During the nineteenth century, the cultural expectations of women in the middle and upper class were a model of patient endurance, devotion, domesticity, and submission@Morgan, Thais E. The Poetry of Victorian Masculinities. Cambridge University Press, 2000. Cambridge Collections Online, online. 7 February 2011.- in all, a household angel. "The Lady," trapped in an exaggerated example of this type of existence, leads an empty life: “She knows not what the curse may be/ And so she weaveth steadily/ And little other care hath she/ The Lady of Shalott” (41-45). "The Lady" stays faithful to her artful weaving because she believes herself to be under a curse. The art she creates does not seem to be humanly satisfying,@Tucker, Herbert F. Tennyson and the Doom of Romanticism. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1988. Print. 107.and as "the Lady" watches a ‘curly shepherd-lad’ (57) followed by a ‘long-haired page’ (58) and eventually knights, her [sexual] maturation becomes apparent. And yet ‘in her web she still delights’ (64) because of the ever-present curse that is, in essence, ‘damning her if she does and damning her if she doesn’t’@Tucker, Herbert F. Tennyson and the Doom of Romanticism. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1988. Print. 108.follow her desires. The curse acts as a representation by Tennyson of the lack of roles for women in society. To be a household angel is to dutifully follow all of the rules expected, and to be the number one priority in a woman’s life. All else should come second or not at all.@Wagner, Tamara S. Love and Law in Wilkie Collin's Fictional Families. The Victorian Web, 16 November 2002, online. 17 March 2011. As Jerome Buckley says, the poem ‘explores the maladjustment of the beautiful spirit to ordinary living.'@Tucker, Herbert F., et al. Critical Essays on Alfred Lord Tennyson. New York, NY: Macmillan House Publishing Company, 1993. Print. 85.

Where the greatest romantic moment of the poem lies, therein lies the greatest irony of "The Lady of Shalott." "The Lady" gives up her life, ‘her eyes darkened wholly’ (148), for her love for Lancelot. And yet, whenever the handsome knight sees the Lady, his comment is: “She has a lovely face/ God in his mercy lend her grace/ The Lady of Shalott” (169-171). This comment, “ironically defective,” as Herbert Tucker terms it,@Tucker, Herbert F. Tennyson and the Doom of Romanticism. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1988. Print.113. shows that Lancelot only sees the surface of the tragedy- the loss of a woman with a pleasing appearance. He sees her “[l]ying, robed in snowy white” (136), which symbolizes the angelic appearance of "the Lady." She would seem to be the ideal ‘household angel.’ We would argue, then, that Tennyson is making a comment on the depth in which women were valued. Simply a lovely appearance and aptitude for docility and a child-like need for protection would place a woman on a pedestal.@Morgan, Thais E. The Poetry of Victorian Masculinities. Cambridge University Press 2000. Cambridge Collections Online, online. 7 February 2011. Tennyson is questioning this,@Tucker, Herbert F., et al. Critical Essays on Alfred Lord Tennyson. New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1993. Print. 85. as he is commenting on the fact that there is more behind a lady than her outward appearance; there are true and valuable motives behind her actions. This is the case with "the Lady" in his poem, and Lancelot does not see that. In fact, the sketch by Rosetti, The Lady of Shalott, which we have chosen to contextualize our argument, visually depicts "the Lady" as the weaker sex and supports this point.