Preview

The Lady Of Shalott

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
778 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Lady Of Shalott
Fools Love

In this narrative poem The Lady of Shalott imprudently makes decisions that will later cost her, her life. Four gray towers and four gray walls embower the Lady of Shalott, who cannot look down on Camelot or a curse is put upon her. In her mirror she gazes at a striking red-cross knight and foolishly believes to have fallen in love. This knight had no idea of her existence and he too was love crazed for another woman. The Lady of Shalott was content dwelling within the castle walls and weaving vivid tapestry. The Lady of Shalott neglects to realize that what she feels is a forbidden love and that love at first sight is impossible. The tragic and ironic theme of love causes the Lady of Shalott to make foolish decisions. …show more content…
In addition this man was foreign to her, she knew nothing about this handsome knight she fell head over heels for. Later identified as Lancelot, this red- cross knight is compared to the rarity of a shooting star and his passion to a burning flame. Thoughtlessly the Lady of Shalott leaves the loom, makes three paces and gazes downward to where Lancelot stood, bringing the curse upon her. Little did she know, Sir Lancelot had an infatuation with Queen Guinevere and could not fall in love with a mere middle class woman . Tragically singing in her last song the Lady of Shalott dies along with her proscribed love for Lancelot before reaching the wharfs of Camelot. A gleaming shape she floated by Camelot and when laying his eyes upon the dead-pale face of the Lady of Shalott, Lancelot simply acknowledges that she has a pretty
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Camelot Research Paper
    • 588 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Camelot Research Paper

    Sir lancelot du lake was carried off by the enchantress vivien, The Lady of the Lake, who in time sent him to Arthur’s court. She did a great job a teaching him, for her careful education and his love for queen Guinevere set him off on a path to become the greatest knight in camelot and produced the very model of chivalry. People are often confused because in the chivalric code it says you should not steal another man’s woman but in launcelot’s case he is justified because before King…

    • 588 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Love In Camelot, Book Two: What Endure
    • 130 Words
    • 1 Page

    Love In Camelot, Book Two: What Endure

    Tales of Love in Camelot, Book Two: What Endures takes a deep look into the hearts and bedchambers of Camelot's knights, king, and loyal subjects. Nothing is…

    • 130 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Comparing Wart's The Once And Future King
    • 643 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Comparing Wart's The Once And Future King

    The third book focuses its main point on a young knight named Lancelot who grows to be Authors greatest knight and best friend. Lancelot, who was hopelessly falling for Queen Guenever, sets out on a quest which ended with him being tricked into sleeping with a girl named Elaine. Guenever is jealous of Elaine, and her jealousy drives Lancelot insane leaving him to roam England as a wild man, ill-treated by everyone he meets. Elaine finds Lancelot and nurses him back to health. Lancelot leaves Camelot on two separate occasions to spend time with her and their son, Galahad. Meanwhile, Arthur’s kingdom begins to dwindle and he keeps his knights occupied by sending them to find the Holy Grail. Only three knights, Sir Bors, Sir Percival, and Sir Galahad, are pure enough to find the holy vessel. Lancelot returns a holy man and for a while his love for God makes him stay away from Guenever, but after he rescues her from a kidnapper, they begin their affair again. The destruction of Camelot becomes inevitable. Mordred, Arthur’s son, plots revenge against his father. Arthur is trapped into acknowledging the affair between Lancelot and Guenever, which forces Arthur to prosecute her. Lancelot rescues Guenever from being burned at the stake. Arthur and his armies lay siege to Lancelot’s castle. The pope sends an emissary to broker a truce, and Guenever returns to Arthur’s castle at…

    • 643 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    poetry
    • 1497 Words
    • 6 Pages

    poetry

    This Victorian poem is about the narrator (a fallen woman), the Lord and Kate. It is a ballad which tells the story from the narrator’s perspective about being shunned by society after her ‘experiences’ with the lord. The poem’s female speaker recalls her contentment in her humble surroundings until the local ‘Lord of the Manor’ took her to be his lover. He discarded her when she became pregnant and his affections turned to another village girl, Kate, whom he then married. Although the speaker’s community condemned the speaker as a ‘fallen’ woman, she reflects that her love for the lord was more faithful than Kate’s. She is proud of the son she bore him and is sure that the man is unhappy that he and Kate remain childless. Some readers think that she feels more betrayed by her cousin than the lord. This poem is a dramatic monologue written in the Victorian era.…

    • 1497 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Mordred And Sir Lancelot Analysis
    • 155 Words
    • 1 Page

    Mordred And Sir Lancelot Analysis

    Mordred and Sir Aggravayne setting up a trap with twelve other knights to catch Sir Lancelot having an affair with Queen Guinevere. Another similarity between the two stories is that Mordred is the only one alive after he and the knights fight Lancelot. Sir Lancelot is warned of the pitfall set up by the knights, after being warned he became nervous. His nervousness could signify that he was scared of Mordred. Mordred is mentioned, along with Aggravayne and twelve other knights, as a good knight showing that Mordred was virtuous. This version of the legend is unique because it does not mention the discussion about Sir Lancelot between Mordred and Aggravayne to King Arthur and it does not mention the deliverance of the news by Mordred to King…

    • 155 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lancelot Compare And Contrast
    • 256 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Lancelot Compare And Contrast

    These two stories written about Lancelot have many similarities and differences that are a result of the time period in which they were written. The two are similar in the way that they portray Lancelot as a tremendous character as apart of the Arthurian legend and a great knight of the Round Table. They differ in the way that they describe Lancelot’s relationship with women and more directly his relationship with Guinevere and Elaine of Astolat. In “Lancelot” the writer focuses less on Lancelot’s heroic status and more on the fact that Lancelot had an extramarital affair with Queen Guinevere. Robinson focuses more on the romantic part of the story because the period in which he wrote the poem, the 1920s, is famous for love stories. The “roaring…

    • 256 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Symbolism In Lais Of Marie De France
    • 1581 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Symbolism In Lais Of Marie De France

    Milun, a knight of South Wales was recognized to be the best in battles. A girl had heard of Milun and confessed her love for Milun and he promised her his love and loyalty. He then sends her a token of his promise, a gold ring. “He gave her the ring and told her that he had done what she asked. The girl was delighted at the love she was being offered” (45). Their love was so deep for each other, she ended up getting pregnant. She was not very fond of this idea. She knew that Milun would be upset. “She told him what had happened she has lost her honor and good mane when she got herself into this situation” (57). She was terrified that she would be “tortured by the sword or sold into slavery” (61). When Milun heard about the situation, he was willing to do whatever she asked of him. He was sent to give the child in Northumbria to her sister. While he went away to deliver the child to her sister, she was set up by her father with a nobleman and she was taken away by her new husband. When he was traveling to Northumbria, he creates a messaging system with a swan, where he hides letters in between the feathers. As they send the swan back and forth to each other, he tells her to starve the swan and send it back so it looks for food on its way back home. This continues for an on-going twenty years. When Marie mentions the swan, it symbolizes this delicate and fragile love that is going on between the girl and Milun. When they starve the swan during the messaging, it represents this suffering love between them, but once it heads back, it flourishes. It portrays that love is not always a happy thing. There will be a time where love faces neglect. Throughout the story, Marie also mentions this idea of “the most direct route” (175). It portrays the idea of love being “the most direct route”. The fact that love knows where to go, there is no right, there is no left, it is a…

    • 1581 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Readers Have Responded Differently to Being Told That the Story Happened Long Ago. How Do You Respond?
    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Readers Have Responded Differently to Being Told That the Story Happened Long Ago. How Do You Respond?

    Linking to this fear of Madeline that is newly instilled in the reader is the abrupt and ironic dismissal of love after the forty first stanza, which demonstrates the idea that love itself was ‘long ago’. The fact that previously in the Eve of St Agnes Porphyro’s heart was ‘on fire’ for Madeline leading him to risk his capture and death for her initially provided a positive image for the reader allowing one to trust his character, however the forty first stanza utilizes a significant amount of cadaverous imagery through the Baron ‘dreaming of many a…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Princess Archetype
    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Princess Archetype

    In the stillness of the night, /She prayed hard with all her might./She hoped for her salient knight,/ She hoped for a ray of light./Sitting alone by the window;/ She wallowed in her pain and sorrow./She was lost; no one to follow./But she was ready; ready to go./He rode gallantly on his horse./He was evidently lost./Riding so fast; he ran off-course./Now he was lost; that was the cost./She sang her blues far and wide./She knew she was far out of sight./No one to help her to take flight./She was stuck forever in this plight./He heard her voice, singing clear./Her voice melodious, with a tinge of fear./He knew she was somewhere near./The urgency; somehow he had to find her./He called out to her; he tried any name./Mary and Sally, he tried all the same./He wanted to see her; that was his aim./He was drawn to her; like moth to flame./He saw her, hair billowing in the wind./Her head was turned; she could not be seen./Impatience replaced where curiosity had been./The distance between them was a sin./“Come down, fair lady! Come down, ” he said./“Come down and meet me. I am your fate.”/With sad, blue eyes, she shook her head./“This tower is my prison; it has no gate.”/Frustrated he was, he paced here and there./He had to find a way in, into her lair./No door, no ladder, no way to spare. /But an idea struck him, as he…

    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Knight of the Cart (Lancelot)
    • 389 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Knight of the Cart (Lancelot)

    Lancelot is portrayed mostly as a love-struck man and not a very logical knight. From the first moment he is introduced, he is seen as someone sick from love. He will do anything to save his love, Gweneviere; even if that meant dishonor. When Lancelot rode on the cart, he was immediately labeled as someone bad. He pushed aside reason for love. "Because love ordered it, and wished it, he jumped in; since Love ruled his action, the disgrace did not matter." (212) There seemed to have been nothing that could stand in the path of Lancelot.…

    • 389 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lady of Shalott Condradictions Analysis
    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Lady of Shalott Condradictions Analysis

    The Lady of Shallot is a story written by Alfred Tennyson and published in 1842. This poem is superb because of it’s elusiveness and sense of mystery. However, because of these traits, it is very diffucult to analyze. Although presented with these difficulties, The Lady of Shallot has many purposely contradictory images that are shown throughout the poem.…

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Tolls Of The King Camelot Essay
    • 1991 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Tolls Of The King Camelot Essay

    “Life is a cycle. The end of one journey is the beginning of the next” ( Joseph M. Marshall). In life, each season grows from the leftovers of the past, as winter celebrates an end, it also celebrates the beginning of another one of life's journeys. In literature, writers use symbols that relate to the seasons of life: spring, summer, fall and winter to express ideas such as feelings and the passing of time. Idylls of the King by Alfred Lord Tennyson is a collection of romantic tales of chivalry and legends surrounding the life of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.…

    • 1991 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analysis of Petrach's Poetry: a Translation of Italian Poem Rime 140
    • 1546 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Analysis of Petrach's Poetry: a Translation of Italian Poem Rime 140

    This is a translation of the Italian poem "Rime 140" by Petrarch. The following link - shows the original form and two translations - each poem is different. They are built around the conceit of love as a warrior or knight, who, in the octave, makes bold to declare himself through a blush, and is promptly rebuked by the beloved; the sestet finds him running away to hide, leaving the poet to reflect on his plight as a faithful servant of a cowardly master. By attributing the offensive, cowardly, and ridiculous behavior to a third-party “love,” he appears to be distancing himself from an embarrassing situation. He can condescendingly paint this personified love as a blustery miles glorious one moment and a coward the next, while at the same time depicting himself as the constant but hapless servant, bound willy-nilly to attend a capricious master. All the while, of course, we see the machinery of the metaphor; we see the puppet-strings by which “love” moves; we understand the specious distinction on which the face-saving dodge is built; we are not taken in. Nor are we meant to be. In the process, we wind up laughing along with the poet. By letting us in on the joke, he turns it into an occasion for amusement and light reflection. ♥…

    • 1546 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lady Of Shalott Gender Roles
    • 1561 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Lady Of Shalott Gender Roles

    The Lady of Shalott is the not-so-typical Romeo and Juliet story, except the woman was the sole individual who was invested in finding love. “And sometimes in the mirror blue the knights come riding two and two: She hath no loyal knight and true, The Lady of Shalott” (Tennyson, 651). Tennyson shows not only how the lady is lonely, but stresses how she is longing for a knight in shining armor. He does this to show how women longed for the love from a man during this time. He shows the lady’s frustration by saying,” Came two young lovers lately wed; ‘I am half sick of shadows,’ said The Lady of Shalott” (Tennyson, 651). The lady is tired of looking through her mirror and desires to have company to keep her happy. The way that Tennyson portrayed the lady’s loneliness showed how women of the Victorian Era wanted the presence of a man in their lives to make them feel more full and complete. Further along in the story, the lady demonstrated how women are more than willing to do anything for men when Sir Lancelot called up the the Lady of Shalott. Her reaction was; “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, she looked down to Camelot” (Tennyson, 652). The Lady of Shalott was willing to break the curse in order to see Sir Lancelot. Tennyson is referring to the women of the Victorian Era here, showing how weak they were and willing to give in to receive the attention of a…

    • 1561 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Knight's Tale Analysis
    • 437 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Knight's Tale Analysis

    Chaucer uses the paintings on the walls of the Temples in “The Knight’s Tale” to display how the story being told does not necessarily match reality. On the walls of Venus’s temple are illustrations of feelings associated with love, since she is the goddess of love. However, most of these illustrations appear negative. The pictures on the walls are of, “The broken sleep, the lonely sighs, the cold/And sacred tears,” associated with love (1920-1). The words used to describe the pictures on Venus’s temple, such as “lonely” and “broken,” have negative connotations, thus suggesting that love does not always grant happiness. In fact, it often causes sadness. Chaucer portrays these images to show how the love within the story, which appears passionate and romantic, is…

    • 437 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics