels AND shepherds.
The conflict is anticipated, her isolation is clear: she has no knight. What might anticipate
the problem is her lack of company.
In this stanza, the mirror reflects her sadness. It’s a symbol of impossibility of having
contact with society, outside world.

Stanza 8:
The narrator exposes that content of her weaving is based on all the sights she sees in her
mirror. These sights often include a funeral or a wedding. As readers we witness the
first dialogue of the lady of Shalott, and it clearly explains that she is tired of watching
these shadows in the mirror.
The lady is sick of shadows, of having no access to the real world. The conflict is
increased.
Besides the people that she sees, the mirror has another purpose for the lady, it gives her
something to weave. The sights she sees are a relief from the four grey walls that she’s
trapped in. the two sights which she often sees are that of funerals and happy newlyweds.

PART III
Stanza 9:
Here, begins part three of this poem and the scene changes to introduce a second
character: Sir Lancelot. He enters the story by riding through the barley fields, with his
armor “dazzling” in the sun, quite close to where the Lady resides.
Sir Lancelott is introduced. The colours used to describe him are bright. This implies that
her heart is on fire, she is filled with energy. She might be in love with him and he might
rescue her. His perfection is as the weather. He’s similar to her, to her art. He
distinguished from the rest. All the elements, such as jewellery, used for his description
contribute to his outstanding figure. Movement is involved: in his way of riding, he’s on a
horse. There’s a contrast between the knight (on a horse) and the lady (she’s still)

Stanza 10:
From this stanza we take away that Lancelot makes noise as he passes by Shalott looking
quite magnificent. Very similar to the way our most desired and ambitious goals attract our
attention every time we are reminded of them as we sit in our safe towers in Shalott. There
will always be something tempting enough to push you out of your comfort zones

Stanza 11
Lancelot riding to Camelot is compared to a “bearded meteor” (referring to the feathers on
his helmet) that is trailing light in the sky. Again, as the stanza concludes, the strong
contrast between Lancelot and Shallot is emphasized by describing Shallot as “still” after
eight lines of plain admiration for Lancelot. Still lifeless Shalott is once again mentioned in
contrast to the tempting vision of Lancelot, identical to the contrast between our still, quiet
lives without risk and the temptation of taking chances to achieve our most desired goal.

Stanza 12
This is the fourth stanza in which the reader is continuously given nothing but heightened
compliments of Lancelot. Here, we are told that his “broad clear brow” glowed in the
sunlight, and his horse’s hooves were polished and glossy. His black curly hair flowed
beneath his helmet as he rode to Camelot. Then, finally he makes an appearance in the
Lady of Shalott’s mirror, singing “Tirra Lirra”. This is an important stanza because after
eleven stanzas, our two characters finally cross paths, obviously still unbeknownst to
Lancelot. Not only is this stanza describing Lancelot’s greatness but also the horse that he
rides and the mannerism in which he enters Camelot, – singing. This shows us that in the
narrative of the poem, Lancelot is calling attention to himself carelessly as he prances into
Camelot almost teasing, daring the lady to have a look and be tempted to take that risk.

Stanza 13:
The passive acceptance disappears. For the first time she sees the world with her own
eyes and not through the shadows in the mirror. She witnesses the water lily bloom,
Lancelot’s helmet and Camelot.  Looking at the knight implies rebellion. She made the
“forbidden act” of looking at Lancelott. She’s challenging the curse. Rebellion implies loss
of innocence. She can see and experience the real world. It’s some kind of awakening.
Part IV
Stanza 14:
There’s an abrupt change of weather. This is the effect of the curse, of the rebellion, of the
emotional state. The water is associated with life, with a new beginning. Stanza fourteen
begins with stormy weather, portraying to the reader the circumstances of the situation.
There is now a “stormy” wind, the yellow leaves of the forest seem to be disappearing, the
river is complaining and heavy rain begins to fall.
She gets in the boat and carves “The Lady of Shalott” on the front of the boat. Implication
of her act: writing her name, leaving her mark, showing that she is real, that she exists, to
assert her identity. She assures that people know who she was.
There is a decrease of the intensity of colours, in contrast to the brightness expressed in
lines before; there is also a change in the weather: stormy weather reflects the effect of the
curse.

Stanza 15:
Stanza fifteen continues the Lady of Shalott’s journey outside her normal domain. Before
she actually gets in the boat, she looks down the river at Camelot like a fortuneteller who is
in a “trance” once he realizes his own misfortunes that await him. At the end of the day she
eventually loosens the chain that is tying the boat to land, and lays down in it. The boat
then starts to take her “far away”.
She loosed the chain, association with freedom. Trance: better acceptance of her death.

Stanza 16:
 Everything that surrounded the boat, including the willows, and fields were witnesses of
the last song that the lady of Shalott sang as she drifted by.
Only natural elements witnesses of her death. She was more isolated than before. Has
she achieved freedom or death? The process of dying is anticipated by the song.
This depiction is the perfect romanticized vision of a person who has lost their battle in an
attempt to earn freedom from their ritualistic daily routine. 

Stanza 17:
Stanza seventeen is highlighting the dramatic event that the lady of Shalott is suffering and
it emphasizes that through the vivid imagery of mourning, chants, sacredness and carols.
The lady of Shalott continues to sing as she drifts in the river towards Camelot, until her
blood slowly freezes and the light from her eyes had “darkened”. This is either happening
as a consequence of the weather, or the curse that she was so afraid of her entire life. As
the boat has a chance to reach the first house in Camelot, the lady dies along with her
song.

Stanza 18:
Everyone gets to know her when she reaches Camelot. Silence in the city comes with her
death.

Stanza 19:
People questions who she is. They don’t know much about her. She’s acknowledged by
her beauty but he recognition arrives late. In death she connects with life. This stanza is
important not only because it concludes the poem, but because our two characters finally
meet in person, but this time unbeknownst to the lady of Shalott
 

Themes
Artistic Isolation
“The Lady of Shalott” to be about the conflict between art and life. The Lady, who weaves
her magic web and sings her song in a remote tower, can be seen to represent the
contemplative artist isolated from the bustle and activity of daily life. The moment she sets
her art aside to gaze down on the real world, a curse befalls her and she meets her tragic
death. The poem thus captures the conflict between an artist’s desire for social
involvement and his/her doubts about whether such a commitment is viable for someone
dedicated to art. The poem may also express a more personal dilemma for Tennyson as a
specific artist: while he felt an obligation to seek subject matter outside the world of his
own mind and his own immediate experiences—to comment on politics, history, or a more
general humanity—he also feared that this expansion into broader territories might destroy
his poetry’s magic. The Lady of Shalott knows this. Thus, to be a good artist and
maintain her objectivity, she must be set apart from everyone and everything. The
moment she engages the world directly by looking out the window, she forms her own
subjective view, which is entirely focused on Sir Lancelot. She no longer notices the
willows, or the aspens, or the little breezes. Nor does she see Sir Lancelot in his fullness,
meaning what his soul looks like on the inside. Instead, she fixates on his handsome good
looks, while failing to unmask his vices. Though we may feel happy for her that she is free
from the tower, she has become imprisoned anew with her own
subjectivity. Tennyson tells us that as she floats down the river, “Her eyes were darkened
wholly.” Thus, she loses her vision, both literally and figuratively, and dies. Yet even in this
last effort to put herself into the world, the Lady still works like an artist: she inscribes her
name on the boat like a title, arranges her own body like an artwork, and sings as she
dies. The curse keeps her trapped within a world of distanced art-making even as she
leaves her cloistered tower
Weaving
the technique she uses to make images of what she sees in the world is itself symbolic of
the way that life works. 
Weaving could be a symbol of creative and freedom and also of slavery and imprisonment.
The magic web: the lady is caught in somebody else web. A mysterious force. The lady
web is an expression of her talent and creativity.
Mirror
Mirrors have long been associated with magic, with the self, and with the complexity of
truth. All of these symbolic connotations are present in the poem. That image is at once a
reflection—or shadow, to use the Lady's term—of a real thing, and a thing in itself. If
weaving in the poem represents the process of creating art and the distanced required to
do so, then the mirror symbolizes art itself. Art, like a mirror, the poem suggests, is a
reflection, a way of seeing something without looking at it directly. It's a truth and a
falsehood at the same time. When the Lady looks into her magic mirror and weaves what
she sees there, she's making an image of an image. But making any kind of art is making
an image of an image. Artists perceive the world through their own "mirror," their own
frame of reference; then they represent what they see. In this way, the mirror further
suggests the inherent subjectivity of art—that it is inevitably a reflection (no pun intended)
of the artist's own perception of the world.
When the mirror cracks, the end of the lady’s artistic abilities is represented.

Sir Lancelot
Embodiment of masculinity, chivalry, and sexual temptation.
He changes the lady’s world. Instead of being Camelot the last word, it’s Lancelot (line 77).
He seems sensitive and thoughtful toward the dead lady.
Camelot
Camelot symbolizes the distractions of the real world beyond the Lady's tower/mirror.
King Arthur's court at Camelot is a place of life. It's bustling, rich, and populous, full of
beautiful towers and well-to-do citizens. But it's also a place that doesn't really know what
to do with someone like the Lady of Shalott. In fact, contact with this busy world kills her.
Camelot is gorgeous, but mysteriously destructive to the art that would portray it
Fire
All these references to fire and light further reflect his inescapable allure, the way the Lady
feels pulled towards his figure. She positively burns for him—but gets too close to the
flame. In the end, the lady's blood freezes and her eyes darken as she dies, the fire of life
leaving her forever.