The Lady of Shalot

8/13/2019 The Lady of Shalot

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The Mediaeval Model in the Victorian Age as Illustrated in Poetry and Introducing Three

of the Great Victorian Poets: the Poet Laureate (or Popular, Official and the Poet of the

Arthurian !ycle "e#a$e, Alfred Tennyson% the O&li'ue (and I#popular Poet "o&ertro)ning, and the *evotional Poet ("oughly +n$no)n &y the Victorians Gerard

Manley op$ins

(-tudents are re'uested to read these poets. io/i&liographies, )hich are not their io.s

or !V.s, in that the respective te0ts loo$ &ehind the official pu&lication titles and

)rapping of their &iographie, and )hich can &e found at the end of the electronichand&oo$,Contributions12, so as to assess the degrees and causes of these poets.

popularity3i#popularity and to $no) the facts of the #atter in their careers as poets2 Also,

students can co#plete their infor#ation a&out these poets &y reading the Lecturing

Modules 4 and 55 in the sa#e electronic hand&oo$, fro# )hich )hole passages have&een lifted in the lecture )hich &egins &elo)

As seen in Tho#as !arlyle.s plea for the return of #odern hu#anity to the virtue(s of

#onastic life so as to live in &lessedeness rather than for the utilitarian greatest happinessof the greatest nu#&ers, and as understood fro# "us$in.s co##endation of the Middle

Ages or Gothic architecture for its vitalis# and spiritual earnestness, Victorian puritanis#sought for #ediaeval #odels of e0cellence2 The poe#s )hich open today.s lecture on

poetry, 6The Lady of -halott7 and 6!hilde "oland to the *ar$ To)er !a#e7, announce

very early their connection )ith the Middle Ages2 Tennyson.s poe#, 6The Lady of-halott7, refers to the Arthurian !ycle figure of the Lady of Astolat / turned into the Lady

of -halott / and has the capital of !a#elot to rhy#e )ith -halott in the poe#.s &urden or

refrain (that has #eaningful variations in the content of the rhy#ing lines2 ro)ning.s

protagonist of the 'uest poe# is a childe or $night/learner, a young no&le#an &y &irth)ith a fa#ous #ediaeval na#e, )ho prepares through ascesis to pass the tests #eant to

turn hi# into a heroic #edieval figure, as the $night should &e2 In addition, &oth thesepoe#s are allegories, a literary species very dear to the Middle Ages, )here #ost of thete0ts )ere her#eneutically interpreta&le, 8ust li$e the oly -criptures, as te0ts )ith a $ey

that hid a secret #eaning2 op$ins.s poe# 6The 9indhover7 is also an allegorical poe#

a&out !hrist, 6Our Lord7, as the devotional sonnet.s su&/title states2 (*evotional poetrydra)s its lyrical po)er fro# utterances that e0press the dra#atis# of religious faith and

fervour2

The allegorical value of the poe#s in focus here can &e detected )hen loo$ing at the

#erely decorative presence of the #ediaeval settings or characters that intervene in thepoe#s )hose focus is to &e found in the story itself and the repositories of the poe#s.

e#otion2 In 6The Lady of -halott7, the churls (or peasants, lords and ladies, lads and

da#es, &elong to the usual population that served or inha&ited castles in the Middle Agesand voiced a #ediaeval ethos, &ut the )eight of the poe#s. #eaning does not illustrate

the #ediaeval &ut the Victorian ethos in poetic action2 9hat #atters in Tennyson.s poe#

is that the do#estic faery )ho sings enticingly and )eaves (8ust li$e the Victorian)eavers )or$ing on an industrial scale at the loo# &rea$s her confine#ent2 -he &rea$s

her vo) to the )orld of shado)y/)eaving, #agic and confine#ent &ecause she is

pro#pted &y a very #odern, understanda&le desire to escape fro# dar$ness in order to

taste the authenticity of colourful life and love2 -he has no faithlul $night to court her,


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too, the Lady of -halott2 9hen the fiery Lord Lancelot, the sy#&ol of life.s colourful

intensity and glorious valiance appears to her, she cannot &ut fall for hi# and )ish to go

out to hi# entirely, replacing the for#er indirect vision &y direct en8oy#ent2 Lancelot isdressed in full #ediaeval splendour )ith a plu#e and a s)ord that shines forth to)ards

her fro# the #agic #irror in front of )hich, li$e a Platonic prisoner in the cave, she

)eaves a #agic )e&, 8ust li$e Penelope in The Odyssey.ut all this (and her a&soluteco##it#ent to art co#es to an end )hen her desire pushes her for)ard, to loo$ upon

and follo) Lancelot readily, ready for direct e0perience of life3love2 The Lady of -halott

re/enacts the fall of #an in the fe#inine and in a co#&ination of do#esticity and artistrythat represents a perfect e#&le# of the Victorian ethos2 "eady to teach convincing,

enticing lessons, the Victorians. pro0i#ity to art stressed the )ager )hich holds the

divine and the satanic loc$ed in perpetual fight over precedence in #atters that concern

the hu#an soul, such as art is2 oth Lancelot and the #ediaeval Lady of Astolatt areprete0ts, in this allegorical poe#, to e0pound the Victorian idea a&out the e0e#plary

po)er of art and the artist )hich can gain full s)ay only )hen isolation and self/sacrifice

safeguard it and &ac$ it up2 -i#ilarly, in 6!hilde "oland to the *ar$ To)er !a#e7, the

8ourney as an e#&odi#ent of the 'uest #otif is central to the poe#, &ut it is su&ordinatedto the Victorian de#onstration2 As an allegorical poe# a&out the confused position of

#odern, lost hu#anity, the poe# )ill de#onstrate that the 'uester is a loser, &ecause notonly does he find no real #ediaeval to)er at the end of his 8ourney, &ut the )ager of his

8ourney3'uest is nil: he finds #erely chaotic dar$ness, )hich stands for #odern &itter,

irritating disappoint#ent )here the *ar$ To)er should have stood to give strength to theidea of his co#ing3arrival2 There is no triu#ph &ut #erely &itter disappoint#ent to cro)n

his 8ourney that &eco#es a $ind of disappointing touristic trip2

-uch poe#s illustrate the sense of loss )hich the Victorian post/ro#antics inherited fro#

the later generations of "o#antic poets and )hich they )ere a&out to &e'ueath after the5thcentury of uncertainties, to the ;< thand ;5stcenturies2

There is no trace of the Victorian disparage#ent of the authentic, ra), actual self, &latant

in ro)ning.s ironic 'uest poe# and i#plicit in Tennyson.s 6Lady of -halott7, the latterof )hich poe# )anted to fore)arn and educate #an, )hile the for#er )ould conduce

#an to an essential presentation of the #odern fate, )hich is a plight or predica#ent2 =o

disappoint#ent is to &e found in op$ins.s ode to !hrist seen as an allegorical )indhover(in "o#anian vindereu, a species of ha)$ or falcon in the ho#ony#ous poe#, )hich

a&ounds in #edieval allusions (as students can see if they read the notes in the #odern

editions of the poe# and in Lecture Module > in Contributions. or in any of op$ins.s

anguished poe#s (they )ere called terri&le sonnets, )hich see#ed to &e )ritten in a#edieval #on$.s cell, at ti#es of penance2 +nli$e the seclusion i#posed on the Lady of

-halott, the isolation of the #on$/artist that op$ins )as &red glory and cast no curse

upon the head of the ascetical self2 "ather, it illustrated in action the )ays in )hich it ispossi&le to ascend to glory &y a #etaphysics that transcends direct happiness in order to

reach enduring &lessedness2 !onse'uently, op$ins.s devotional allegory gives a sense

of plenitude )here ro)ning.s #istrust of the 'uest foreclosed to any signs of #edievaltranscendentalis# the Victorian poetical scene and left #odern hu#anity in a &enu#&ed

state2

I= addition to fore)arning his conte#poraries a&out the frailty of (poetic transcendence,

as )as the case in 6The Lady of -haloltt7, Tennyson e'uipped the# )ith a sense of self/


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#ade greatness, the i#perial and industrial greatness )hich ca#e 'uite naturally to the

#e#&ers of a nation that )anted to co##end its self/#ade ethos2 This can &e seen in

7The Princess7, )hich is a very long poe# &ears the su&title of 7A Medley7, as itallegorically s)eeps through Victorian do#estic and industrial life regarded in the light

of Victorian culture as refine#ent and learning, Victorian colonial leisure, Victorian

ur&anity, Victorian fashion and sporting during a leisure day in the outing2 As 7ThePrologue7 e0plains, the setting is a Victorian &ig house or #ansion in the countryside

)hich idylically recreates ur&an values, a#&itions and intellectual de&ates fro# the

elegant vista of -ir 9alter Vivian.s little palace )hich see#s to concentrate in little the)hole Victorian #aterial and intellectual universe2 ?acetiously and graciously then, this

)orld )ill &e counteracted &y the poet.s 7fearful7, actually farcical fairy/tale or fa&le of

the all/fe#inine +niversity/!onvent of the Princess Ida, a #an/eater )ho threatened the

#ale I of the story/teller Prince )ith her )hole ar#y of chaste )o#en or culturala#a@ons2

?ro# The Prologue

-ir 9alter Vivian all a su##er.s day

Gave his &road la)ns until the set of sun

+p to the people: thither floc$ed at noon

is tenants, )ife and child, and thither half

The neigh&ouring &orough )ith their Institute

Of )hich he )as the patron2 I )as there

?ro# college, visiting the son, / the son

A 9alter too,/ )ith others of our set,

?ive others: )e )ere seven at Vivian/place2

And #e that #orning 9alter sho).d the house,

Gree$, set )ith &usts: fro# vases in the hall

?lo)ers of all heavens, and lovelier than their na#es,

Gre) side &y side% and on the pave#ent lay

!arved stones of the A&&ey/ruin in the par$,

uge A##onites, and the first &ones of Ti#e%


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And on the ta&les every cli#e and age

u#&led together% celts and calu#ets,

!lay#ore and sno)shoe, toys in lava, fans

Of sandal, a#&er, ancient rosaries,

La&orious orient ivory shphere in sphere,

The cursed Malayan crease, and &attle/clu&s

?ro# the isles of pal#: and higher on the )alls,

et)i0t the #onstruous horns of el$ and deer,

is o)n forefathers. ar#s and ar#our hung 2

And .this. he said .)as ugh.s at Agincourt%

And that )as old -ir "alph.s at Ascalon:

A good $night heB 9e $eep a chronicle

9ith all a&out hi#. C )hich he &rought, and I

*ived in a hoard of tales that dealt )ith $nights,

alf/legend, half/historic, counts and $ings

9ho laid a&out the# at their )ills and died2

9hile the visitors are given a tour of the par$, in )hich the reader #ay visually

participate li$e in a docu#entary #ovie on today.s ca&le television, or li$e in a Defirelli

super/production set in the Victorian age, one feels overco#e &y the uninterrupted chainof gracious #iracles and technological toys #eant precisely for such a day of sporting,

)hich playful #iracles transfor# this par$ into a land of the 5th century fairies, or into

an i#agined International E0hi&ition of 5>45 C only here i#agined a fe) years inadvance (as 7The Princess7 )as first pu&lished in 5>F:

12round the la$e

A little cloc$/)or$ stea#er paddling plied

And shoo$ the lilies: perch.d a&out the $nolls


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A do@en angry #odels 8etted stea#:

A petty rail)ay ran % a fire &alloon

"ose ge#/li$e up &efore the dus$y groves

And dropt a fairy parachute and past:

And there thro. t)enty posts of telegraph

They flash.d a saucy #essage to and fro

et)een the #i#ic stations% so that sport

9ent hand in hand )ith -cience%

The sa#e pairing of science )ith pro)ess, this ti#e seriously rather than in 8est, occurs in

the strange poe# 7Loc$sley all7, a confessive and didactic narrative and a th)artedlove story yo$ing together fe#inis# )ith progress:

7ere a&out the &each, I )ander.d, nourishing a youth su&li#e

9ith the fairy tales of science, and the long results of Ti#e

This poe# contains so#e incredi&le in8unctions, such as the follo)ing:

111111112 for)ard, for)ard let us range

Let the great )orld spin for ever do)n the ringing grooves of change (the heroic

o#eric echo of 7the ringing plains of Troy7 #a$es one vacillate &et)een despair,

disdain and #ere laughter2 ut the poe# continues )ith its heroic couplets in e0actly thesa#e incredi&ly enco#iastic tone:

There #ethin$s )ould &e en8oy#ent #ore than in this #arch of #ind

In the stea#ship, in the rail)ay, in the thoughts that sha$e #an$ind

After all this praise of science and progress, )e cannot )onder at the tone of Tennyson.stopical 7Ode -ung at the Opening of the International E0hi&ition7

I

+plift a thousand voices full and s)eet,

In this )ide hall )ith earth.s invention stored,


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And praise the invisi&le universal Lord,

9ho lets once #ore in peace the nations #eet,

9here -cience, Art, and La&our have outpour.d

Their #yriad horns of plenty at our feet

9e can see ho) the resort to allegory and the Middle Ages &oosted the #odern

Victorians. understanding of the pu&lic and private self in perspective2 This is one reason

for co##ending their poetry as a vehicle for ideas and as a #ain &earer3receptacle oftheir private and pu&lic sensi&ility2

The Lady of Shalot

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