Lord Alfred Tennyson wrote many poems on the plights of women. His poems about women focus largely on their powerlessness. However, one poem is of slight contrast, The Lady of Shallot. The poem Marianna is about a woman who is deserted by her lover and her misery over her abandonment. "My life is dreary/He cometh no/I would that I were dead!" (p.587). This line is repeated at the end of each stanza which indicates not only her demise, but her sorrow. She feels no reason to live. The dreariness of her sorrow is not just depicted in the last lines of each stanza, but also on the physical landscape in the poem. The poem opens with a dim perspective; "With blackest moss the flower-plot/Were thickly crusted, one and all:/The rusted nails fell from the knots" (p.586). Marianna is troubled throughout the poem, "Her tears fell ere the dews were dried:/She could not look at the sweet heaven/" (p.587). Marianna is trapped in a situation where she has no control. Or rather, she does not want control. She would rather look at her dismal surroundings and wish for her death. Her abandonment issue, not her love for the man, are projected throughout the poem.
The Lady of Shallot depicts almost the opposite. From the beginning of the poem, the depiction of her landscape is promising; "Long fields of barley and of rye/That clothe the world and meet the sky;". One would get the feeling of healthy abundance in these lines. She lives in the shadows, happily; "Hear a song that echoes cheerly" (p.590). She does not seem to care that she must avoid human interaction. This is not actually the case, she is tired of watching the world and weaving; "I am half sick of shadows"(p.590). The Lady of Shallot observes the world from the tower (she is forbidden to leave); "And moving thro' a mirror clear/That hangs before her all year/Shadows of the world appear." (p.590). She sees her weaving art of the landscape through the mirror, which could be interpreted as how she views the world. Not from a realistic view, but rather one that is imagined or conjured through art. In Part 3 of the poem, The Lady sees Sir Lancelot; "All in the blue unclouded weather/thick-jewell'd shone the saddled-leather" (591). She is excited by Sir Lancelot and and decides to look out the window to get a real look at him; "She left the web/she left the loom/She made three paces thro' the room/She saw the water-lily bloom/She saw the helmet and the plume" (p.591). The mirror cracks "The mirror crack'd from side to side" once she looks out the window. She knows she is cursed. The poem goes further to tell the story of Lady Shallot leaving the confines of the tower, knowing she is already cursed. She gets on a boat, sings her final song and dies. Lancelot sees her dead body, remarks "She has a lovely face;/God and his mercy lend her grace".
These two poems by Tennyson say so much more than powerless women. I gathered that the Victorian era for women was much harder than any man could relate. However, I think Tennyson may have had some sympathy for the woman's plight. I saw Marianne as the women who didn't know where her future lay without a man. She saw herself as being better or dead instead of living without the uncertainty of a possible future. Men were considered the future in the Victorian period. Not women. So women had to attach themselves to men, marriage and children for some security. Being abandoned, much like Marianne was a huge loss to a life once accustomed as well as a future. In Tennyson's use of the landscape to depict Marianne's plight, let's the reader know that from the women's point of view, things can appear dead while alive. In the case of The Lady of Shallot, I found that this woman took a chance and died as the result. She was cursed and she knew it. She didn't know why, and it didn't matter. Tennyson portrayed that women had that undeniable spirit of "making the best" of what they had. However, a caged bird does sing. She wanted more, she took a step. The step ultimately came begot her demise. She became courageous faced with the thought of her death. Both women in Tennyson's poems contrasted each other. Each had a different perspective that offered some insight into the vision or world of women for the Victorian period.
The Lady of Shallot depicts almost the opposite. From the beginning of the poem, the depiction of her landscape is promising; "Long fields of barley and of rye/That clothe the world and meet the sky;". One would get the feeling of healthy abundance in these lines. She lives in the shadows, happily; "Hear a song that echoes cheerly" (p.590). She does not seem to care that she must avoid human interaction. This is not actually the case, she is tired of watching the world and weaving; "I am half sick of shadows"(p.590). The Lady of Shallot observes the world from the tower (she is forbidden to leave); "And moving thro' a mirror clear/That hangs before her all year/Shadows of the world appear." (p.590). She sees her weaving art of the landscape through the mirror, which could be interpreted as how she views the world. Not from a realistic view, but rather one that is imagined or conjured through art. In Part 3 of the poem, The Lady sees Sir Lancelot; "All in the blue unclouded weather/thick-jewell'd shone the saddled-leather" (591). She is excited by Sir Lancelot and and decides to look out the window to get a real look at him; "She left the web/she left the loom/She made three paces thro' the room/She saw the water-lily bloom/She saw the helmet and the plume" (p.591). The mirror cracks "The mirror crack'd from side to side" once she looks out the window. She knows she is cursed. The poem goes further to tell the story of Lady Shallot leaving the confines of the tower, knowing she is already cursed. She gets on a boat, sings her final song and dies. Lancelot sees her dead body, remarks "She has a lovely face;/God and his mercy lend her grace".
These two poems by Tennyson say so much more than powerless women. I gathered that the Victorian era for women was much harder than any man could relate. However, I think Tennyson may have had some sympathy for the woman's plight. I saw Marianne as the women who didn't know where her future lay without a man. She saw herself as being better or dead instead of living without the uncertainty of a possible future. Men were considered the future in the Victorian period. Not women. So women had to attach themselves to men, marriage and children for some security. Being abandoned, much like Marianne was a huge loss to a life once accustomed as well as a future. In Tennyson's use of the landscape to depict Marianne's plight, let's the reader know that from the women's point of view, things can appear dead while alive. In the case of The Lady of Shallot, I found that this woman took a chance and died as the result. She was cursed and she knew it. She didn't know why, and it didn't matter. Tennyson portrayed that women had that undeniable spirit of "making the best" of what they had. However, a caged bird does sing. She wanted more, she took a step. The step ultimately came begot her demise. She became courageous faced with the thought of her death. Both women in Tennyson's poems contrasted each other. Each had a different perspective that offered some insight into the vision or world of women for the Victorian period.
Denise,
ReplyDeleteVery good exploration of the role of women in Victorian society through the main characters in two of Tennyson's lyric poems. Good work of opening up the passages you quote to explicate their relevance to your topic, and insightful observations and analysis throughout. Great job!