HOME News Classroom Community Publications Search

The Man Behind "The Lady"

Portia Favro and Marilee Devries

Commentary for The Lady of Shalott

Jerome J. McGann

When one pictures the Victorian Era, one may immediately visualize men in black coats and perhaps women in full dresses with lace collars based on visual images they have seen. However, poetry created during this time period (roughly the middle of the 19th century), depicts a different kind of world through illustration in various contexts.

Alfred Lord Tennyson, a popular poet during the Victorian Era, wrote the poem “The Lady of Shalott” in 1832, which can be seen as a comment on the social practice and role of women within the society. Artists throughout the period and later in the century accompanied the poem with a plethora of interpretations of "the Lady" and the story of the poem, which comments on how men within the middle class got to make decisions, rules and conclusions about where women are placed, and how they should be seen to act, within society.

After a first read, one often considers Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “The Lady of Shalott” to be a beautiful, albeit tragic, love story. However, when read with a critical perspective and in context with the Victorian era (during which it was written) and the place Tennyson held in society at the time of publication, an entirely different connotation of the poem can be discovered.

Tennyson was twenty-three years old when he wrote “The Lady of Shalott” in 1832. At this point he was a new name to world of poetry, having published only one book of poems two years earlier.@ It would be many years before his success and popularity would lead to him being appointed Poet Laureate.@ He held a societal role as a middle-class man, and was newly educated at Cambridge - although he was required to drop out before completing his degree due to the death of his father.@ As far as records show, romance was scarce to non-existent at this point in Tennyson’s life, which makes one wonder where the apparent romantic tone of “The Lady of Shalott”, complete with ‘bold Sir Lancelot’ originates.

However, the tone of the poem, and the overall message, can be interpreted as something other than romantic; interpreted to stand as a comment on certain facets of society, made by the poet himself. In this exhibit, we will examine comments made on the role of women during the Victorian era that we argue can be found in “The Lady of Shalott.”

In January 1832, the year the poem was published, a letter@ was sent from Arthur Hallam, Tennyson’s best friend, to Emily Tennyson, the poet’s sister.The letter, sent from Hallam’s location at Trinity College, was in regard to Tennyson’s delicate health. Tennyson, who was prone to bouts of paranoia in fear of developing a mental disorder (due to a family history staggered with several cases of the malady@), appeared to be suffering from a type of depression. In the letter, Hallam wrote ‘the more morbidly intense our inward contemplation of ourselves is, the more hollow and delusive we consider any temporary and apparently irrelevant diversion.'@ This suggests the dark times Tennyson was experiencing and the difficulties his family was having in rousing him.

This information holds a particular significance to the meanings that can be read within "The Lady of Shalott", which Tennyson penned within the same year as his spell of disheartenment. As Herbert Tucker writes, '“The Lady of Shalott” clearly narrates the world’s failure to requite the desires of the self”@. An argument can in fact be made, within the context of Hallam’s letter, that Tennyson felt that the world in which he lived, the dominate culture, did not provide the fulfillment one needed to be happy. Tennyson used these feelings to make comments on society, which he in turn shares through his poem, “The Lady of Shalott.” The female gender of "the Lady," and the limitations and tragedy she encounters in the poem, lend to Tennyson’s apparent critique on the cultural role that women were expected to hold in the Victorian era.

A letter found among Tennyson's things.

Portia Favro and Marilee Devries

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@- 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,@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’@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.@ As Jerome Buckley says, the poem ‘explores the maladjustment of the beautiful spirit to ordinary living.'@

"Elegy for Darkness- The Lady of Shalott"

Donato Giancola- 2004

While the poem opens with a world that obeys the natural culture cycles of the time, "the Lady" breaks this cycle when she follows her desire for Lancelot.

                       “She left the web, she left the loom,
   She made three paces through the room,
She saw the water-lily bloom,
                        She saw the helmet and the plume”
                                                                           (109-112)

"The Lady" experiences an awakening, both mental and sexual (her sexuality “blooms” as she thinks of Lancelot in his knight’s gear)@ and enjoys the freedom of her choice. However, this freedom can be seen to result in "the Lady’s" death. We would argue that Tennyson is using "the Lady’s" physical demise to signify the social death of women who went against the norm during the Victorian era. A disgraced woman would suffer ultimate social consequences in society- often, she would be sent away, and be hidden from the world in which she was once a part.@

"The new-born love for something, for someone, in the wide world from which she has been excluded, takes her out of the region of shadows into that of realities."

-Tennyson, on "The Lady of Shallot"@

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,@ 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.@ Tennyson is questioning this,@ 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.

« prev

The Man Behind "The Lady"

Portia Favro and Marilee Devries

The Lady of Shalott (reproduction)

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Before creating a final piece of work, most artists will create a rough sketch or outline of what their general idea is for the piece. During the Victorian Era, some artists chose to create pieces that may have been inspired by literature to create engravings. Dante Gabriel Rossetti created a sketch depicting a scene from “The Lady of Shalott”, which would eventually be made into a woodcut engraving@. The sketch was done in pencil, pen and brown ink between 1856-57, and depicts Part IV of the poem, as the Lady is dying@. As the visual object, this sketch gives a base for how the engraving would look, and hints at social practices during the Victorian era.

The engraving of Rossetti’s image can also be seen as another visual object, especially through its depiction@. The engraving itself was woodcut, and shows the same scene as the sketch: of Lancelot leaning and appearing to be watching over the Lady of Shalott. This can be seen as almost as a controlling or menacing action by Lancelot over the Lady, and her position beneath him is a visual of lower social status. Arguably, this could be depicting the suppression of women and enforcing their role as a lower-ranked citizen in society.

Artist William Holman Hunt was another artist who created visuals for an illustrated book @by Edward Moxon of Tennyson’s work called Poems in 1857@ (which Rosetti also created illustrations for). Looking at the volume, which was being created during the Victorian Era and nearly 25 years since “The Lady of Shalott” was first published, the comments upon society through Tennyson’s work comes through the illustrations.@

In Hunt’s case, his discussion about the process of creating visuals to accompany Tennyson’s words may lead one to interpret them as a comment upon society. For example, Hunt’s illustration of the Lady shows a female character slumped over and physically smaller, showing visual hierarchy. This is a technique used throughout generations of artists internationally, which depicts the most important subject in a illustration through size. However, Hunt created another sketch which shows the Lady standing, looking out the window (connecting to a moment within the poem when she is looking out over the lovers) meeting Lancelot, the departure from her island, and her movement toward death@. Looking through the sketches and commentary of “The Lady” there is no mention of a female perspective or model for the illustrations for Poems@Hunt, William Homan,Pre-Raphaelitism and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood,(1914)
published by Publisher:E. P. Dutton and Company. Pages 73-74
http://www.rossettiarchive.org/docs/nd467.h9.1914.2.rad.html.

In closer relation to Moxon’s Poems, Dante Gabriel Rossetti also contributed to creating visuals, such as the woodcut engraving that appeared at the end of the book. His sketch, discussed above, shows The Lady in a lower place of hierarchy, and shows a moment in Victorian society where women may have experienced “social death” and the notion of being trapped inside as the “Angel of the Household”.

Trial Sketch for “The Lady of Shalott”

William Holman Hunt

Trial Sketch for “The Lady of Shalott”

William Holman Hunt

« prev

The Man Behind "The Lady"

Portia Favro and Marilee Devries

The writer Elizabeth Nelson argues in her work, “The Lady of Shallot” that artists of the time show “the poem in a number of ways, the most popular of which include variations on the themes of the embowered lady isolated from life and love and the conflict between the artist's own sensual vision and his need to experience life directly.” @

As there was a psychological and societal tone and need for women to be kept within the bounds of a home setting for protection and to serve a purpose during the Victorian Period, Tennyson’s poem shows a similar situation in “The Lady of Shalott”. @

According to Hunt in a commentary about Poems, he says that during a discussion with the publisher, Moxon about the book and The Lady that, “The Lady of Shalott" was the picture and character he cared for ‘the most of all’(page 74).”@ Perhaps this is a moment of connection between Tennyson, Moxon and Hunt within Poems, as their is an underlying feeling to express and tell this woman’s story and perhaps reveal a comment upon society - even with the separation of time.

The Lady of Shalott (reproduction)

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Another way to look at Tennyson’s role in commenting on women in Victorian society is through the eyes of the Pre-Raphaelites, a radical group developed in 1849 that challenged the normalities of artistic methods@. According to writer Erin Frauenhofer’s article, “Men vs. Women: Illustration ‘The Lady of Shallot’”, artists were typically trained at the Royal Academys throughout Europe, and the Pre-Raphaelites were challenging and rebelling against the teachings@. For example, Frauenhofer says that “Royal Academy schools, which emphasized pyramidal compositions of figures, imbalanced lighting, and the prominence of tone and shadow at the expense of color."@ The Pre-Raphaelites instead focused on using more two-dimensional and flat figures, and realism (like a photograph) within their art, instead of playing up various parts of the visual hierarchy.@

This art movement connects to the “Lady of Shalott” as an inspiring subject, whom male painters used to show different roles of women in Victorian society. It is argued that the poem itself “appealed to these artists because of its eroticized medieval setting and tragic subject, popular themes in Pre-Raphaelite art...painted various scenes from the poem, capturing their fascination with themes of tragic love, the beautiful, imprisoned woman figure, and the conflicted role of the artist.”@ These pieces show how men viewed women in society largely as ornaments and used to fill a very specific role as “seen but not heard” and to be visually appealing but not insightful with conversations.

In contrast, while male artists may have had a more sexualized portrayal of “The Lady”, female painters who emerged during the Victorian Period such as Elizabeth Siddal, Inez Warry and Florence Rutland also created their own versions of the Lady.@ Overall, the female interpretation was a less dramatic and perhaps more realistic view of women in society - touching and showing Pre-Raphaelite views. Through Tennyson’s words, artists were depicting various interpretations and views of women from the text in Victorian society, which do not all necessarily agree with one another.

« prev

The Man Behind "The Lady"

Portia Favro and Marilee Devries

Looking closer into the poem itself, writer Elizabeth Nelson brings up a point in her piece “The Embowered Woman: Pictorial Interpretations of "The Lady of Shalott" about Elizabeth Siddal, the wife of Rossetti, and her view of the text and comments on society.@ As Dante was working on Poems in 1857, it may be probable that Siddal was also in contact with “The Lady of Shalott” around the Victorian Era as well and created a visual interpretation (which was also one of the first known). @

Her painting of the Lady may have been a reflection of her own role as a woman in the society. Nelson says, “Siddal seems to have identified with the more negative aspects of the embowered woman dying for love...the Lady is seated at the loom, looking over her shoulder through the window into the exterior world as the web bursts and the mirror cracks. The mirror, in which the reflection of Lancelot can be seen, appears on the opposite wall. Like Waterhouse's version, this work clearly defines the interior world of the woman and the exterior world of the man.”@ This acts almost as a personal account of how women were perhaps feeling repressed in Victorian society, and connected to literary characters to show similar experiences.

Through each stroke of a brush, thought of interpretation and word of written text, Tennyson’s “The Lady of Shalott” had various meaning to both men and women. Through the use of art, it can be argued that Tennyson’s words can be seen as a comment on how Victorian society treated women as a whole, with stereotypes, social norms and repression. Visual hierarchy and gender roles come into play, reflecting on how people within the era treated each other, which can be reflected by the Lady.

Whether one views "The Lady of Shalott" through the lens of its relevancy to Victorian culture, or its place within the artistic world - Tennyson's poem provides a valuable insight about the roles and comments on women. His words weave a picture of a society that may have treated women similar to the Lady within the poem, and reflects this notion upon his readers.

And at the closing of the day
She loosed the chain, and down she lay;
The broad stream bore her far away,
The Lady of Shalott
(lines 132-135)

*We used the spelling of "Shalott" from the course reader, but did keep the same spelling of "Shallot" if it was referenced within a specific text.

« prev

The Man Behind "The Lady"

Portia Favro and Marilee Devries

Endnotes

1 Perry, Seamus. Alfred Tennyson. Tavistock, UK: Northcote House Publishers, Ltd, 2005. Print. 8.

2 Perry, Seamus. Alfred Tennyson.Tavistock, UK: Northcote House Publishers, Ltd, 2005. Print. 7.

3 Perry, Seamus. Alfred Tennyson. Tavistock, UK: Northcote House Publishers, Ltd, 2005. Print. 5.

4 Hallam, Arthur Henry. Letter. Trinity College, England, 1832. Web.

5 Everett, Glenn. Alfred Tennyson: A Brief Biography. Tennessee: University of Tennessee at Martin, 2004. Print. 8.

6 Hallam, Arthur Henry. Letter. Trinity College, England, 1832. Web.

7 Tucker, Herbert F. Tennyson and Doom of Romanticism. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1988. Print.100.

8 Morgan, Thais E. The Poetry of Victorian Masculinities. Cambridge University Press, 2000. Cambridge Collections Online, online. 7 February 2011.

9 Tucker, Herbert F. Tennyson and the Doom of Romanticism. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1988. Print. 107.

10 Tucker, Herbert F. Tennyson and the Doom of Romanticism. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1988. Print. 108.

11 Wagner, Tamara S. Love and Law in Wilkie Collin's Fictional Families. The Victorian Web, 16 November 2002, online. 17 March 2011.

12 Tucker, Herbert F., et al. Critical Essays on Alfred Lord Tennyson. New York, NY: Macmillan House Publishing Company, 1993. Print. 85.

13 Tucker, Herbert F. Tennyson and the Doom of Romanticism. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1988. Print. 107.

14 Joseph, Gerhard. Tennyson and the Text. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1992. Print. 106.

15 Joseph, Gerhard. Tennyson and the Text. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1992. Print.105.

16 Tucker, Herbert F. Tennyson and the Doom of Romanticism. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1988. Print.113.

17 Morgan, Thais E. The Poetry of Victorian Masculinities. Cambridge University Press 2000. Cambridge Collections Online, online. 7 February 2011.

18 Tucker, Herbert F., et al. Critical Essays on Alfred Lord Tennyson. New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1993. Print. 85.

19

Rossetti, Dante Gabriel.The Lady of Shalott (sketch). 1856-1857

20
Rossetti, Dante Gabriel.The Lady of Shalott (sketch). 1856-1857

21 Marillier, H.C., Dante Gabriel Rossetti, An Illustrated Memorial of His Art and Life, 1899. Engraving from http://www.rossettiarchive.org/zoom/sa21.m.img.html

22 Hunt, William Homan,Pre-Raphaelitism and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood,(1914)
published by Publisher:E. P. Dutton and Company. Pages 70, 73-74

23 Nelson, Elizabeth, "The Lady of Shalott", Adapted fromRossetti, Dante Gabriel.The Lady of Shalott (sketch). 1856-1857.http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/tennyson/losillus1.html

24 Hunt, William Homan,Pre-Raphaelitism and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood,(1914)
published by Publisher:E. P. Dutton and Company. Pages 73-74
http://www.rossettiarchive.org/docs/nd467.h9.1914.2.rad.html

25 Hunt, William Homan,Pre-Raphaelitism and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood,(1914)
published by Publisher:E. P. Dutton and Company. Pages 73-74
http://www.rossettiarchive.org/docs/nd467.h9.1914.2.rad.html

26 Hunt, William Homan,Pre-Raphaelitism and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood,(1914)
published by Publisher:E. P. Dutton and Company. Pages 73-74
http://www.rossettiarchive.org/docs/nd467.h9.1914.2.rad.html

27
Nelson, Elizabeth "The Empowered Woman", Pictorial Interpretations of 'The Lady of Shalott'" Adapted from the author's "Tennyson and the Ladies of Shalott,"Ladies of Shalott: A Victorian Masterpiece and its Contexts, Ed. George P. Landow, Brown U.: 1979. http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/tennyson/losbower.html

28
Nelson, Elizabeth "The Empowered Woman", Pictorial Interpretations of 'The Lady of Shalott'" Adapted from the author's "Tennyson and the Ladies of Shalott,"Ladies of Shalott: A Victorian Masterpiece and its Contexts, Ed. George P. Landow, Brown U.: 1979. http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/tennyson/losbower.html

29 Hunt, William Homan,Pre-Raphaelitism and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood,(1914)
published by Publisher:E. P. Dutton and Company. Pages 73-74
http://www.rossettiarchive.org/docs/nd467.h9.1914.2.rad.html

30 Frauenhofer, Erin, "Men vs. Women: Illustrating 'The Lady of Shalott'", Boston University, 2003. http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/tennyson/frauenhofer.html

31 Frauenhofer, Erin, "Men vs. Women: Illustrating 'The Lady of Shalott'", Boston University, 2003. http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/tennyson/frauenhofer.html

32 Frauenhofer, Erin, "Men vs. Women: Illustrating 'The Lady of Shalott'", Boston University, 2003. http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/tennyson/frauenhofer.html

33 Frauenhofer, Erin, "Men vs. Women: Illustrating 'The Lady of Shalott'", Boston University, 2003. http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/tennyson/frauenhofer.html

34 Frauenhofer, Erin, "Men vs. Women: Illustrating 'The Lady of Shalott'", Boston University, 2003. http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/tennyson/frauenhofer.html

35 Frauenhofer, Erin, "Men vs. Women: Illustrating 'The Lady of Shalott'", Boston University, 2003. http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/tennyson/frauenhofer.html

36 Nelson, Elizabeth "The Empowered Woman", Pictorial Interpretations of 'The Lady of Shalott'" Adapted from the author's "Tennyson and the Ladies of Shalott,"Ladies of Shalott: A Victorian Masterpiece and its Contexts, Ed. George P. Landow, Brown U.: 1979. http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/tennyson/losbower.html

37 Nelson, Elizabeth "The Empowered Woman", Pictorial Interpretations of 'The Lady of Shalott'" Adapted from the author's "Tennyson and the Ladies of Shalott,"Ladies of Shalott: A Victorian Masterpiece and its Contexts, Ed. George P. Landow, Brown U.: 1979. http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/tennyson/losbower.html

38 Nelson, Elizabeth "The Empowered Woman", Pictorial Interpretations of 'The Lady of Shalott'" Adapted from the author's "Tennyson and the Ladies of Shalott,"Ladies of Shalott: A Victorian Masterpiece and its Contexts, Ed. George P. Landow, Brown U.: 1979. http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/tennyson/losbower.html

The Man Behind "The Lady"

Portia Favro and Marilee Devries

The Man Behind "The Lady"

Portia Favro and Marilee Devries

The Man Behind "The Lady"

Portia Favro and Marilee Devries

The Man Behind "The Lady"

Portia Favro and Marilee Devries

The Man Behind "The Lady"

Portia Favro and Marilee Devries

The Man Behind "The Lady"

Portia Favro and Marilee Devries

Endnotes

Links

Page 1

Page 2