"The Lady of Shalott" by Tennyson incorporates elements and characters from Arthurian legends to tell the story of a woman separated from the natural world by a powerful curse.

Death in "The Lady of Shalott" is also portrayed as a curse.  The Lady sings a "mournful" carol during her slow demise as her "blood was frozen slowly and her eyes were darkened wholly" (147-148).  The dark effects of the curse keep her from being able to experience the real world away from her tower.  Tennyson's diction with words like "darkened" and "frozen," reveals that her death is wrong and unnatural.  Her untimely death steals her opportunity  to experience life in the real world.