The Lady of Shalott - a feminist reading When considered from a feminist perspective, The Lady of Shalott is an excellent representation of the struggle faced by females in the Victorian Age.

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The Lady of Shalott - a feminist reading

When considered from a feminist perspective, The Lady of Shalott is an excellent representation of the struggle faced by females in the Victorian Age. The Lady of Shalott is a complex analysis of the Victorian woman’s predestined role in society and her desire to relinquish this identity and break free into the wider, male dominated world. In the Victorian Age, society had very little tolerance for those who did not conform to the preconceived roles. This is shown through the character of The Lady of Shalott. She is representative of those who did not correspond to the idealised role of women and is consequently punished for it. The Victorian age was one of much upheaval with women actively petitioning for more rights in a male dominated society. The Era was epitomised by one of the nations favourite poems, ‘Angel of the House’, a man’s tribute to his wife’s subservience. Men were considered to be intelligent, strong, powerful characters, while women were emotional, domestic beings, most capable at raising children. Rigid social codes were followed in terms of etiquette and behaviour. It is the Lady’s rejection of these Victorian ideals of femininity that ultimately lead to her destruction. After seeing the city’s people and the ‘dazzling’ Lancelot, she rejects her life of solitude and actively seeks a more traditional lifestyle. However, the restricted society has no place for the creative female and destroys her.

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The Lady is doomed to remain an outsider to society. She is completely isolated on her own island; ‘a silent isle embowers’; confined to a solitary turret. This reflects the Victorian attitude to women. The image of the ‘four grey walls, and four grey towers’ is restricted and prison like whilst the repetition and lack of colour emphasises the monotonous tone of her existence. This drastically contrasts to the vibrancy of the outside world. When describing the nature outside, the four verbs in quick succession show aliveness and colourfulness, ‘Willows whiten, aspens quiver/Little breezes dusk and shiver’. The activity of ...

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