The Lady of Shalott Themes

The three main themes in “The Lady of Shalott” are deprivation, art and artifice, and infatuation.

  • Deprivation: The Lady is isolated, forced to observe the world indirectly through a mirror, and does not initially seem to object to this deprivation.
  • Art and artifice: The Lady is presented as an artist, more involved in her creative version of her indirect experience than with life experience itself.
  • Infatuation: The Lady is often interpreted as dying of a broken heart because she is suddenly infatuated with Lancelot and he does not return her affection.

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Themes: Deprivation

In this poem, the main character exists under a spell, unaware of its origins or purpose, and without considering how to escape it. She seems to accept her circumstances as unavoidable: "And so she weaveth steadily, / And little other care has she" (lines 43-44), the poem observes. The only stipulation of this mysterious curse is that she must not gaze out her window at the lively scenes of nature and humanity described in the poem's beginning....

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Themes: Art and Artifice

The Lady of Shalott's understanding of reality is based on the reflections she observes in her mirror. Although mirrors are often seen as tools that accurately replicate the scenes they reflect, they actually change reality by flipping the image and flattening it into two dimensions. Furthermore, the reflections in her mirror can't impact the Lady of Shalott as immediately as direct observation would. The mirrored images of the Camelot landscape...

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Themes: Infatuation

Many critics suggest that the Lady of Shalott dies from a broken heart due to her sudden infatuation with the incredibly handsome Lancelot, who does not return her affections. This interpretation aligns with the traditional story that inspired the poem; in the tale of Elaine of Astolat, Elaine indeed experiences unrequited love. However, the Lady of Shalott is a variation of this character, differing in several significant ways. Tennyson changed...

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Themes: Liberation

Once the Lady of Shalott realizes she is cursed, she doesn't die right away. Although her encounter with the real world ultimately leads to her demise, it also gives her a chance to express herself openly. She leaves her tower, finds a boat, writes her name on it, and lies down inside before setting it afloat. Her journey along the river symbolizes a passive entrance into the realm of action or might be seen as her yielding to her emotions....

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Themes: The Artist's Condition in Society

“The Lady of Shalott” has most often been read as an allegory of the artist’s condition in a society indifferent or even hostile to art. The Victorian age was not, by and large, especially sympathetic to art and artists. Many Victorians believed that poetry had had its day and could offer little of use in an age of serious scientific, industrial, and social effort. Put plainly, many Victorians believed that poetry “did” nothing, that it was...

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Themes: Allegorical Elements in the Poem

In the allegorical scheme, Camelot represents the world of commerce, politics, social responsibility, and daily life. Lancelot himself represents the temptations of worldly fame and power to which the artistic temperament succumbs at its peril. The mirror and the web represent the arts, and the lady the artist. This schematizing is reductive but not inaccurate, for the poem is at some level almost certainly a dramatization of the artist’s...

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Themes: Comparison with Romantic Poets

If this is Tennyson’s allegorical view of the artist’s position, it is a view far removed from the strong poetic faith of his Romantic predecessors such as Percy Bysshe Shelley and William Wordsworth. The great Romantic poets had believed in the transforming power of poetry. They believed that it was strong enough to act upon the real world and that the poet was a person of might—not so Tennyson, at least not in “The Lady of Shalott.” If the lady...

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Themes: Isolation

The theme of isolation in "The Lady of Shalott" is central to the poem, depicting the Lady's physical and emotional separation from the world. Confined to a tower, she is cursed to view life only through a mirror, weaving what she sees into her tapestry. Her isolation is profound, as she is cut off from direct experience and human connection, leading to her tragic end when she attempts to break free.

The Lady's isolation is emphasized by her...

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Themes: Deprivation

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