"The Lady of Shalott" is a lyrical
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
by the 19th-century English poet
Alfred Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...
and one of his best-known works. Inspired by the 13th-century Italian short prose text ''
Donna di Scalotta'', the poem tells the tragic story of
Elaine of Astolat
Elaine of Astolat (), also known as Elayne of Ascolat and other variants of the name, is a figure in Arthurian legend. She is a lady from the castle of Astolat who dies of her unrequited love for Sir Lancelot. Well-known versions of her story appe ...
, a young noblewoman stranded in a tower up the river from
Camelot
Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as the ...
. Tennyson wrote two versions of the poem,
one published in 1833, of 20 stanzas,
the other in 1842, of 19 stanzas, and returned to the story in
"Lancelot and Elaine". The vivid medieval romanticism and enigmatic symbolism of "The Lady of Shalott" inspired many painters, especially the
Pre-Raphaelites
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...
and their followers, as well as other authors and artists.
Background
Like Tennyson's other early works, such as "
Sir Galahad
Sir Galahad (), sometimes referred to as Galeas () or Galath (), among other versions of his name, is a Knights of the Round Table, knight of King Arthur's Round Table and one of the three achievers of the Holy Grail in Arthurian legend. He i ...
", the poem recasts
Arthurian
King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a Legend, legendary king of Great Britain, Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
In the earliest tradition ...
subject matter loosely based on medieval sources. It is inspired by the legend of
Elaine of Astolat
Elaine of Astolat (), also known as Elayne of Ascolat and other variants of the name, is a figure in Arthurian legend. She is a lady from the castle of Astolat who dies of her unrequited love for Sir Lancelot. Well-known versions of her story appe ...
, as recounted in a 13th-century Italian ''novellina'' titled ''
La Damigella di Scalot'', or ''Donna di Scalotta'' (No. LXXXII in the collection ''Il Novellino: Le ciento novelle antike''); the earlier version is closer to the source material than the latter.
Tennyson focused on the Lady's "isolation in the tower and her decision to participate in the living world, two subjects not even mentioned in ''Donna di Scalotta''."
Tennyson also wrote "Lancelot and Elaine", a poem based on
Thomas Malory
Sir Thomas Malory was an English writer, the author of '' Le Morte d'Arthur'', the classic English-language chronicle of the Arthurian legend, compiled and in most cases translated from French sources. The most popular version of '' Le Morte d' ...
's version of the story from ''
Le Morte d'Arthur
' (originally written as '; inaccurate Middle French for "The Death of Arthur") is a 15th-century Middle English prose reworking by Sir Thomas Malory of tales about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Merlin and the Knights of the Rou ...
'', which he included in his ''
Idylls of the King
''Idylls of the King'', published between 1859 and 1885, is a Literature cycle, cycle of twelve narrative poems by the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892; Poet Laureate from 1850) which retells the legend of King Arthur, his knig ...
''.
Story
The first four
stanza
In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian language, Italian ''stanza'' , "room") is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or Indentation (typesetting), indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme scheme, rhyme and ...
s of the 1842 second version of the poem describe a pastoral setting. The Lady of Shalott lives in an island castle in a river which flows to
Camelot
Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as the ...
, but the local farmers know little about her.
Stanzas five to eight describe the lady's life. She suffers from a mysterious curse and must continually weave images on her loom without ever looking directly out at the world. Instead, she looks into a mirror, which reflects the busy road and the people of Camelot who pass by her island.
The reflected images are described as "shadows of the world", a metaphor that makes it clear they are a poor substitute for seeing directly ("I am half-sick of shadows").
![Shalott3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Shalott3.jpg)
Stanzas nine to twelve describe "bold
Sir Lancelot
Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), also written as Launcelot and other variants (such as early German ''Lanzelet'', early French ''Lanselos'', early Welsh ''Lanslod Lak'', Italian ''Lancillotto'', Spanish ''Lanzarote del Lago' ...
" as he rides by and is seen by the lady.
The remaining seven stanzas describe the effect on the lady of seeing Lancelot; she stops weaving and looks out of her window toward Camelot, bringing about the curse.
She leaves her tower, finds a boat upon which she writes her name, and floats down the river to Camelot. She dies before arriving at the palace. Among the knights and ladies who see her is Lancelot, who thinks she is lovely.
Themes
One of Tennyson's biographers found the Arthurian material is "introduced as a valid setting for the study of the artist and the dangers of personal isolation".
Feminist critics see the poem as concerned with issues of women's sexuality and their place in the
Victorian world, arguing that "The Lady of Shalott" centres on the temptation of sexuality and her innocence preserved by death.
Christine Poulson discusses a feminist viewpoint and suggests: "the Lady of Shalott's escape from her tower as an act of defiance, a symbol of female empowerment." Based on Poulson's view, escaping from the tower allows for the Lady of Shalott to emotionally break free and come into terms with female sexuality.
![Walter Crane - The Lady of Shalott - Google Art Project](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Walter_Crane_-_The_Lady_of_Shalott_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
The depiction of death has also been interpreted as sleep. Poulson says that sleep has a connotation of physical abandonment and vulnerability, which can either suggest sexual fulfillment or be a metaphor for virginity. Fairy tales, such as
Sleeping Beauty
''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...
or
Snow White
"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as Ta ...
, have traditionally depended upon this association. So, as related to the Lady of Shalott, Poulson says: "for in death
hehas become a Sleeping Beauty who can never be wakened, symbols of perfect feminine passivity."
Cultural influence
Art
Tennyson's early poetry, with its medievalism and powerful visual imagery, was a major influence on the
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...
(PRB). According to scholar Anne Zanzucchi, "in a more general sense, it is fair to say that the Pre-Raphaelite fascination with
Arthuriana
''Arthuriana'' is a quarterly journal published by the North American branch of the International Arthurian Society. Its focus is on the Arthurian legend. The four annual issues are published in February, May, October, and December.
History
The j ...
is traceable to Tennyson's work".
In 1848,
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...
and
William Holman Hunt
William Holman Hunt (2 April 1827 – 7 September 1910) was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid colour, and elaborate symbolism. ...
made a list of "Immortals", artistic heroes whom they admired, especially from literature, some of whose work would form subjects for PRB paintings, notably including
John Keats
John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculo ...
and Tennyson. "The Lady of Shalott" was particularly popular with the Brotherhood, which shared Tennyson's interest in Arthuriana; several of the Brotherhood made paintings based on episodes from the poem. Two aspects, in particular, of "The Lady of Shalott" intrigued these artists: the idea of the lady trapped in her tower and the dying girl floating down the river towards Camelot.
![HuntShallotlarge](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/HuntShallotlarge.jpg)
In
Edward Moxon
Edward Moxon (12 December 1801 – 3 June 1858) was a British poet and publisher, significant in Victorian literature.
Biography
Moxon was born at Wakefield in Yorkshire, where his father Michael worked in the wool trade. In 1817 he left ...
's 1857 edition of Tennyson's works, illustrated by Hunt and Rossetti, Hunt depicted the moment when the Lady turns to see Lancelot. In the background of the illustration, Hunt juxtaposes the window facing Lancelot with a painting of
Christ's crucifixion
The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and consider ...
. According to Christine Poulson, the Crucifixion is the archetype of self-sacrifice and further emphasises the ideal that the Lady of Shalott fails to represent.
Poulson also considers this representation of the subject in the context of changing women's roles in the 1880s and 1890s, suggesting that it served as a warning of imminent death to women who stepped from their restricted roles and explored their desires. Rossetti depicted Lancelot's contemplation of the Lady's "lovely face". Neither illustration pleased Tennyson, who took Hunt to task for depicting the Lady caught in the threads of her tapestry, something which is not described in the poem. Hunt explained that he wanted to sum up the whole poem in a single image, and that the entrapment by the threads suggested her "weird fate". The scene fascinated Hunt, who returned to the composition at points throughout his life and finally painted a large scale version shortly before his death. He required assistants, as he was too frail to complete it himself. This deeply conceived evocation of the Lady, ensnared within the perfect rounds of her woven reality, is an apt illustration of the
mythology of the weaving arts. This work is now in the collection of the
Wadsworth Atheneum
The Wadsworth Atheneum is an art museum in Hartford, Connecticut. The Wadsworth is noted for its collections of European Baroque art, ancient Egyptian and Classical bronzes, French and American Impressionist paintings, Hudson River School lands ...
Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut.
John William Waterhouse
John William Waterhouse (6 April 184910 February 1917) was an English painter known for working first in the Academic style and for then embracing the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter. His artworks were known for their dep ...
painted three episodes from the poem. In 1888, he painted the Lady setting out for Camelot in her boat; this work is now in the
Tate Gallery
Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...
. In 1894, Waterhouse painted the Lady at the climactic moment when she turns to look at Lancelot in the window in ''
The Lady of Shalott Looking at Lancelot
''The Lady of Shalott Looking at Lancelot'' is an oil-on-canvas painting by John William Waterhouse, completed in 1894. It measures . The artist presented it to Leeds Art Gallery in 1895.
Description
This is the second of three major paint ...
''; this work is now in
Leeds Art Gallery
Leeds Art Gallery in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, is a gallery, part of the Leeds Museums & Galleries group, whose collection of 20th-century British Art was designated by the British government in 1997 as a collection "of national importance" ...
. Poulson argues that Waterhouse's impressionistic painting style in his 1894 rendering of ''
The Lady of Shalott
"The Lady of Shalott" is a lyrical ballad by the 19th-century English poet Alfred Tennyson and one of his best-known works. Inspired by the 13th-century Italian short prose text '' Donna di Scalotta'', the poem tells the tragic story of Elain ...
'' evokes a "sense of vitality and urgency".
In 1915, Waterhouse painted ''
I Am Half-Sick of Shadows, Said the Lady of Shalott
''I Am Half-Sick of Shadows, Said the Lady of Shalott'' is a painting by John William Waterhouse completed in 1915. It is the third painting by Waterhouse that depicts a scene from the Tennyson poem, "The Lady of Shalott". The title of the pai ...
'', as she sits wistfully before her loom; this work is now in the
Art Gallery of Ontario
The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; french: Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West between McCaul and Beve ...
.
Literature
"The Lady of Shalott" has been adapted in various ways in later works of literature.
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...
used the line "The mirror crack'd from side to side" as the title of
her 1962 novel in which the poem itself plays a large part in the plot. In
Lucy Maud Montgomery
Lucy Maud Montgomery (November 30, 1874 – April 24, 1942), published as L. M. Montgomery, was a Canadian author best known for a collection of novels, essays, short stories, and poetry beginning in 1908 with '' Anne of Green Gables''. She ...
's ''
Anne of Green Gables
''Anne of Green Gables'' is a 1908 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery (published as L. M. Montgomery). Written for all ages, it has been considered a classic children's novel since the mid-20th century. Set in the late 19th century, t ...
'' (1908),
Anne Shirley
Anne Shirley is a fictional character introduced in the 1908 novel '' Anne of Green Gables'' by L. M. Montgomery. Shirley is featured throughout the classic book series, which revolve around her life and family in 19th and 20th-century Prince Edw ...
reads various stanzas of the poem and acts out the Lady of Shalott's tragic end as she floats down the river.
Patricia A. McKillip
Patricia Anne McKillip (February 29, 1948 – May 6, 2022) was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. She has been called "one of the most accomplished prose stylists in the fantasy genre", and wrote predominantly standalone fantasy n ...
used an adaptation of the poem as a primary theme of her novel ''
The Tower at Stony Wood
''The Tower at Stony Wood'' is a 2000 fantasy novel by American writer Patricia A. McKillip. It was a 2001 Nebula Award nominee.2001 Award Winners & Nominees Retrieved 2011-07-13.
Plot summary
At the wedding of King Regis Aurum of Yves to Lady ...
'' (2000).
Lisa Ann Sandell
Lisa Ann Sandell is an American author of young adult novels. She has written and published three books, ''A Map of the Known World'', '' Song of the Sparrow'' and ''The Weight of the Sky''.
Biography
Before she published her first book, Sande ...
's novel ''
Song of the Sparrow'' (2007) is a retelling of the story. Tennyson's poem is also used for narration and as a narrative device in
Kaori Yuki
is a Japanese manga artist best known for her gothic manga such as ''Earl Cain'', its sequel ''Godchild'', and ''Angel Sanctuary''. Yuki debuted professionally in 1987 with , which ran in the manga anthology ''Bessatsu Hana to Yume'' published ...
's "Camelot Garden" (2008). In
Jasper Fforde
Jasper Fforde (born 11 January 1961) is an English novelist, whose first novel, ''The Eyre Affair'', was published in 2001. He is known mainly for his ''Thursday Next'' novels, but has published two books in the loosely connected ''The Big Over ...
's novel ''
One of our Thursdays Is Missing'' (2011), the Lady of Shalott appears as a character, possessing a mirror that allows characters in the Book World to see into the real world ("the Outland"). In ''Half Sick of Shadows'' (2021) by Laura Sebastian, Elaine of Shalott is the main character and a close friend and advisor to
King Arthur
King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...
; the story primarily deals with the crowning of Arthur, but Elaine also has the ability to see future events through
scrying
Scrying, also known by various names such as "seeing" or "peeping", is the practice of looking into a suitable medium in the hope of detecting significant messages or visions. The objective might be personal guidance, prophecy, revelation, or in ...
at her loom.
Quotes from the poem have been included in many novels, including
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
's ''
The Picture of Dorian Gray
''The Picture of Dorian Gray'' is a philosophical fiction, philosophical novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde. A shorter novella-length version was published in the July 1890 issue of the American periodical ''Lippincott's Monthly Magazine''.''Th ...
'' (1890),
Eric Frank Russell
Eric Frank Russell (January 6, 1905 – February 28, 1978) was a British writer best known for his science fiction novels and short stories. Much of his work was first published in the United States, in John W. Campbell's '' Astounding Science ...
's
''Next of Kin'' (1959),
Muriel Spark
Dame Muriel Sarah Spark (née Camberg; 1 February 1918 – 13 April 2006). was a Scottish novelist, short story writer, poet and essayist.
Life
Muriel Camberg was born in the Bruntsfield area of Edinburgh, the daughter of Bernard Camberg, an ...
's
''The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' (1961),
Connie Willis
Constance Elaine Trimmer Willis (born December 31, 1945), commonly known as Connie Willis, is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. She has won eleven Hugo Awards and seven Nebula Awards for particular works—more major SF awards than ...
' ''
To Say Nothing of the Dog
''To Say Nothing of the Dog'': ''or, How We Found the Bishop's Bird Stump at Last'' is a 1997 comic science fiction novel by Connie Willis. It used the same setting, including time-traveling historians, which Willis explored in '' Fire Watch'' ...
'' (1997), and
Meg Cabot
Meggin Patricia Cabot (born February 1, 1967) is an American novelist. She has written and published over 50 novels of young adult and adult fiction and is best known for her young adult series ''Princess Diaries'', which was later adapted by W ...
's ''
Avalon High
''Avalon High'' is a young adult novel by Meg Cabot, published in 2005.
Plot
Ellie Harrison has just moved to Annapolis, Maryland. Her new school, Avalon High, seems like a typical high school with the stereotypical students: Lance the Jock ( ...
'' (2005). In some novels, the poem is also referenced within the plot by characters, as in
Nancy Mitford
Nancy Freeman-Mitford (28 November 1904 – 30 June 1973), known as Nancy Mitford, was an English novelist, biographer, and journalist. The eldest of the Mitford sisters, she was regarded as one of the "bright young things" on the London s ...
's ''
Love in a Cold Climate
''Love in a Cold Climate'' is a novel by Nancy Mitford, first published in 1949. The title is a phrase from George Orwell's novel '' Keep the Aspidistra Flying'' (1936).
''Love in a Cold Climate'' is a companion volume to '' The Pursuit of L ...
'' (1949),
Bel Kaufman's ''
Up the Down Staircase
''Up the Down Staircase'' is a novel written by Bel Kaufman, published in 1964, which spent 64 weeks on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list. In 1967 it was released as a film starring Sandy Dennis, Patrick Bedford, Ruth White, Jean Stapl ...
'' (1965),
David Benedictus
David Henry Benedictus (born 16 September 1938) is an English writer and theatre director, best known for his novels. His work includes the Winnie-the-Pooh novel ''Return to the Hundred Acre Wood'' (2009). It was the first such book in 81 years. ...
's ''
Floating Down to Camelot'' (1985),
Diana Wynne Jones
Diana Wynne Jones (16 August 1934 – 26 March 2011) was a British novelist, poet, academic, literary critic, and short story writer. She principally wrote fantasy and speculative fiction novels for children and young adults. Although usually de ...
' ''
Hexwood'' (1993),
Libba Bray
Martha Elizabeth "Libba" Bray (March 11, 1964) is an American writer of young adult novels including the Gemma Doyle Trilogy, '' Going Bovine'', and ''The Diviners''.
Early life
Martha Elizabeth Bray was born in Montgomery, Alabama. Her father w ...
's ''
A Great and Terrible Beauty
''A Great and Terrible Beauty'' is the first novel in the Gemma Doyle Trilogy by Libba Bray. It is told from the perspective of Gemma Doyle, a girl in the year 1895.
Gemma leaves her home in India to go to a boarding school in England after he ...
'' (2003), and
Jilly Cooper
Jilly Cooper, CBE (born 21 February 1937), is an English author. She began her career as a journalist and wrote numerous works of non-fiction before writing several romance novels, the first of which appeared in 1975. She is most famous for wr ...
's ''Wicked!'' (2006).
Its various lines have been turned into book titles by authors such as
Jessica Anderson (''
Tirra Lirra by the River
''Tirra Lirra by the River'' is a Miles Franklin Award-winning novel by Australian author Jessica Anderson. Though written some years before, it was first published in 1978. It is included in Carmen Callil and Colm Tóibín's collection ''Th ...
'', 1978),
Sharyn McCrumb
Sharyn McCrumb (born February 26, 1948) is an American writer whose books celebrate the history and folklore of Appalachia. McCrumb is the winner of numerous literary awards, and the author of the Elizabeth McPherson mystery series, the Ballad ...
(''Sick of Shadows'', 1984),
Robin Klein
Robin McMaugh Klein (born 28 February 1936) is an Australian author of books for children. She was born in Kempsey, New South Wales, Australia, and now resides near Melbourne.
Early life
Robin Klein is one of nine children. She had her first s ...
(''All in the Blue Unclouded Weather'', 1991), and
Alan Bradley (''I Am Half-Sick of Shadows'', 2011). It also inspired the title of
Elizabeth Bishop
Elizabeth Bishop (February 8, 1911 – October 6, 1979) was an American people, American poet and short-story writer. She was Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1949 to 1950, the Pulitzer Prize winner for Poetry in 1956, the N ...
's poem "The Gentleman of Shalott" (1946).
Music
The first musical setting of the poem was probably a work for mezzo-soprano soloist, chorus and orchestra by the English composer
Cyril Rootham
Cyril Bradley Rootham (5 October 1875 – 18 March 1938) was an English composer, educator and organist. His work at Cambridge University made him an influential figure in English music life. A Fellow of St John's College, where he was also or ...
, composed in 1909–1910. The only known performance of Rootham's op 33 ''The Lady of Shalott'' was given in the School Hall at
Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...
on 18 September 1999, with the Broadheath Singers and the Windsor Sinfonia conducted by Robert Tucker. In 1957–1958,
Arthur Bliss
Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss (2 August 189127 March 1975) was an English composer and conductor.
Bliss's musical training was cut short by the First World War, in which he served with distinction in the army. In the post-war years he qu ...
(once a pupil of Cyril Rootham) composed a 40-minute ballet suite titled ''The Lady of Shalott''.
The composer
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically ...
wrote a piece for solo piano ''La dame de Shalott'' in 1917 based on Tennyson's poem as his first composition; however, this piece is unpublished. It has been recorded at least twice. In 1946,
Phyllis Tate
Phyllis Tate (6 April 1911 – 29 May 1987) was an English composer known for forming unusual instrumental combinations in her output. Much of her work was written for the use of amateur performers and children.
Biography
Phyllis Margaret Duncan ...
composed a setting of Tennyson's ''The Lady of Shalott'', written for the 10th anniversary of the BBC Third Programme. Danish composer
Bent Sørensen created a piece for viola solo, based on Waterhouse's painting ''The Lady of Shalott''.
Canadian singer
Loreena McKennitt
Loreena Isobel Irene McKennitt, (born February 17, 1957) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer who writes, records, and performs world music with Celtic and Middle Eastern influences. McKennitt is known for her ...
adapted the poem to music, and featured it on her 1991 album ''
The Visit''. Dutch gothic metal band
Autumn
Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September ( Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Sou ...
referred to "The Lady of Shalott" in their songs "Who Has Seen Her Wave Her Hand", "Mirrors Magic Sights", "When Lust Evokes the Curse", and "Floating Towards Distress" from their 2002 album ''
When Lust Evokes the Curse
''When Lust Evokes the Curse'' is the debut studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were develop ...
'', each song retelling parts of the story from the poem. The song titled "Shalott" on
Emilie Autumn
Emilie Autumn Liddell (born September 22, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter, poet, author and violinist. Autumn's musical style is described by her as "Fairy Pop", "Fantasy Rock" or "Victoriandustrial". It is influenced by glam rock and ...
's 2006 album ''
Opheliac
''Opheliac'' is the second studio album by Emilie Autumn. Originally released on September 1, 2006 by Trisol Music Group, and recorded at Mad Villain Studios in Chicago, Illinois, it was the first album by the artist to receive widespread di ...
'' tells the poem from her own perspective.
The Band Perry
The Band Perry are an American band composed of siblings Kimberly Perry (lead vocals, guitar), Reid Perry (bass guitar, background vocals), and Neil Perry (mandolin, bouzouki, background vocals). They signed to Republic Nashville in August 2009 ...
's country music video "
If I Die Young" makes clear visual references to "The Lady of Shalott": lead vocalist Kimberly Perry holds a book of poems by Tennyson as she lies in a boat, floating down a river like the Lady of Shalott (the boat in the Perry video is similar to some illustrations of the poem, such as the image by
W. E. F. Britten).
The poem has been furthermore referred to or quoted in various ways in modern music. For instance, folk duo the
Indigo Girls
Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo from Atlanta, Georgia, United States, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. The two met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part o ...
refer to the Lady of Shalott in "Left Me a Fool" from their 1987 album ''
Strange Fire
''Strange Fire'' is the debut studio album by American folk rock duo Indigo Girls. It was originally released independently on Indigo Records in Canada with eleven tracks. Epic Records signed the duo in 1988, and after their eponymous second albu ...
'' and Swedish pop band
The Cardigans
The Cardigans is a Swedish rock band formed in Jönköping, Sweden, in 1992 by guitarist Peter Svensson, bassist Magnus Sveningsson, drummer Bengt Lagerberg, keyboardist Lars-Olof Johansson and lead singer Nina Persson. Post-hiatus shows since 2 ...
quotes it "Give Me Your Eyes", a bonus track on ''
Super Extra Gravity
''Super Extra Gravity'' is the sixth studio album by Swedish band the Cardigans. It was produced by Tore Johansson, who last worked with the Cardigans on '' Gran Turismo'' and later with the band Franz Ferdinand. The album was released in Germany ...
''. British musician and singer
Richard Thompson took the title for his 1994 album ''Mirror Blue'' from the poem.
Television
The poem forms the backbone of voice-over for the episode "Tracie's Story" (2012) of ''
Accused
Accused or The Accused may refer to:
* A person suspected with committing a crime or offence; see Criminal charge
** Suspect, a known person suspected of committing a crime
* The Accüsed, a 1980s Seattle crossover thrash band
*''The Accused'', a ...
''. In ''
My Mother and Other Strangers
''My Mother and Other Strangers'' is a 2016 British television drama series, written by Barry Devlin, made by BBC Northern Ireland with funding from Northern Ireland Screen. The story is set in a small village in Northern Ireland in 1943, during ...
'' (2016), Tennyson's poem plays an important role.
The poem has been also often quoted in whole or in part within other television films and series. Examples of that include the ''
Upstairs, Downstairs'' episode "The Understudy" (1975), ''
The Buccaneers
''The Buccaneers'' is the last novel written by Edith Wharton. The story is set in the 1870s, around the time Wharton was a young girl. It was unfinished at the time of her death in 1937 and published in that form in 1938. Wharton's manuscript ...
'' episode "Invasion" (1995), the ''
Endeavour'' episode "Girl" (2013), and the ''
Tales of the City
''Tales of the City'' is a series of nine novels written by American author Armistead Maupin from 1978 to 2014, depicting the life of a group of friends in San Francisco, many of whom are LGBT. The stories from ''Tales'' were originally serial ...
'' episode "She Messy" (2019), as well as the BBC film ''
An Englishman Abroad
''An Englishman Abroad'' is a 1983 BBC television drama film based on the true story of a chance meeting of actress Coral Browne with Guy Burgess, a member of the Cambridge spy ring who spied for the Soviet Union while an officer at MI6. The pr ...
'' (1983).
Film
''Shalott'' (2023) is a British feature-length film directed by Craig Byrne and Pete Gomes. The screenplay by Gareth Watkins was based on his play of the same name. Watkins's radical reimagining of the poem resets it within a dystopian future. It was filmed in 2020 on location in Berlin during the Covid-19 pandemic. In ''Shalott'', the protagonist Martuni, uses a communication device to connect with the outside world from his tower, principally through a series of queer sexualised encounters. The film mirrors many key elements and characters from the poem and also includes lines from the poem interwoven into the spoken dialogue. It explores themes of sexuality, desire, control, isolation and social decay.
See also
*
Weaving (mythology)
Mention of textiles in folklore is ancient, and its lost mythic lore probably accompanied the early spread of this art. Textiles have also been associated in several cultures with Cultural depictions of spiders, spiders in mythology.
Weaving begi ...
References
Further reading
* Thomas L. Jeffers
"Nice Threads: Tennyson's Lady of Shalott as Artist" ''Yale Review'' Vol. 89, No. 4 (Fall 2001), 54–68. .
* Thomas L. Jeffers
"Tennyson's Lady of Shalott and Pre-Raphaelite Renderings: Statement and Counter-Statement" ''Religion and the Arts'' 6:3 (September 2002), 231–256.
Full text
External links
(provided by The Camelot Project at the University of Rochester)
''The Lady of Shalott'' set to music(from the 1990 concept album ''Tyger and Other Tales'')
*
''The Lady of Shalott''at BBC Poetry Season
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lady Of Shalott, The
1833 poems
Arthurian literature in English
British poems
Poetry by Alfred, Lord Tennyson