How Does Tennyson Believe In The Lady Of Shalott

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Throughout his poem, The Lady of Shalott, Lord Tennyson firmly establishes to the reader his belief in myths. For example, Tennyson restricts the lady to only seeing reflections of the world around her. Tennyson accomplishes this by showing that the lady sees the world around her through a mirror. Furthermore, Tennyson shows his belief in myths as he writes in part two, “A curse is on her if she stays” (Tennyson 40). While this may seem as like an ordinary statement, Tennyson implies his belief in myths by showing the reader that the curse will only affect her if she ceases to weave her magical web. Sometime earlier in the poem, Tennyson states, “Four gray walls and four gray towers” (Tennyson 15). In the context of these lines, Tennyson suggest to the reader that in order for one to experience life to the fullest, one should not isolate themselves, but explore beyond the dangerous “walls” that also …show more content…

Furthermore, Tennyson alludes to the fact that everything the Lady believed and dreamt of merely remained a fantasy. The Lady was summoned to live in the tower, but the Lady refused and sought to pursue her own life. For instance, in the fourth part of the poem, Tennyson states, “In the stormy east-wind straining, the pale yellow wood were waning” (Tennyson 118-119). Tennyson masterfully choses his words to portray the emotions of the Lady as he uses ‘yellow’ to indicate her sickness and “waning” signifies the coming death of the woods. Consequently, Tennyson foreshadows the death of the Lady as her death comes on slowly like that of the pale yellow wood. For instance, Tennyson states, “…till her blood was frozen slowly” (Tennyson 147). As a result, Tennyson leaves the reader facing with the reality that the cause of her death was solely attributably to her decision to forsake the web, and, thus, her right to

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