Lady Of Shalott And Sir Lancelot example essay topic

This poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson is exciting for many reasons. The poem has a dramatic narrative, includes exciting events, has a beautiful heroine and a handsome hero. It also has strong characters, old language and a fast and exciting tempo. It is set in the time of Arthur and the king of the round table.

It is about a young lady named The Lady of Shalott who has a fairytale image surrounding her. When people hear her singing they say, Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott She lives on the island of Shalott near to the town of Camelot, where she is trapped inside a tower, in a castle within, Four grey walls and four grey towers She is not allowed to leave the tower or look directly out of the window, because she has been cursed. No one has ever seen her, but they know she is in the tower because they hear her singing, early in the morning. This adds extra interest to the poem, making it more mysterious. She passes the days by weaving tapestries on her web, of the things she sees through the reflection in her mirror.

She also notices many people going down to Camelot: a long-haired page in crimson clad. market girls in red cloaks, a curly haired shepherd lad, an abbot on an ambling pad' At first she is content with her life, then when she sees the knights ride past, she begins to realise how lonely she actually is and doubt sets in as, she hath no loyal knight. Then when she sees, two young lovers lately wed in the moonlight, she becomes aware of what she is missing out on, romance, and she is almost upset, I am half sick of shadows. The final thing that makes her think she is missing out on the real world is, bold Sir Lancelot. She is enchanted by him.

Instantly, she becomes aware that if she remains in the tower for eve she will never be happy. Therefore, she decides to leave the tower. Although she knows that something bad might happen, she is willing to take that risk. She decides to take a chance because she can no longer live life in a shadow.

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, She looked down to Camelot. And, The mirror cracked from side to side. The tapestry flew out of the window, Out flew the web and floated wide. This is when the Lady of Shalott realises that, The curse is upon her. Suddenly, there is a sudden change in the weather and it turns dark, In the stormy east wind straining, The pale yellow woods were waning. We are made to believe that this is some to so with the curse.

The Lady of Shalott goes down to the waters edge and under a willow tree she finds a boat and around the side she writes, The Lady of Shalott. She unties the boat, lies down in it and floats down the river to Camelot. There is a moment of anxiety, as to whether she will actually make it to Camelot. Unfortunately, she dies, as she sings and she reaches Camelot where she is surrounded by, Knight and burgher, lord and dame, And round the prow they read her name, The Lady of Shalott. The poem ends with Sir Lancelot saying, She has a lovely face; God in his mercy give her grace, The Lady of Shalott. This is an ironic ending, because the Lady of Shalott has loved Sir Lancelot for most of her life and he has only just noticed her, would probably have loved her too and now she is dead.

The characters in this poem are also exciting. These include the Lady of Shalott and Sir Lancelot. The Lady of Shalott is young and attractive, a talented weaver and singer. Beneath the surface lies a strong-minded lady who is willing to take risks, she broke the curse, although she knew that this would fall back on her.

Sir Lancelot is an excitingly handsome red cross knight. He made a powerful impression on the Lady of Shalott. He is a perfect man. A brave, handsome, heroic knight. He is the stereotypical knight. He wears a shoulder sash with heraldic designs and a hanging silver bugle too.

He has, Coal-black curls, which are half-covered with a helmet, in shining armour he rides his horse. On burnished hooves his war-horse trade The language used by Alfred, Lord Tennyson also makes the poem exciting. He uses language, to show a change. He also uses exciting colour imagery, "barley", "dazzling", "flamed", and imagery, sounds, "Hear a song that echoes cheerly".

In Part I there is a lot of movement described, for example, "Flowing down to Camelot". In Part II there is a vivid sense of exciting colour and movement described. It is a very funny part of the poem and ideas of happiness are shown. Colour is described when the Lady of Shalott sees, a long haired page in crimson clad, market girls in red cloaks and when she looks into her mirror, "And sometimes thro the mirror blue". Part brings about, a sense of lust and passion surrounding, bold Sir Lancelot In the first stanza, there is a great deal of Golden Imagery, barley, sun, dazzling, The effect of this is to create a romantic feeling. The second stanza sets off the loving imagery and there is sound imagery too, to set the scene and let you feel the sounds, all these sounds add to the excitement, The bridle bells rang merrily And as he rode his armour rung.

Stanza three is full of sparkly imagery, which adds to the excitement flame, starry, bearded meteor Stanza four brings a sudden change, to emphasise the panic she is experiencing, 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, She looked down to Camelot. This stanza has suddenly altered the happy mood to a moment of tension. In Part IV the mood changes. In the first stanza, there is a change in weather and a sense of evil is revealed. In the stormy east wind straining Heavily the low sky waning The final four stanzas are very important. At first she lies in the boat robed in snowy white this is showing purity.

In stanza four, the poem is slowed down; this is the death of the Lady of Shalott, Till her blood was frozen slowly She then enters Camelot, Dead-pale and it is silent. Everyone is very nosy, so they ask questions, Who is this And what is here The poem ends with Sir Lancelot saying, She has lovely face; God in his mercy lend her grace, The Lady of Shalott. The tempo of this poem also makes it exciting. In Part I, it is very calm and slow. In Parts II and, the poem becomes brighter and the tempo is slightly faster too.

In the last verse of Part there is a dramatic change in the tempo, there is a definite increase in pace, therefore, an increase in excitement too. The final Part is very slow and quiet, as this is when the Lady of Shalott actually dies and it is showing her journey down to Camelot and the death itself. In conclusion, you should take more chances. I found it sad and felt sorry with the Lady of Shalott and her situation. It must have been terrible to be locked up in a tower while the outside world is having fun and experiencing everything that life has to offer. It is an exciting poem.

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