This article will concentrate on art as a central concern in The Lady of Shalott.
Poetic Structure
Tennyson’s mastery in craftsmanship can be seen in the poem’s intricate structure. The poem is divided into four numbered parts, then broken down to discrete stanzas, each with a rhyme scheme of quadruple and triple ply, and in the words of Herbert F. Tucker, “insists at every turn that we acknowledge [the poem’s] artfulness.” This reinforces Art as being key to an understanding of The Lady of Shalott.
Juxtaposing Camelot and Shalott
“Camelot” and “Shalott” are articulated in nearly every stanza. This is most simply explained as creating a dichotomy between company and isolation, as well as art and life.
Initially, the two sides ignore each other. The Camelot villagers busy with their reaping of “barley and rye”, the Lady’s presence or song of little effect to their lives. On her part, the Lady observes Camelot, but is altogether disinterested; “little other care hath she” than her intense weaving.
Art and Weaving
The Lady’s act of weaving might be seen as a synecdoche for the creation of art, and how “in her web she still delights/To weave the mirror’s magic sights” shows a sense of satisfaction, and lack of concern for the outside as she strives to recreate the reflections in the mirror.
Her role in life is as an observer rather than actor, and although her isolation represents a zone where she can work on art, a reference that artists need to be isolated from society to create the sublime, there are negative implications.
Mirror/Distance from Life
Harold Bloom states that although Shalott can be understood as a “safe haven for artists”, the Lady’s state of existence is far from desirable: “She is imprisoned within the tower and the conditions of that imprisonment render her paralyzed and immobile.”
Part II of the poem exemplifies this with elaborate descriptions of life outside the castle, with a strong sense of life about Camelot; the highway winds, “river eddy whirls” and varied people from villagers, to knights pass. There red in “red cloaks” and “crimson clad” pages signify life, and there is “plumes and lights/And music” even during funerals.
Nevertheless, despite the clarity the mirror’s reflection yields, for the Lady only “shadows of the world appear.” The Lady’s declaration that “I am half sick of shadows” is significant, marking a transition from her initial acceptance, to her realization of her stifled existence. Although her tower, as a field of art might be considered sublime and consecrated, yet it is also characterized by dullness, pallor, and isolation.
Sir Lancelot in The Lady of Shalott
In an excerpt from Christopher Rick’s biography, Tennyson, Lancelot is identified as underscoring the theme of destructive love. The dazzling Lancelot epitomizes the love, colour and passion the Lady’s life lacks.
Lancelot is described as “red-cross knight” for whom “The sun came dazzling thro’ the leaves/And flamed upon [his] brazen greaves”. The red in his aspect echoes the earlier use of the colour to signify life, which is also given form in how his helmet “Burn’d like one burning flame” as he moved as “Some bearded meteor, trailing light.”
Lancelot’s effect is shattering, to say the least. Building on Christopher Rick’s idea that the mirror is a form of protection against life, the Lady’s is putting away that protection, as she finally leaves her web and loom and “look’d down to Camelot”. This manifests in her mirror, which is “crack’d from side to side”.
The Lady of Shalott’s Death
The Lady’s death is enchanting. Upon her boat, she drifts upon the “glassy countenance” of the river, “singing her last song”, even as “her blood was frozen slowly,/And her eyes were darken’d wholly”. The measured sibilance, unerring rhyme, and balanced iambic meter create a sound when read out, which contributes to a sense of purity and serenity in her death, as well as poignant sadness. Her beauty is maintained to the end in the “lovely face” which the villagers and Lancelot finally see.
The Lady of Shalott might present the conflict that “the end of artistic isolation leads to the death of creativity.”(Bloom) As the Lady reaches to access the real world, she crosses a boundary, for which death is the result.
The Lady of Shalott is a poem that can be appreciated for its sense of enchantment, mystery, and beauty. Nevertheless, there is a certain ambiguity couched within it that makes closer examination worthwhile.
Bibliography:
Alfred Lord Tennyson: Selected Poems Edited by Christopher Ricks
Alfred, Lord Tennyson: Bloom’s Major Poets Edited by Harold Bloom
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