One of tennysons renowned poems “Lady of Shalott” is clearly about what it was like in Victorian times as we there a lot examples of how it would have been to live for an Victorian woman. This poem is about a lonely woman who is cursed to stay in her tower on the island of shalott just close to Camelot. The curse is that if she were to look out down to Camelot some thing bad will fall upon her though she does not know what will happen if she does, and so is afraid to leave.
“A curse is on her is she stay
To look down to Camelot
She knows not what the curse may be,
And so she weaveth steadily,”
The curse in this poem represents a Victorian marriage in that she would not have been allowed to leave the house as a married woman. The curse was also like a social curse and how she was not allowed contact with the outside world and was expected to stay home and weave and have no passion for the outside world. This is much like the lady of shalott in that she is trapped in her tower (home) with no escape with out fearing something bad will happen to her. She is also weaving as women were expected to do. Though the Lady of shalott does have passion for the outside world as we see.
We also find that there is a mirror in her tower, which allows her to see things that go by, for example “sometimes a curley shepherd lad”.
“And moving thro` a mirror clear
That hangs before her all the year,
Shadows of the world appear.
There she sees the highway near”
The mirror is in comparrison to how a woman in Victorian times would of only been able to see the world through the eyes of her husband, the mirror is the image the husband gives to the wife. This is very much how it would have been during Victorian times.
As sir Lancelot “came dazzing thro` the leaves” the Lady of Shalott noticed him through the mirror and began to focus on him “a red-crossed knight” as he came riding down to Camelot. He is described as wearing
“thick-jewll`d shone the saddle-leather,
The helmet and the helmet-feather
Burn`d like one burning flame together,……..
His broad clear brow in sunlight glow`d
On burnished hooves his war-horse trode
From underneath his helmet flow`d
His coal-black curles as on he rode”
After seeing Sir. Lancelot she was very tempted to look down to Camelot to watch him go.
“She left the web, she left the loom,
She made three paces thro` the room….
She saw the helmet and the plume
She look`d down to Camelot……
The mirror crack`d from side to side
“The curse is upon me she” cried
She gave in to the temptation to look out to Camelot all for Lancelot the “red-crossed knight” she then left the tower and came down and found a boat “beneath a willow left afloat” and took it down the river to Camelot. She inscribed the lady of Shalott around the prow and floated down to Camelot. Se came to Camelot “dead-pale between the houses high, silent into Camelot”. As it came down to Camelot they read the name “the Lady of Shalott” and all that was said by Lancelot was “she had a lovely face”.
Ghgfffffffffffffffffffffffffffff
Ghf
Hgf
H
In this poem we can see that there is a good description of Camelot and giver us a good idea of what an Victorian town would have been like. It describes it as having long fields of barley and of rye and “ Thro` the field the road run runs by to many tower`d Camelot” it also says there is a river that separates Camelot from the “island of Shalott” the description gives an image of a large town surrounded by fields of barley and rye with one road going through them leading to the centre of the town, there is also the island of Shalott in the distance across the river. We imagin the town to be crowded and busy as it says “and up ad down the people go”
Another of Tennysons poems “Sir Galahad” this poem is about a lost past and was also written after 1842 which is a sign of this.
This poem was originaly created by a poet named Mallorey. Mallorey wrote the original Aurtherian legends of poems such as Morte D`Arthur, Sir Lancelot and Queen Guiniver, Sir Galahad. Tennyson used Malloreys idears and adapted them to his version.
This poem (Sir Galahad) is about honnor and nobility where Galahad goes on his quest to find the holy grail this was like the people in Victorian times which were searching for God in their lifes and religion. We must not forget that at the time this poem is set and written, Dawins theroy on the origin of people was around and people were not sure what to belive God or evolution.