It is summer, and Anne and her friends have decided to dramatize Lord Alfred Tennyson’s poem “The Lady of Shalott,” which Anne refers to as “Elaine.” The poem relates to one of the Arthurian tales, whose subject is a young woman named Elaine. Elaine becomes entranced with Sir Lancelot and floats down a river toward Camelot to see him. She dies before arriving.

As Anne and her friends gather at the side of a local Avonlea pond and prepare to have one of them float in a boat, Diana is the first to comment. She admits that she would be too afraid to lie in the boat and let it take her wherever the current drove it. Ruby joins Diana, stating that she is too afraid to go in the boat alone. Jane Andrews states that it would “spoil the effect” if she were to portray Elaine because she would constantly want to sit up to check where the boat was going. The girls conclude that no one but Anne is brave enough to play Elaine, although Anne thinks no one in her right mind would cast a red-headed girl to play the title role. Diana reassures Anne by telling her that her fair complexion is perfect for the character of Elaine. This flattery provides Anne with enough conviction to take on the role.

The girls had studied Tennyson’s poem in school the previous winter. They analyzed the poem to the point that the Arthurian characters came to feel like people with whom they were well acquainted. After reading and rereading the poem, Anne grew to regret that she had not been born in Camelot. She found the era represented by the poem to be much more romantic than the times in which she is living. It was Anne’s idea to dramatize the final scene of the poem, the one in which Elaine is dead, floating down a river in a boat. They have tested the boat by pushing it from shore and following it as it floated across the pond and under a small bridge, until it finally came to rest at the far curve of the pond’s opposite edge. During the test run, everything had worked perfectly.

Having accepted the role of Elaine, Anne spreads a black shawl one of the girls has brought from home, then she lies down on the bottom of the boat, closes her eyes, and crosses her arms on her chest. “Oh, she does look really dead,” Ruby whispers, worried that in saying so something dreadful might occur. Anne admonishes Ruby but then adds that Jane needs to take over as director because she is supposed to be dead. Responding to Anne’s orders, Jane covers Anne with a piece of golden material and places an iris under Anne’s crossed arms. The scene is complete, and the girls push the boat from shore.

True to her role as Elaine, Anne keeps her eyes closed as the boat floats away. It is not until she feels water pouring into the boat that Anne moves. The water is coming in fast, and Anne realizes immediately that she is in serious trouble. She manages to climb out of the boat before it completely capsizes under the bridge. After standing under the bridge for what seems like an hour, Gilbert happens to come rowing by in a dory. To her horror, Anne must allow Gilbert to rescue her.