"The Lady of Shalott": How Tennyson Sets the Scene, and Comments on an Era Emily Ashenden College

"The Lady of Shalott" was published in 1832, during the early Victorian epoch. It explores a series of themes that trigger the reader to question the societal prejudices that occurred during Queen Victoria’s reign. In order to stimulate thought, Tennyson paints a romantic picture of Camelot and uses an array of literary techniques to lure the reader into the story. The idyllic scene at the beginning of the poem juxtaposed with the desolation that it concludes with, injects a surge of drama, which emphasises the weight of unanswered cerebral questions directed at the reader. Writers during this period were reliant on public opinion in order to encourage commercial enterprise, thus Tennyson appealed to the civilisation of his day. Some argue contemporary literary opinion turned sharply against him during the twentieth century, as his writings reflected Victorian values. Therefore, morals that can be identified in this text should be used as guidelines that expose the hypocrisy underlying the foundation of Victorianism.

The four stanzas in part one employ the same basic structure. There are nine lines with a rhyme scheme of aaaabcccb and Tennyson emphasises the rhyme, using it to his literary advantage. The abrupt stop at the end...