Transcript The Lady of Shalott

The Lady of Shalott
Jermaine Carlton
Kianna Webb
Giovonti King
English 4
Mrs. L Johnson
D7
The Lady of Shalott
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Alfred Lord Tennyson
Brief Biography
Historical Background
Brief summary of the plot
Thesis Statement
Alfred Lord Tennyson
Brief Biography
• Alfred Tennyson was born August 6th, 1809, at
Somersby, Lincolnshire, fourth of twelve children of
George and Elizabeth (Fytche) Tennyson. The poet's
grandfather had violated tradition by making his
younger son, Charles, his heir, and arranging for the
poet's father to enter the ministry. (See the Tennyson
Family Tree.) The contrast of his own family's relatively
straitened circumstances to the great wealth of his
aunt Elizabeth Russell and uncle Charles Tennyson
(who lived in castles!) made Tennyson feel particularly
impoverished and led him to worry about money all his
life.
Alfred Lord Tennyson
Historical Background
Tennyson (1809-1892) is not the last Romantic, but he is the last poet of the nineteenthcentury to fully capture, in his early poems, the lyrical spirit of his great
predecessors. An early poem like “Timbuctoo” echoes the naturalistic cadences of
Byron and Wordsworth while also resonating with the voice of the Victorian bardsage to be. Tennyson’s attitude toward nature, like that of his strong precursors, is
hard to represent in singular or unified terms. Whatever consolations nature offers
in Tennyson are almost always overshadowed by a sense that nature does not care
about human beings or that nature swallows up petty human concerns in its vastness
and impersonal timelessness. Because his beloved Arthur Henry Hallam died of a
sudden brain aneurysm at the age of 22, Tennyson came to doubt most of the faith
of his youth, many of the details of a theology that asks humans to believe in a
loving God–Hallam is dead at 22–who cares about us; Hallam is dead and
Tennyson seeks some consolation in a world that now seems increasingly defined
by scientific facts: the world has been here for countless eons of time that humans
can barely imagine, the dinosaurs and other long-lived forms of life may have ruled
the planet for millions of years, but now they are reduced to dust, and human
history is just a tiny blip on the scale of biological, much less geological, time.
Brief summary of the plot
The Lady of Shalott borrows from the Arthurian legend
and is a poem about a woman who is isolated in a
tower with a curse hanging over her. She cannot
venture outside into the world to be with others. What
is worse, she cannot even look directly outside. She sits
at her loom weaving daily and looks at shadows of the
world cast in a mirror. She envies the freedom of
others and grows sick of her limitations. When Sir
Lancelot appears, she spies a gallant knight and dares
to look outside. The curse is set in motion as she races
toward Camelot in a boat. Yet, the Lady of Shalott
cannot escape her doom.
Thesis statement
• This the case for the Lady who lives in
isolation in a tower on an island called Shalott,
unable to participate in daily work or
activities. The Lady perfectly embodies the
Victorian image of the ideal woman, virginal,
mysterious and dedicated to her womanly
tasks, such as weaving tapestry.
Theme and Tone
The theme of this poem is "live every day to the
fullest, no regrets, make the best out of what
you are given."
The lady was put in a bad situation all of her
life, never realizing it. She made the best of it.
She was quietly content until Sir Lancelot
passed by. She gave up a life of nothing to be
with her true love if only for moments.
Tone (Cont.)
• At the opening of the poem the Lady is calm,
but frustrated (she does not like being locked
away in her tower). After she sees Lancelot,
she becomes agitated, and turns to look out
through the window (which is forbidden).
When the lady has broken the curse she again
becomes calm, as she prepares for death, but
this time it is the calm of resignation - one
might almost say satisfaction.
Figurative language and poetic Devices
The poet uses figurative language, which includes, metaphors, and personification.
Metaphor: Suggests that the fields clothe the world....
• In the poem, it used a lot of poetic/literacy techniques. Such as : Personification - "beard
barley" (part 1, stanza 4, line 2) the barley doesn't have a beard but it has sort of long wheatlooking type that looks like a beard.
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Pathetic Fallacy - "In the stormy east-wind straining" (Part 4, stanza 1, line 1) *Pathetic Fallacy
is when the human feelings/emotions are the same as the weather, art etc
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Similie - "Like to some branch of stars we see" (Part 3, stanza 2, line 2) Basically the bridle of
the horse was sparkling, like the starry skies.
* A similie is when you compare one thing with another, oftenly use the word "like" or "as"
There's more personification - "And the silent isle imbowers" (Part 1 , stanza 2, line 8)
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I think there's also a assonance (I'm not sure though) - Whillows whiten, aspens "quiver"
(Part 1, stanza 2, line 1) and Little breezes dusk and "shiver" (Part 1, stanza 2 line 2) "Quiver"
and "Shiver" are the assonance that are use.
And if you notice there's a rhyme scheme which is "aaaabcccb"
Poem Interpretation
• The lady of Shallot is a woman that is not allowed to see
the town of Camelot. She lives in a tower and is not
allowed to look out the window as she can see the town
but she has placed a mirror so she can see out her window
but just not far enough so she can see the town. She
weaves what she can see. She is not allowed to because
she has a curse put on her. Sir Lancelot visits her everyday
but apart from him nobody knows her. We do not know
why he visits the lady of shallot. One day she gets fed up
and looks out the window and the curse is upon her. she is
then found the next morning floating down the river of
Camelot in a boat dead. on the boat she has in engraved
her name...The lady of Shallot.
Conclusion
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The Lady of Shalott is a magical being who lives alone on an island upstream from King Arthur's
Camelot. Her business is to look at the world outside her castle window in a mirror, and to weave
what she sees into a tapestry. She is forbidden by the magic to look at the outside world directly.
The farmers who live near her island hear her singing and know who she is, but never see her.
The Lady sees ordinary people, loving couples, and knights in pairs reflected in her mirror. One day,
she sees the reflection of Sir Lancelot riding alone. Although she knows that it is forbidden, she
looks out the window at him. The mirror shatters, the tapestry flies off on the wind, and the Lady
feels the power of her curse.
An autumn storm suddenly arises. The lady leaves her castle, finds a boat, writes her name on it,
gets into the boat, sets it adrift, and sings her death song as she drifts down the river to Camelot.
The locals find the boat and the body, realize who she is, and are saddened. Lancelot prays that God
will have mercy on her soul.
This is one of Tennyson's most popular poems. The Pre-Raphaelites liked to illustrate it. Waterhouse
made three separate paintings of "The Lady of Shalott". Agatha Christie wrote a Miss Marple
mystery entitled "The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side", which was made into a movie starring
Angela Lansbury. Tirra Lirra by the River, by Australian novelist Jessica Anderson, is the story of a
modern woman's decision to break out of confinement.
Work cited
• http://www.shmoop.com