Lady of Shallot

A detailed Summary of Lady of Shallot

Tennyson's 1832 poem, "The Lady of Shalott", found itself born again in its revised state

after Tennyson's ten year silent period. In both versions, the Lady of Shalott is a body of

creativity. Her weaving is an artform. Enveloped in the tapestry are images and pictures

of the reflections she sees passing in her magic mirror. The Lady of Shalott is an artist of

both the loom and of images. Tennyson uses this status and her fate to embody the

characteristics of an artist. For example, she is withdrawn in a tower from which she can

see below the workings of a society - Camelot. An artist must, therefore, be secluded and

detached so as to accurately convey the meaning behind his/her subjects and make a

statement on society. However, this portrayal of the detached and elusive artist is even

more clearly defined in specific revisions of the poem between 1832 and 1842. The

deletion of specific descriptive details and the changing of the final stanza proves that

the1842 revised version of Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott" is more effective in

conveying the notability of an artist who detaches and abstracts from his/her subject so as

to make an accurate statement on society.

Specific details are described in the 1832

must remember that Tennyson wanted to convey the idea that artists must be detached

poem are consistent in depicting the image of a shocked crowd peering at the dead body

The Lady of Shalott" (1842, l. 169-171).

The artist reaches its ultimate abstraction by being refused a concrete identity.

concrete statement on the detachment of the artist from society. The final words of the

are excluded from the revised 1842 version. Specifically, images of adornment that add

what his female tragic heroine symbolizes. It is not merely enough to literally have the

of Shalott. She is described as having a "cloudwhite crown of pearl" and a "pearlgarland

velvet from the later version when, at first, he took the time to incorporate them into the

words, the character is no longer an abstract image, felt only in song, to the people of

effectively, she is also hidden away in the ambiguity of the lines. This second version

Approximate Word count = 1036
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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