The Lady Of Shalott Part III - Analysis

Introduction

The excerpt from Alfred Lord Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott" Part III presents a vivid, lyrical scene of Sir Lancelot riding toward Camelot and the decisive moment when the Lady breaks her loom and the mirror shatters. The tone shifts from bright, almost celebratory description of Lancelot's appearance to a sudden, ominous turn as the Lady recognizes the arrival of the curse. The mood moves from distant admiration to tragic suspense.

Historical and Biographical Context

Written in the mid-19th century, the poem reflects Victorian interest in medieval romance and Arthurian legend, combined with Tennyson's preoccupation with isolation, art, and the role of the observer. Social concerns about duty, femininity, and the constraints of society inform the Lady's confined existence.

Main Themes

Isolation vs. Connection: The Lady's removal from the world is foregrounded by the repeated phrase “Beside remote Shalott” and her indirect experience of life through a mirror. Lancelot's direct, sensory arrival—sunlight on “brazen greaves,” music—provokes her longing for contact.

Art and Life: The web and mirror function as her artistic mediation of reality; when she abandons the loom (“She left the web, she left the loom”) she chooses lived experience over mediated art, despite the lethal consequence.

Fate and Curse: The poem moves toward inevitability: the mirror cracking and her cry “The curse is come upon me” frame her action as tragic and predetermined rather than a purely romantic choice.

Imagery and Symbolism

The poem is rich in luminous, tactile images—“the sun came dazzling,” “thick-jewell’d shone the saddle-leather,” Lancelot’s “coal-black curls”—which contrast with the Lady’s reflected, distant vision. Key symbols include the mirror (mediation, distance), the web (artistic labor, constraint), and Lancelot’s blazoned shield and silver bugle (heroic, worldly presence). The cracking mirror and flying web visually signal the rupture between art and life and the onset of doom. One might ask whether the curse is external fate or the inevitable cost of choosing reality over aesthetic safety.

Conclusion

Part III compresses brightness and foreboding into a turning point: Tennyson uses radiant imagery to make the Lady’s choice and its consequences starkly felt. The passage interrogates the tension between isolated artistry and the perilous allure of real life, leaving the reader with a poignant sense of beauty entwined with tragedy.