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Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott" and the Theme of Artist Isolationism

Riham Hagona and Adrienne Parrish

“She left the web, she left the loom.../She looked down to Camelot. /Out flew the web and floated wide;/The mirror cracked from side to side;/“The curse is come upon me,” cried/The Lady of Shalott"@Tennyson, Alfred. "The Lady of Shalott," ENG 633: 19th Century Literature and Culture II Course Reader, ed. Lorraine Janzen (Toronto: Ryerson University, 2011) 160-162.

The Lady of Shalott

William Holman Hunt

Alfred Tennyson first wrote his poem "The Lady of Shalott" in 1833. Nearly a decade later, he revised the poem and removed one stanza, leaving the final work at nineteen stanzas in 1842. This exhibit will be dealing with the version published in 1842. This version was also used in the Moxon Tennyson special edition publication, which included accompanying illustrations by Pre- Raphaelite artists (released in 1857). One of the more famous illustrations found in this publication is a woodblock engraving (as pictured on the left) made by British painter and Pre-Raphaelitism founder, William Holman Hunt. Focusing particularly on the scene in the poem which describes the Lady’s moment and realization of her doom, this exhibit will reveal the allusions to artist isolationism made by Tennyson and Hunt through their respective works.

Hunt founded the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood in 1848 along with Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and John Everett Millias. This original founding group was later expanded to a group of seven artists (including Rossetti’s brother). The Brotherhood was established in an effort to reform the artistic movements of the time and in turn reform the misfortunes of society. They claimed that art in itself was a transcendent experience and included intricate details and overpowering colors in their artwork. Many of their artistic compositions were paintings of medieval themes. This was inspired by their interest in medieval culture and artwork. Hunt originally created the woodblock engraving in 1857 to accompany the Moxon publication of the poem. His Pre-Raphaelite views are visible through the illustration’s use of pristine and precise detailing of the Lady of Shalott and her last moments. The Moxon Tennyson publication (which included several of Tennyson’s poems) contained illustrations which were all made by Pre-Raphaelite artists. A simple explanation for these artists’ fascination with Tennyson’s poems (specifically "The Lady of Shalott") is Tennyson’s own obsession with Arthurian and medieval literature and culture. @

Around the time Tennyson was writing "The Lady of Shalott", John Stuart Mill, a prominent British philosopher, published an essay on the creation of poetry. Mill’s essay titled, Thoughts on Poetry and Its Varieties 1833, essentially describes the purpose of poetry as the ability to persuade someone by moving their emotions. Mill also argues that poetry is often inspired by feelings, and can be created in the silence of one's own mediation. Poetry’s uniqueness is then revealed when compared to novel-writing, which is often inspired by and required to describe what Mill calls “outward things”.@The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume I - Autobiography and Literary Essays, ed. John M. Robson and Jack Stillinger, introduction by Lord Robbins (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1981). Chapter:THOUGHTS ON POETRY AND ITS VARIETIES 18331 Mill then makes a case for creating poetry in isolation, and indirectly supports the claim that Tennyson‘s trapped maiden in his poem represents artists in a more general sense. The primary character in Tennyson’s poem, The Lady, is seen to weave her loom inside a locked tower viewing the outside world from a mirror. When she looks away from her mirror and out of her window to gaze on Sir Lancelot her artwork flies out of the window. This scene in Tennyson’s poem suggests that art can be created in isolation, much like the Lady’s web, even though both art forms are inspired by “outward things”; however the art can literally get away from the artist if too heavily influenced by outside factors.

Riham Hagona and Adrienne Parrish

The theme of artist isolationism offers a different view of the life of a creative artist. In this world, a true artist must keep their creative world separate from the materialistic realm they inhabit. This could refer to Tennyson himself as an artist who believes his interactions with the outside world hinder his creativity and can eventually lead to his artistic downfall. In Tennyson’s poem, the Lady of Shalott acts as a symbol of an artist. The underlying message of the poem which highlights this theme of artist isolationism is that typical human wants and needs potentially destroy an artist.

Lord Alfred Tennyson

Tennyson uses an Arthurian figure of his own creation, the Lady, to represent the artist. When the Lady stops her work to interact with the outside world her web is destroyed. This critical scene outlines another angle of artist isolationism by describing the tension between artistic dedication and social responsibility.@ The Lady’s attention is drawn away from her loom when she hears Sir Lancelot singing and she desires to see and perhaps interact with him. By surrendering to social pressures, she loses focus and her art is ruined. Therefore in the world Tennyson has created, the Lady must choose between living in art or outside it, it is impossible for her to have both.@

Tennyson’s poem could also be interpreted as a critique on popular poetry. Perhaps Tennyson is suggesting that an artist's desire for fame and recognition could be the source of their artistic undoing.@The Lady creates her web using a mirrored image of the outside world as her guide. However once she seeks to view the world in its ‘true’ form, her art leaves her and she is cursed. This could then suggest that once the artist loses sight of their artistic intention and starts’ adhering to what is popular, their art loses its vitality. The Lady’s loss of focus on her craft leads to her loss of perspective (the mirror shattering) and eventually causes the loss of her work entirely (her web flying out of the window). Therefore the Lady is literally cursed for seeking recognition from the outside world.

On the contrary, this critique of creating art to please the masses, rather than for art's sake, is completely inverted by the ending of poem. The Lady of Shalott is eventually acknowledged by her beloved Lancelot (and the people of Camelot), even though she abandons her artistic dedication for love. However it is important to note that although the Lady is recognized, she is not accredited for art, but for her beauty. Regardless, she still leaves an impression on the people of Camelot and gains the attention of her love, Sir Lancelot.@

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Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott" and the Theme of Artist Isolationism

Riham Hagona and Adrienne Parrish

The woodblock engraving depicts the Lady of Shalott in the second after looking out the window at the forbidden view of Camelot (and the rest of the world outside her tower). The mirror she is allowed to use as a viewing portal is not clearly portrayed. Instead, the windows in her room--or circular gateways--are occupied by Jesus Christ on the cross and the knight Lancelot riding away from the Lady to Camelot, respectively. Her weaving tapestry has gone haywire and appears to fill nearly half the illustration from the bottom-up. It seems to encircle and almost frame the window that contains Sir Lancelot. @This is an indication that Lancelot is linked to her doom and imminent death. Aside from symbolizing the creative work of an artist, her tapestry may also represent the life of an artist. Evidently this would mean that if an artist allows their life to be consumed by emotions (such as the Lady’s infatuation and admiration of Sir Lancelot), their natural human weaknesses make way for them to reach their mortality. @

The Lady of Shalott represents creativity and artistic spirit. Hunt’s illustration carries on the theme of isolationism which is originally provided by Tennyson’s poem. He stresses the Lady’s turmoil with the erratic character of the tapestry unraveling, and contrasts that with her untroubled expression and Lancelot riding away in the distance. This leaves the viewer with a sense of Hunt’s initial thoughts and impression upon reading the poem. His oil painting (which was also created to accompany the poem) possesses few differences and slightly different details than the wood block engraving, yet the message remains the same: the Lady of Shalott is doomed.

Hunt has always been known to center his artwork around dramatic scenes of truth and realization. His painting, The Shadow of Death, depicts Jesus Christ in his common form standing in an-almost crucified stance. @The vivid painting depicts the truth behind Jesus’ humanity and is another example of Hunt’s Pre-Raphaelite influence. Before this painting, representations of Jesus Christ as a carpenter leading his everyday life were limited. Hunt uses the background of the sunset to indicate that the day has reached its end and Jesus Christ is stretching (which attributes to his crucified posture). His relaxed--almost submissive--expression (while standing in this stance) implies that he is aware of what the future will bring forth and has accepted his fate.

The Shadow of Death

William Holman Hunt

Similarly, the Lady of Shalott possesses a calm and composed look, while her world is slowly deteriorating around her. Therefore, it is evident that Hunt’s choice of depicting the Lady at her moment of awareness was a deliberate remark. In the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood Journals, Hunt explains, that the Lady he depicted represents the defeat of a being that has a preordained responsibility. Upon giving into her carnal desires in pursuit of love (or perhaps companionship), ruination befalls her and her creation is destroyed. @As an artist, Hunt is familiar with Earthly temptations and distractions that appear to an individual. Through the painting, he gives a clearer presentation of this theme of artist isolationism and the rebellion of an artist to these binds. Capturing her at the exact instant of artistic rebellion, his Pre-Raphaelitic disposition demands of him to display her attempt at defiance. However, her resistance is obviously met with negligence and indifference; she is inevitably going to die. @

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Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott" and the Theme of Artist Isolationism

Riham Hagona and Adrienne Parrish

The web created by the Lady of Shalott in and of itself is worth examining. Usually interpreted as the product of a distorted reality, because of the mirror image used to create it, the web is critical to Tennyson’s poem. However Wright argues in her article “A Reflection on Fiction and Art in ‘The Lady of Shalott’” that the mirror's significance as the Lady’s source of artistic inspiration is problematic. Historically speaking, the mirror is a crucial part of the weaving process. It allows the artist to view their work in progress from the correct orientation, as opposed to its inverted state seen on the loom, and mark the weaver’s accuracy. However, it is important to remember that while weaving the image being created is being viewed from the back side or ‘wrong side’. The mirror then simply flips the image to its proper orientation, but the image is still distorted because it is being viewed from the back rather than the front or ‘the right side'.@This then suggests that the mirror does not distort reality for the isolated Lady, but merely enables her to view her art, in its proper orientation. This then calls into question whether the lady is working from the mirror image to create her art, or is just simply using the mirror to examine her work in progress.@ This loom imagery then calls into question, does the Lady’s art reflect reality, or does reality reflect her art? Tennyson’s decision to use a loom to represent the art-making process is extremely significant because it connects the idea of artist isolationism to a much larger debate on the creation of art itself.

The Lady of Shalott

Oil Painting by William Holman Hunt

Finally, ‘the window’ in this crucial scene plays a very important role in the isolated artist’s creation process. When the Lady abandons her work to pursue Sir Lancelot, her mirror shatters, her web flies out of the window, and she is sentenced to death by a curse. This scene then suggests that the Lady’s web will live on, in the outside world, after her death.@ It also suggests that once her art is out in the world, her control over her work ceases to exist, and her art changed nature, it flew. Perhaps Tennyson felt that once art reached left the sphere of isolation, the way the public perceive the work somehow changes its construction. Once the web leaves the Lady’s isolated tower she is condemned to death, but it is safe to assume her work still lives on. @

Hunt’s decision to illustrate the episode depicted in the 13th stanza, the scene of the Lady’s demise, reinforces the theme of artist isolationism found in Tennyson’s poem. Hunt’s wood engraving depicts the Lady choosing to adhere to social responsibility over artistic dedication. Tennyson also brings the ongoing debate concerning the relationship between reality and art to the forefront through his use of the mirrored loom. Furthermore, Hunt’s own interpretation of the poem can be seen in the juxtaposition of the Lady’s calm expression and her crumbling reality, suggesting the inevitability outcome of choosing social responsibility over artistic dedication. Tennyson then ends the poem with the leading Lady being recognized by the outside world she so longed to be apart of. Ironically though, her tapestry that she spent her isolated life creating flies away freely, and she is only received by the public after her death, though not even for her art but for her beauty.

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Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott" and the Theme of Artist Isolationism

Riham Hagona and Adrienne Parrish

Endnotes

1 Tennyson, Alfred. "The Lady of Shalott," ENG 633: 19th Century Literature and Culture II Course Reader, ed. Lorraine Janzen (Toronto: Ryerson University, 2011) 160-162.

2 Sharyn R. Udall, "Between Dream and Shadow: William Holman Hunt's "Lady of Shalott"", Woman's Art Journal (Summer, 1990) 34-38, JSTOR,Woman's Art, Inc., 10 Feb 2011 <http://www.jstor.org/stable/1358385>

3 The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume I - Autobiography and Literary Essays, ed. John M. Robson and Jack Stillinger, introduction by Lord Robbins (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1981). Chapter:THOUGHTS ON POETRY AND ITS VARIETIES 18331

4 Alaya, Flavia M. "Tennyson's 'The Lady of Shalott': The Triumph of Art." Victorian Poetry 8.4 (1970): 273-289. JSTOR. Web. 7 Feb. 2011. 276

5 Alaya, Flavia M. 278

6 Alaya, Flavia M. 273

7 Alaya, Flavia M. 276

8 Elizabeth Nelson, Ladies of Shalott: A Victorian Masterpiece and its Contexts, ed. George P. Landow, 1985, November 30 2004, Victorianweb.org, 12 February 2011 <http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/tennyson/los2.html>

9 George P. Landow, Tennyson's Poetic Project, http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/tennyson/im/improject.html (February 2010)

10 George P Landow, William Holman Hunt and Typological Symbolism. (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1979)

11 Elizabeth Nelson, Ladies of Shalott: A Victorian Masterpiece and its Contexts, ed. George P. Landow, 1985, November 30 2004, Victorianweb.org, 12 February 2011 <http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/tennyson/los2.html>

12 Sharyn R. Udall, "Between Dream and Shadow: William Holman Hunt's "Lady of Shalott"", Woman's Art Journal (Summer, 1990) 34-38, JSTOR,Woman's Art, Inc., 10 Feb 2011 <http://www.jstor.org/stable/1358385>

13 Wright, Jane. "A Reflection on Fiction and Art in 'The Lady of Shalott.'" Victorian Poetry 41.2 (2003): 287-290. JSTOR. Web. 7 Feb. 2011. 287

14 Wright, Jane. 288

15 Wright, Jane. 289

16 Wright, Jane. 289

Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott" and the Theme of Artist Isolationism

Riham Hagona and Adrienne Parrish

Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott" and the Theme of Artist Isolationism

Riham Hagona and Adrienne Parrish

Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott" and the Theme of Artist Isolationism

Riham Hagona and Adrienne Parrish

Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott" and the Theme of Artist Isolationism

Riham Hagona and Adrienne Parrish

Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott" and the Theme of Artist Isolationism

Riham Hagona and Adrienne Parrish

Endnotes

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