The Lady of Shalott

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John William Waterhouse's The Lady of Shalott, 1888 (Tate Gallery, London)

For other uses of the word "Shalott", please see Shalott (disambiguation)

"The Lady of Shalott" is a romantic poem by the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892). Like other early poems— "Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere," and "Galahad"— the poem recasts Arthurian subject matter loosely based on medieval sources and takes up some themes that would become more fully realized in Idylls of the King where the tale of Elaine is recounted.

1 Overview
2 Illustrations of the poem
3 Trivia
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Overview

The poem (of which Tennyson wrote two versions: one in 1833, of twenty verses, the other in 1842 of nineteen verses) is commonly believed to have been loosely based upon a story from Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur concerning Elaine of Astolat, a maiden who falls in love with Lancelot, but dies of grief when he cannot return her love. However, Tennyson himself said that the poem was based on a thirteenth-century Italian novelette entitled Donna di Scalotta, which focuses on the lady's death and her reception at Camelot rather than her isolation in the tower and her decision to participate in the living world, two subjects not mentioned in "Donna di Scalotta." [1].

On burnish'd hooves his war-horse trode;

From underneath his helmet flow'd

His coal-black curls as on he rode,

As he rode down to Camelot.

From the bank and from the river

He flashed into the crystal mirror,

"Tirra lirra," by the river

Sang Sir Lancelot.

She finally succumbs to temptation and looks directly out when Sir Lancelot rides past the tower singing, and as she looks towards Camelot:

Out flew the web and floated wide-

The mirror crack'd from side to side;

"The curse is come upon me," cried

The Lady of Shalott.

She leaves her tower, finds a boat upon which she writes her name, and floats down the river to Camelot. Beautifully enrobed, Tennyson writes that she is-

Lying, robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right

-a line which complements his description of the death of Elaine in book 7 of Idylls of the King:

all her bright hair streaming down—

And all the coverlid was cloth of gold

Drawn to her waist, and she herself in white

The Lady of Shalott floats down the Shalott, chanting a "a carol, mournful, holy," dying as she sings. She arrives frozen to death, and among the knights and ladies who see her is Lancelot:

"Who is this? And what is here?"

And in the lighted palace near

Died the sound of royal cheer;

And they crossed themselves for fear,

All the Knights at Camelot;

But Lancelot mused a little space

He said, "She has a lovely face;

God in his mercy lend her grace,

The Lady of Shalott."

"In a more general sense, it is fair to say that the pre-Raphaelite fascination with Arthuriana is traceable to Tennyson's work" (Zanzucchi). Tennyson's biographer Leonée Ormonde finds the Arthurian material is "introduced as a valid setting for the study of the artist and the dangers of personal isolation".

Some consider "The Lady of Shalott" to be representative of the dilemma that faces artists, writers, and musicians: to create work about and celebrating the world, or to enjoy the world by simply living in it. Others see the poem as concerned with issues of women's sexuality and their place in the Victorian world. The fact that the poem works through such complex and polyvalent symbolism indicates an important difference between Tennyson's work and his Arthurian source material. While Tennyson's sources tended to work through allegory, Tennyson himself did not.

[edit] Illustrations of the poem

William Holman Hunt's Lady of Shalott

The poem was particularly popular amongst artists of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, who shared Tennyson's interest in Arthuriana; several of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood made paintings based on episodes from the poem. In the 1857 Moxon edition of Tennyson's works, it was illustrated by both William Holman Hunt and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Hunt depicted the moment when the Lady turns to see Lancelot. Rossetti depicted Lancelot's contemplation of her 'lovely face'. Neither illustration pleased Tennyson, who took Hunt to task for depicting the Lady caught in the threads of her tapestry, something which is not described in the poem. Hunt explained that he wanted to sum up the whole poem in a single image, and that the entrapment by the threads suggested her "weird fate". The scene fascinated Hunt, who returned to the composition at points throughout his life, finally painting a large scale version shortly before his death. He required assistants as he was too frail to complete it himself. This deeply conceived evocation of the Lady, ensnared within the perfect rounds of her woven reality, is an apt illustration of the mythology of the weaving arts.

In 1888, the poem inspired John William Waterhouse to paint the Lady of Shalott adrift in her funeral boat (illustration, top right). He also painted a variant of Hunt's composition.

The Lady of Shalott reaches Camelot: Out upon the wharf they came, knight and burgher, lord and dame.

Another painting (illustration, right, lower) shows the dead Lady of Shalott at the wharf at Camelot, with King Arthur, Queen Guinevere and the court looking on:

Out upon the wharfs they came,

Knight and burgher, lord and dame,

And round the prow they read her name,

The Lady of Shalott.

Lancelot can be seen, highlighted at the back of the onlookers:

But Lancelot mused a little space;

He said, "She has a lovely face;

God in his mercy lend her grace,

The Lady of Shalott."

[edit] Trivia

Libba Bray's book A Great and Terrible Beauty has section of the poem as an introduction and is recited by several characters in the novel.
Emilie Autumn recorded a song called "Shalott" based on this poem
Loreena McKennitt recorded a fourteen-stanza version of the poem on her album The Visit.
J.M. Prater directed a video short inspired by the poem, the art of Brian Froud and the infamous painting by Sir William Waterhouse. That video can be seen here http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2762831 .
The title of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple novel The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side comes from the poem and there are several references to the poem in the novel.
The poem was used in the 1985 miniseries Anne of Green Gables, in which Anne recites the poem both in the introduction and in the later scene in which Anne and her friends attempt to recreate the story of Elaine. The novel does include a reference to the girls having recently studied "the Tennyson poem", however, looking at the details within both the book and the film, it is clear that this poem is not "The Lady of Shalott", but the relevant part of the Idylls of the King. There are no father and brothers in the Lady of Shalott, and she is alive when she lays herself in the boat.
The poem is recited by Sandy Stranger in Muriel Spark's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie for its oratorical content.
In the film V for Vendetta, V has the painting "The Lady of Shalott" by John William Waterhouse in his home, The Shadow Gallery. It can be seen behind him at one point during the scene when he is fencing his suit of armor.
Domine recorded a song named "The Lady of Shalott" on their album "Ancient Spirit Rising".
In Meg Cabots "Avalon High" Ellie's mother is writing a book on "The Lady of Shalott"