ipl-logo

Isolation In Alfred Tennyson's The Lady Of Shalott

1255 Words6 Pages

“The Lady of Shalott” by Alfred Tennyson is a poem about a woman who is locked away from the outside world and only sees reality through her mirror. The use of symbolism contributes to the theme of isolation. The three major symbols that create the theme of isolation are the web, the mirror, and the location. The first major symbol that contributes to the theme of isolation is the web. The structure of the web develops the theme. The lady forms the tapestry by weaving the sights that pass by the mirror (line 37). The lady weaves the web to occupy her time since she has nothing else to do (T. Halliwell-Grove 62). Because the lady’s only activity is the creation of the tapestry, the web contributes to the lady’s loneliness. Another example of the web’s structure is its colors. The “magic web” is full of “gay” colors (38). The lady uses the tapestry to mimic the colorful shadows …show more content…

The first location symbol that creates the theme of isolation is the tower. The lady is alone inside the tower and cannot look outside (40-41). The tower is bleak with four “gray walls” (15). The lady’s home is equivalent to an impenetrable prison-like fortress (Halliwell-Grove 63). Because the lady’s home is like a prison, the tower symbolizes the lady’s isolation. Another example of the tower’s location is that the tower is away from the rest of civilization. The tower is on an “island” in the middle of the river (13). The river symbolizes the “boundaries … between life and death” (Fontana 112). The lady dies while on the river (151-52). Because the river leads to the lady’s death, it contributes to the theme of isolation. The final example of the tower is that it is silent. The tower is on a “silent isle” (17). The isle is silent because the lady is “literally ‘shut up’” (Halliwell-Grove 64). Since the lady is alone in the dreary castle, the island is silent. Thus, the tower’s location creates the theme of

Show More
Related
619 Words | 3 Pages

This theme is easily overlooked and must dug into to truly discover its

Read More
1719 Words | 7 Pages

Zeena… had cited many cases of the kind while she was nursing his mother; and he himself knew of certain lonely farm-houses in the neighbourhood where stricken creatures pined, and of others where sudden tragedy had come of their presence” (Wharton). It seems that the isolation in this small town was not limited to just our three main characters, but that it reached the rest of the town and various people around were being affected by some connecting force that the reader pieces together. The isolation in the farm and the inability to leave it, is mirrored by the isolation of the winter and the inability to leave the

Read More
525 Words | 3 Pages

The situations take place in the story are evidence for the theme. First, the theme

Read More
279 Words | 2 Pages

In “The Minister’s Black Veil”, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the minister, Mr. Hooper wear a black veil which affects his relationship with his community negatively because the people distanced themselves and isolated Mr. Hooper. For example, Elizabeth, Mr. Hooper’s fiancee distances herself from Mr. Hooper. Hawthorne writes, “Then, farewell!” said Elizabeth. She withdrew her arm from his grasp and slowly departed...”. Elizabeth is heading out upset when Mr. Hooper says to her, “Oh!

Read More
675 Words | 3 Pages

The theme is developed by how Jeannette learns how to take care of herself and her younger siblings, and the way her parent taught her. Jeannette have a very tough childhood where she have to go up quickly,so that she can work to make money. This way she won’t starve and feel the chill of winter, where there’s no heat in the house. She can also break ties with the move and rent new house to find new money sources because her dad can’t hold a job for a long

Read More
588 Words | 3 Pages

This underlying theme significantly contributes to the overall storyline providing a unique characterization to each character, allowing the reader to really experience the character’s emotional development through the novel. The theme of love can be identified from the very beginning of the novel.

Read More
1362 Words | 6 Pages

Gilman also highlights a lack of identity of the narrator through the setting of the novella which reflects the narrator’s societal confinement. The protagonist is surrounded by “hedges and walls and gates that lock”, which create a sense of separation that the narrator feels from others and the outside world. In addition, the room in which she is confined contains a “heavy bedstead, and… barred windows, and then that gate at the head of the stairs, and so on”. These physical and ‘prison-like’ restrictions imposed on the protagonist clearly demonstrate her lack of freedom. Additionally, Gilman’s use of syndetic listing to describe the narrator’s physical entrapment is perhaps reflective of her feelings of suffocation and her inability to escape as the list feels never ending.

Read More
758 Words | 4 Pages

Emotional and physical isolation in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein are the most pertinent and prevailing themes throughout the novel. These themes are so important because everything the monster, Victor, and Robert Walton do or feel directly relates to their poignant seclusion. The effects of this terrible burden have progressively damaging results upon the three.

Read More
541 Words | 3 Pages

No one can defeat Death There once was a young woman, who strived to be immortal, this caused her to bind herself away from the world for years. She decided one day that she had conquered death by changing her fate and goes to venture the town where she met a strange man, who insults her, filled with anger she decides to go after him where she faces death. A very similar situation is portrayed in “The Masque of the Red Death” with the character Prince Prospero, who believes that he has changed his fate by locking himself in his palace for years but this doesn’t end well for him as he faces death in his own home. In “The Masque of the Red Death”, written by Edgar Allen Poe, irony and symbolism to is used prove that death is inevitable.

Read More
474 Words | 2 Pages

The author uses a theme to convey the central idea of the importance and effects of a person’s individuality on both their freedom and euphoria. Examples can be found in the text that clearly shows how the author uses a theme to develop the central idea

Read More
910 Words | 4 Pages

Through the use of literary techniques, Susan Hill creates a sense of isolation that affects the characters in different ways as the novel progresses. At the beginning of the novel, Hill uses literary techniques to romanticize the isolation

Read More
1368 Words | 6 Pages

She stands alone against a society that casted her out, and despite making a friend, she could not lower that barrier entirely. This shows the strength an individual needs to stand against society. Society does not accept those who do not conform to its standards, so one needs to be able to stand tall against its pressures without casting aside all that they stand

Read More
1438 Words | 6 Pages

Through this, we can see the dangers of being disconnected from others and its adverse effects on one's well-being. Both works show how being isolated from society can lead to monstrous behavior and undesirable transformations in the characters. Isolation is a feeling that people get whenever they are alone or cut off. It makes you, in a way, go crazy. After all, people are made to be together.

Read More
779 Words | 4 Pages

For instance, there is an understanding of the woman’s feelings as she describes “a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down” and the pattern looking at her “as if it knew what a vicious influence it had” (Gilman 437). The personification is symbolic in displaying how the woman felt as she was stuck in the lonely room with allowance of her husband and Jennie, their child’s nanny, keeping their eyes on her with the dependence of her healing. Additionally, the woman specifies that behind the yellow wallpaper she can see “a strange, provoking, formless sort of figure, that seems to sulk about behind that silly and conspicuous front design” (Gilman 438). As the appearance of the wallpaper is personified, the author taps into the hidden meaning that the woman’s sickness is taunting her as she is attempting to heal. In the end, readers are given the most significant piece of personification in the statement, “and then when the sun came and that awful pattern began to laugh at me, I declared that I would finish it today!”

Read More
897 Words | 4 Pages

A motif is a recurring idea or object that helps the audience better understand a piece of literature. The witches cursing of the captain is an extremely important scene because now any other instance of insomnia can be directly related back to the witches. The correlation between the witches and insomnia can then help the audience detect the supernatural presence of the three Weird

Read More

More about Isolation In Alfred Tennyson's The Lady Of Shalott

Related Topics

Open Document