The Lady of Shalott and Mariana

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             Specific ideologies regarding the characteristics of women and their role in society marked the Victorian Era. In this age, the ideal woman was to be pure and free of any sexual aggression. Their primary role in society was to be a homemaker. She was completely isolated from public life, which was primarily a man's domain. While the men were active participants in social life, women were not to participate in any kind of social life since there was a belief that it would taint their pure virtue (Lawrence 281). This idea of the ideal Victorian woman was widely witnessed in various literary works of the Victorian Age. Alfred Lord Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott" gives an honest account of the divide that existed between men and women in terms of their roles during the Victorian Age. In the poem, Tennyson utilizes both the exterior and interior space to illustrate the idea of an isolated woman. The poem contains such vivid and powerful representations of fallen women during the era that it influenced a movement of absorbed artistes who thrived upon the idea of a sheltered woman: "By the island in the river/Flowing down to Camelot/Four gray walls, and four gray towers/Overlook a space of flowers/And the silent isle imbowers/The Lady of Shalott." (Wilbur 67). .
             In various ways, the poem "The Lady of Shalott" emphasized on the idea of the restrained woman in the Victorian Age. Even though the title of the poem alludes to the fact that it will center upon the woman character, Tennyson places emphasis on the natural surroundings of the poem. Additionally, he focuses his attention on the exterior and interior environment of the woman rather than the lady herself. He demonstrates the seclusion of the Victorian woman using her physical environment by conflicting the prison that confines her and the external surroundings of Camelot. The poem represents the isolated Victorian woman as a submissive person that has agreed to her place in the home by running errands such as weaving: "She weaves by night and day/a magic web with colors gay" (Tennyson Stanza II, Line 45).