Analysis of “The Lady of Shalott”

The extract taken from Part II of "the Lady of Shallot" tells about a Lady, who, owing to a mysterious curse, cannot stop weaving a colourful web and looking down to Camelot. She is allowed to observe what happens outside her window only in the reflections cast in a mirror hanging before her- in other words she sees only the shadows of reality. Yet the secluded solitary lady seems relatively content to weave the images the mirror captures: they are mainly pictures of people moving to Camelot along the highway like peasants, market girls, a group of young women, of knights, etc. But one night the sight of two young lovers makes the Lady feel "sick of shadows".

The most important feature of the extract is the loneliness and the willing to be free. Because of the curse she lives in a fake world made of illusions, everything is filtered by her mirror which can be consider the metaphor of her life.

There is a high phonological level in the poem together with lots of sound devices which recalls the musicality of the lyrical ballads. Each stanza ends with the same sound so that they rhyme together. There are many examples of anaphors like:”and…and” (line 7-8); “Sometimes…sometimes” (line19-21); “the…the...” (Line 25 - 26). Finally in each stanza the refrain is represented by the 5^th and the 9^th line of each stanza with the words:”Camelot” and “Shalott”.

Exercises

Exercise 1 - Summering

Owing to a mysterious curse the Lady of Shalott cannot stop weaving a colourful web and looking down to Camelot. She is allowed to observe what happens outside her window only in the reflections cast in a mirror hanging before her- in other words she sees only the shadows of reality. Yet the secluded solitary lady seems relatively content to weave the images the mirror captures: they are mainly pictures of people moving to Camelot along the highway like peasants, market girls, a group of young women, of knights, etc. But one night the sight of two young lovers makes the Lady feel "sick of shadows".

Exercise 2 – What’s magic in the poem?

The mirror's sights are the magic elements in the poem because they permit to the Lady of Shalott to view the outside world.

Exercise 3 – Narrative poem turning into lyric

<!--[if !supportLists]-->a)      <!--[endif]-->Rhymes:

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.      <!--[endif]-->There are four lines ending with the same sound in one stanza which are consecutive. 

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.      <!--[endif]-->In each stanza the 5^th and the 9^th line work as a refrain.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->b)      <!--[endif]-->Rhythm: Is regular but not heavy for each stanza because there are not too much stresses in each line.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->c)      <!--[endif]-->Romantic aspect: the musical quality perfectly suits the Romantic legend because it is also a typical feature of ballads.

 Exercise 4 – Part III musical aspects

As in the second part the first four lines ends with the same sound, there are many anaphors for example: “she…she...she...” (Line 1-2-3-4-5) or “the…the…the” (line 7-8-9). As in the second part then there is still the refrain and there is the rhyme sound of “Camelot” (line 5) with “The Lady of Shalott” (line 9).