Rebecca Colwell
Dr. Mazella
7396 Pedagogies of Literature
18 February 2015
Tennyson and “The Lady of Shalott”: Poetry, Art, and Interpretation
Alfred. Lord Tennyson (1809-1892): (poet)
1809 - Tennyson born in Lincolnshire
1830 - pub. Poems Chiefly Lyrical
1831 - Tennyson’s father died, forced to leave Cambridge
1832/3 - pub. Poems – heavily criticized, retreated from writing for 10 years
1842 - pub. Poems – 2 volume book, rewrote “The Lady of Shalott”, among others, with book of new poems
1850 - pub. In Memoriam in honor of friend Arthur Hallam
1850 - (later that year) appointed Poet Laureate following Wordsworth
1859 - wrote “The Charge of the Light Brigade” – and recorded by Thomas Edison 
1884 - accepted baronetcy from Queen Victoria
1892 - died with a volume of Shakespeare in hand
[Source: Poetry Foundation and Victorian Web, http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/alfred-tennyson,
http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/tennyson/tennybio.html]
Keywords (all definitions from Oxford English Dictionary, or OED):
Romance: A medieval narrative (originally in verse, later also in prose) relating the legendary or extraordinary adventures of
some hero of chivalry. Also in extended use, with reference to narratives about important religious figures.
Irony: The expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or
emphatic effect; (in earlier use) the use of approbatory language to imply condemnation or contempt. In later use also more
generally: a manner, style, or attitude suggestive of the use of this kind of expression
Suspense: A state of mental uncertainty, with expectation of or desire for decision, and usually some apprehension or anxiety;
the condition of waiting
Interpretation: The action of interpreting or explaining; explanation, exposition
Full Text – 1842 version side by side with the 1832 version:
“The Lady of Shalott” (1833 & 1842 Versions)
Visual Representations of Tennyson’s “The Lady of Shalott”:
1. Various paintings or drawings from the middle to late 19th century and early 20th century, depicting the Lady and the
poem.
2. “If I Die Young.” Dir. David McClister. Perf. The Band Perry. 28 May 2010. Web. 13 Dec. 2014.
a. -A country trio reimagines the Lady’s story through Anne of Green Gables.
3. McKennitt, Loreena. “The Lady of Shalott.”
a. -A folk/world music singer who literally sings the poem and interprets the Lady’s tale through the musical styling.
Sources:
Alaya, Flavia M. "Tennyson's 'The Lady of Shalott': The Triumph of Art." Victorian Poetry Winter 8.4 (1970): 273-89. MLA
International Bibliography. Web. 09 Nov. 2014. This critical article highlights the dilemma of Tennyson scholarship in
analyzing “The Lady of Shalott” as the “unresolved expressions…of artistic dedication vs. social responsibility” (273-274).
Alaya criticizes other Tennyson scholars for concentrating their attention on the poem in isolation, which “purports to put an
end to the bafflement” of what the poem might ultimately mean, but this is “insufficient” (275). Tennyson, she asserts, only
uses “affirmative language” when speaking of “The Lady of Shalott”, he does not, she argues, “add…any such depressing
qualification” (275) when referencing her death at the end of his work. Alaya argues that the reader can “choose to reject the
notion that Tennyson has placed art and social responsibility against one another as mutually exclusive form of activity” (278).
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Instead, she claims, Tennyson is “drawing a distinction between two artistic attitudes or dispositions” (278), the first as selfindulgent and the second as aware of humanistic values. Alaya begins her reading focusing on the Lady as an artist and
secondly as a female within a romantic poem. Alaya concludes that the Lady “discovers a strange triumph” but not just an
artistic or moral one (288). The Lady has become, in her final moments and after her death, a “symbolic embodiment of
responsible art” (289), an embodiment the citizens of Camelot and the audience itself “must seek to interpret and find relevant
in their own experience” (289).
Jeffers, Thomas L. "Tennyson's Lady of Shalott and Pre-Raphaelite Renderings: Statement and Counter-statement." Religion
and the Arts 6.3 (2002): 231-56. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 09 Nov. 2014. In this critical essay, Jeffers delves
into the poem “The Lady of Shalott” by looking first at the art presented in the poem as “rife with implications about the
vocation of the artist” (231) then by countering this presentation of a lady weaving in a remote tower by looking at the PreRaphaelite renderings of the Lady from various stages in the poem. Jeffers asserts that each of the four artists who have
painted the Lady of Shalott (Elizabeth Siddal, Dante Rossetti, William Holman Hunt, and John William Waterhouse) have
“painted her story” but were not “’illustrating’ the poem” (232). The essay proceeds to detail each of the paintings by each of
the artists through a detailed analysis on color usage, positioning of the Lady within the frame, as well as of the overall scope
of the painting all in relation to the poem itself, utilizing specific lines to counter the interpretation of the painters. Jeffers
argues that these various interpretations of the Lady and her story as told by Tennyson help to reveal the “relevance of their
ideas about how we define the artist’s responsibilities” (251) within the context of art’s cultural impact. Jeffers concludes that
these “skillful picturings” are “a series of fully realized counter-statements” to Tennyson’s beloved poem which helps “caress
and snap” (251) at each other to prompt an interesting interpretation of the other.
Further readings: (not to read now, but just for fun if you want)
Shefer, Elaine. "Elizabeth Siddal's Lady of Shalott." Women's Art Journal Spring-Summer 9.1 (1988): 21-29. JSTOR. Web. 14 Nov.
2014.
Shannon, Edgar F., Jr. "Poetry as Vision: Sight and Insight in ‘The Lady of Shalott’" Victorian Poetry. Autumn 19.3 (1981): 207
-23. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
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