The Lady of Shalott by Alfred Lord Tennyson... An imaginery world...

“The Lady of Shalott” begins with Tennyson providing his reader with a visual overview of the situation. The reader is shown the river and the road, and, far in the distance, the towers of Camelot. The people cited in this part are not given particular identities rather; they are common people going about their daily business. It is from their perspective that the poem first shows Shalott, an island in the river. The imagery here is of nature, freedom, and movement. This is contrasted with the inflexible, colorless walls and towers of Camelot in line 15 stating “four gray walls and four grey towers.” The flowers in the next line are not described by their colors or even by their motion in the breeze, but are “overlooked” by the grey walls as if they are held prisoner. This tone of severity in the middle of nature’s healthy activity prepares the reader for the introduction of “The Lady of Shalott” in line 18. The poem tells us that the lady who lives in the tower has not been seen, and is known only to the farmers who hear her singing while they work in their fields so early in the morning. Because they never see her but only hear her singing, “the reaper” (line 24) thinks of the Lady of Shalott as a spirit, a “fairy” (line 25). Up to this point, the reader has not been introduced to her either and knows only as much about her as those outside of the tower.
Later in the poem, during the fourth part, the season has changed. The author, now, describes an autumn scene as supported by the sentence: “In the stormy eastwind straining/ The pale-yellow woods were waning” (lines 1-2 in the fourth part). Although the time described does not seem to allow for a change of seasons, the magic creates an atmosphere where this compression of time is not unreasonable. It is significant that the Lady takes the time to write her name on the side of the boat “below the carven stern she wrote, THE LADY OF SHALOTT” (uppercase letters to give more intensity to this particular instance) (line 8-9 in the fourth part). She has no name to sign, just a title (“Lady”) and a location (“Shalott”).
“Mischance” (line 21, fourth part) means bad luck. The Lady understands that she is doomed as she looks toward Camelot, which had been responsible for sealing her fate. “Mute, with a glassy countenance” shows how desperate she is as life slips away from her. The death of the Lady of Shalott is surrounded with standard death images: cold, darkness, and mournful singing, among others. We notice that the author is trying to connect the dying woman’s departure with the dead woman’s arrival at Camelot. The Lady’s corpse is described as “pale” and “deadcold,” providing a stark visual contrast to the night as she floats past Camelot. Tennyson lists the occupants of the castle, as they are probably becoming aware of the Lady’s existence for the first time, although she was very aware of their existence. They are described as curious, as they walk around to read the front of the boat. What effect will this sight have on the people of Camelot? In the last stanza of the poem, the initial curiosity of the people of Camelot turns to fear, the primitive fear of seeing a dead person, and the way these Christian people respond in order to protect themselves is to make the sign of the cross. Tennyson brings this entire poem to a climax at this point. The Lady of Shalott was so enchanted with the idea of Camelot that she eventually was forced to look out of the window to see it herself and made the “extra step” that led her right to her death. This poem deals with the Lady of Shalott as she appears to the outside world.