But unlike Mariana (who never leaves the grange), The Lady of Shallot does not despair that Lancelot does not come to her. Instead, the Lady of Shalott is seemingly strong and assertive; “she left the web, she left the loom”: She drops everything to chase after her love. She makes the effort and sacrifice to create a relationship between the two of them. Similarly, the female character in Porphyrias’ lover, by Browning, Porphyria, is also portrayed as the partner in the relationship who is ‘making all the effort’ to please the other, “She sat down by” her lovers’ “side and called” him. “When no voice replied, she put her arm around her waist and made white shoulder bare”.
Despite bringing the curse upon herself, by looking “down to Camelot”. The Lady of Shalott is undeterred, even fearless of the consequences, perhaps more determined than ever to chase Lancelot. She never gave up “Singing her song” until “she died”. Where as Mariana eventually gives up all hope “He will not come…(having never asserted herself to go and find “he” that she refers to)…oh God that I were dead!” while still living.
What both Mariana and the Lady of Shalott have in common is their obsessive behaviour, though this is demonstrated in two very different ways; Mariana is forever waiting for someone to come for her , she states that her “life”, “the night” or “the day” “is dreary” (the use of a different phrase in each stanza, in a cycle demonstrates the passage of time). On the other hand the lady of Shalott decides to go to any lengths to find love; even if it means dying in the process. And in a way, both of them are fatalistic; Mariana with her wish “I would that I were dead” at the end of every stanza, and the Lady of Shalott “singing her last song”. The colour black features heavily in descriptions of Marianas’ Moated grange. Items such as “reapers” (a reference to the Grim Reaper?) and lilies in the Lady of Shalott are all associated with death.
The Lady of Shalott is portrayed as mysterious and magical “like some bold seer in a trance”, “there she weaves by night and day, a magic web with colours gay”. And a subject of myth; when the “reapers, reaping early…hear a song that echoes cheerly” they say “’tis the fairy lady of Shalott” even though they don’t know where the song is coming from; further creating an image of supernatural properties possessed by the lady. A congruent image is found in “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” by Keats. Where the “Belle” is described as “Full beautiful- A faerys’ child, her hair was long, her foot was light… her eyes were wild” a mysterious and alluring image of something supernaturally beautiful. She found “roots of relish sweet, and honey wild, and manna dew” for the knight in the poem; it is almost as if she is bewitching him with potions. She is portrayed as a seductress; deceiving the knight, telling him “I love thee true!” and then lulling him to sleep in her “elfin grot”. Only for him to awake, near death “on the cold hill’s side”. Keats implants the idea that she lures men to their deaths, through the Knights dream in the eighth stanza; in which he sees “pale kings and princes too, pale warriors, death-pale were they all”; previous victims of the mysterious “Belle Dame Sans Merci”, depicting women as untrustworthy.
The notion of untrustworthiness is also demonstrated in the poem “Porphyrias’ lover”, where, because he feared that Porphyria would be disloyal to him “too weak for all her hearts endeavour” and unable to devote her love fully to him alone “to set its struggling passion free, from pride and vainer ties dissever, and give herself to me forever”. And so, out of a twisted love he kills her. A similar scenario arises in “My last Duchess”, also by Browning, where the Duke feels that his Duchess was disloyal to him “Twas not her presence only, called that spot of joy into the duchess’ cheek” that she was too easily impressed “She had a heart…too soon made glad…she liked whate’er she looked on, and her looks went everywhere” and that she loved people other than the Duke. He also felt she was ungrateful for his “gift of a nine-hundred-years-old-name”, his family name and title, because she seemed to rank it “with anybodys’ gift”. So the Duke had her killed “I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together”, he kept a portrait of her smiling, so only he and those he deemed suitable could look on her smile. Because he felt that it was a smile for him, and him alone.
Browning portrays the possessiveness and jealousy of men that women (Whom they hold in a purely decorative value) are subjected to. Far from Women who want to be loved but are without adoration (Such as in Mariana and The Lady of Shallot). Porphyria and My Last Duchess are both loved, but they are treated as items. A similar theme can be found in “She was a phantom of delight” by Wordsworth, where the narrator describes a woman as “A moments ornament”. But he adds a new dimension to this objectivity; while Browning has made women objects to be used, more than anything else. Wordsworth places a woman upon a pedestal as a seemingly unreal and angelically beautiful creature, “A spirit, yet a woman too… a creature not too bright or good for human natures’ daily food”. At the same time he conveys that a womans’ place is in the home “household motions light and free” and that they are “To warn, to comfort and command”; still subservient to men. Perhaps presenting a paradox to women; to be loved is to be an object and servant, to be alone is to be forever seeking love.
Both Mariana and the Lady of Shallot are seeking reciprocation of their love, and acknowledgement of their existence. It is as if Mariana exists only because the Narrator acknowledges her, most of the description in the poem is of the scenery around her. The Lady of Shalott, already attributed a mythical and questionable existence by the locals. She chases Lancelot, only to die trying to reach him. But ultimately achieves her goal, he comments “She has a lovely face”, ultimately, this may seem more than a little inadequate, for we, as the readers know fully what she has been through, chasing Lancelot. He, however, does not. From this it could be argued from this that Womens’ efforts often go unknown.
To conclude, Tennyson portrays women as dependant on love and attention from men, perhaps even more than a little eccentric and melodramatic. Browning prefers to depict the jealousy and paranoia of the men that they love; while being subservient and easily pleased. Keats casts a woman firmly as a supernatural seductress, villain and murderer in “La Belle Dame Sans Merci”. And Wordsworth prefers to give a romantic, almost angelic description of a woman, and perhaps highlight how she was “not too bright or good for human natures’ daily food”. With a continuing theme of subservience.