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Shalott model answer

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In part 4 of The Lady of Shalott, Tennyson maintains the rhyme scheme and iambic tetrameter used previously. He employs pathetic fallacy to contrast the weather with the Lady's actions. The narrative suggests the Lady is controlling aspects of her demise and maintains power by writing her name on the boat. Tennyson uses sensory language to describe the Lady in white, robed and dead-pale, and auditory imagery to evoke an emotional response with her chanting song. In the final stanza, Lancelot's disengaged description of the Lady highlights the tragedy of her reason for leaving her safe isolation.

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Write about Tennysons narrative technique in part 4 of The Lady of Shalott. In part 4, Tennyson maintains the structure and rhyme scheme previously used through out The Lady of Shalott. The insistent iambic tetrameter creates the same rhythm of urgency and drives the narrative along, with the trimeter in lines 5 and 9 of each stanza placing emphasis on the repetition of Camelot and The Lady of Shalott. Tennyson employs pathetic fallacy in the first stanza, juxtaposing the blue unclouded weather and the pastoral idyll that accompanied Sir Lancelot in part 3 with the stormy east-wind straining. This imparts a sense of passion and alludes to the momentous actions of the Lady in breaking free from her constraints for the first time. The narrative suggests that although the Ladys death is nigh, she is managing to control certain aspects of her demise in the final part. Tennyson describes her as like some bold seer in a trance, implying that she is reconciled with her fate and through actively writing he name round about the prow the Lady maintains the upper hand. Similarly, while the events described may be harrowing, part 4 maintains a lyrical quality in the description of the Ladys appearance. She is described to be robed in snowy white with the use of the senses to appeal to our senses of touch and sight and heightening our emotional involvement in the Ladys death. Furthermore, Tennysons use of auditory imagery evoke and emotional response from the reader. The rhyme of holy and lowly alludes to the language common to hymn and carol and coupled with the repetition of chanted creates a strong image of the Lady and her song. In addition, this song which accompanies her death is again contrasted with the cheerful Tirra lirra sung by Sir Lancelot in the previous part to highlight the Ladys predicament that the rest of society were seemingly unaware of. In the fifth stanza, the Lady is finally brought into contact with the rest of civilisation, with the description of knight and burgh, lord and dame who come to see her echoing those who she depicted in the tapestry. This use of irony shows the Lady now being viewed as the artistic subject with her dead-pale appearance contrasting with the web of colours. Finally, part 4 contains 6 stanzas whereas the previous parts have contained 4 and 5, and this places particular emphasis on the poignant final stanza. Until this moment, the narrative of the Lady leaving her web (begins final verse, part 2) has been told in the past tense to highlight the descriptive narrative and contrast with the static present tense in part 1. This stanza reverts back to the present tense, resulting in a decrease in pace that is accompanied by Lancelots banal disengaged description of the Ladys having a lovely face. The stanza and the poem ends in Lancelots speech, echoing the prayer that has been recited; however Lancelots lack of interest is poignantly ironic in highlighting the Ladys reason for leaving her safe-house as unjustified and arguably creating a distasteful feeling in the reader.

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Shalott model answer

  • 1. Write about Tennysons narrative technique in part 4 of The Lady of Shalott. In part 4, Tennyson maintains the structure and rhyme scheme previously used through out The Lady of Shalott. The insistent iambic tetrameter creates the same rhythm of urgency and drives the narrative along, with the trimeter in lines 5 and 9 of each stanza placing emphasis on the repetition of Camelot and The Lady of Shalott. Tennyson employs pathetic fallacy in the first stanza, juxtaposing the blue unclouded weather and the pastoral idyll that accompanied Sir Lancelot in part 3 with the stormy east-wind straining. This imparts a sense of passion and alludes to the momentous actions of the Lady in breaking free from her constraints for the first time. The narrative suggests that although the Ladys death is nigh, she is managing to control certain aspects of her demise in the final part. Tennyson describes her as like some bold seer in a trance, implying that she is reconciled with her fate and through actively writing he name round about the prow the Lady maintains the upper hand. Similarly, while the events described may be harrowing, part 4 maintains a lyrical quality in the description of the Ladys appearance. She is described to be robed in snowy white with the use of the senses to appeal to our senses of touch and sight and heightening our emotional involvement in the Ladys death. Furthermore, Tennysons use of auditory imagery evoke and emotional response from the reader. The rhyme of holy and lowly alludes to the language common to hymn and carol and coupled with the repetition of chanted creates a strong image of the Lady and her song. In addition, this song which accompanies her death is again contrasted with the cheerful Tirra lirra sung by Sir Lancelot in the previous part to highlight the Ladys predicament that the rest of society were seemingly unaware of. In the fifth stanza, the Lady is finally brought into contact with the rest of civilisation, with the description of knight and burgh, lord and dame who come to see her echoing those who she depicted in the tapestry. This use of irony shows the Lady now being viewed as the artistic subject with her dead-pale appearance contrasting with the web of colours. Finally, part 4 contains 6 stanzas whereas the previous parts have contained 4 and 5, and this places particular emphasis on the poignant final stanza. Until this moment, the narrative of the Lady leaving her web (begins final verse, part 2) has been told in the past tense to highlight the descriptive narrative and contrast with the static present tense in part 1. This stanza reverts back to the present tense, resulting in a decrease in pace that is accompanied by Lancelots banal disengaged description of the Ladys having a lovely face. The stanza and the poem ends in Lancelots speech, echoing the prayer that has been recited; however Lancelots lack of interest is poignantly ironic in highlighting the Ladys reason for leaving her safe-house as unjustified and arguably creating a distasteful feeling in the reader.