Poetry Prompted Writing - Victorian Period

Rough Draft:

In Alfred Lord Tennyson’s The Lady of Shalott, the paradoxical nature of isolation and artistic denius is explored through the narratice of a maiden weaver who is forbidden from looking upon the bustling Camelot, and is forced to create woven images only by observing the world through a mystical mirror. Through extensive use of both mystical and natural symbolism, visual imagery, and extended metaphor, Tennyson creates a haunting yet whimsical portrayal of a woman whose deepest desire is to escape her imprisonment. With the maiden’s ultimate death, Tennyson imparts that although it’s admirable to experience and participate actively in life, isolation is what truly allows for the creation of art.

From the beginning of the poem, the speaker floods our visual senses by painting a picturesque image of the city of Camelot, where “up and down the people go / Gazing where the lilies blow / Round an island there below / The Island of Shalott” (7-9). Immediately, the bustling image of the townspeople of Camelot directly juxtaposes what is introduced later as the impenetrable and stoic “Four grey walls and four grey towers” (15) that surrounds the Lady’s imprisonment. In addition, the island of Shalott is surrounded by a river; this visual of nature symbolizes progression and change, both important things that the Lady lacks and therefore seeks.

This natural imagery and symbolism shifts to become more supernatural and mystical in Part II of the poem. The speaker introduces the coy Lady as weaving “a magic web with colours gay” (    ). Athough her artwork is filled with joyous tones and pigments \, the web is a reference to Greek mythology, which commonly associates the weaver as creating beuatiful desgins, but being trapped and stuck despite their creation. Bother literally and figuratively, the Lady is imprisoned by her mysterious curse, which both physically prevents her from looking at Camelot and mentally barres her from liberating her mind from er artistic isolation.

Through the rest of Part II, the separation between Camelort and the Lady of Shalott is continuously emphasized through the rhyme scheme, which incudes “Camelot” and “Shalott” in every stanza. Although physically separated, the two are ironically connected toether by the unchanging masculine rhyme.

Further in the poem, a magical mirror is revealed as another supernatural symbol. Through this device, “Shadows of the world appear”, where the Lady is able to see the reflection of “the surly village-churls / And the red cloackscloaks of market girls” (   ). Although the lady is able to use the mirror to create her web and weave art, she feels that she can only see “shaodws” which are not clear images, but scenes which are indirect and removed by one dimension.