...Nina Guidry Survey of the Arts II 15 April 2015 Waterhouse and The Lady John William Waterhouse was a Romantic painter whose style harked back to the Pre- Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB) of the mid-nineteenth century. He encompassed elements from the Impressionist art movement of the late nineteenth century to create hauntingly beautiful images in oils on canvas. Three such creations manifested from Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s The Lady of Shalott. This poem, written in four parts, is based on Arthurian legend of an innocent young woman confined in a tower by a curse. She lived on an island overlooking Camelot. Her curse is such that she could not look directly upon Camelot. She viewed the outside world through a mirror in her quarters. Waterhouse painted the three oils in reverse chronology to the poem. In this essay, his composition, balance, use of light, color, movement and symbolism will be discussed. The Lady of Shalott (1888) references Part IV of the poem where she escapes the island by boat only to pay for the brevity of her freedom with her life. She and the boat are the main focus of this painting. Her porcelain skin, flowing red hair, virginal white gown draw eyes to her before slowly drifting over the boat. This scene is balanced by the view of hills through a break in the wooded background. The folds in the fabric of her gown, swallows in flight, and the play of light on the water create a sense of movement. Something was happening...
Words: 1304 - Pages: 6
...Tennyson and Browning’s Tragic Ladies “The curse is come upon me,” the Lady of Shalott says in Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem, “The Lady of Shallot” (Tennyson, 26-27). Tennyson, along with his contemporary, Robert Browning, were Victorian poets whose work romanticized the distant past. Their works “Porphyria’s Lover” and “The Lady of Shalott,” feature female subjects who seem cursed with sudden, tragic deaths. Although their writing styles and subject matter were different, the poems “The Lady of Shallot” and “Porphyria’s Lover” tell us that these poets were concerned with the treatment of women and used the tragic endings to their lives in these poems to challenge the idea that the past was an era of romance and happiness. For example, in “The...
Words: 1151 - Pages: 5
...“By portraying the perfect, Arthurian literature exposes the contemporary imperfect.” In the light of this statement, explore the ways in which Malory, Tennyson and Monty Python present chivalry. Chivalry is the preconceived moral code by which medieval knights would behave. As the 18th century critic Richard Hurd acknowledges, chivalric knights would demonstrate ‘their romantic ideas of justice; their passion for adventures; their eagerness to run succour of the distressed and the pride they took in redressing wrongs and removing grievances’. Throughout the works of Sir Thomas Malory, Alfred Lord Tennyson and Monty Python, this definition of chivalry remains constant, although with a particular focus on the tropes of physical prowess, superhuman endurance in combat and dutiful respect of ladies. However, as Leigh Hunt remarked of Tennyson’s Idylls of the King, the poem ‘treats the modes and feelings of one generation in the style of another’. I would argue that, in fact, this applies directly to all three writers. Malory presents the reader with an earthy, realistic, yet anachronistic representation to demonstrate the worth of such ideals in a country wrought with decline and chaos during the Wars of the Roses. Tennyson idealizes this knightly conduct: this glamorization of chivalry functions as a model which, for Tennyson, reflects the applauded propriety of Prince Albert and other Victorian gentry. Monty Python, in tune with the 1960/70s synonymous with the radical...
Words: 4534 - Pages: 19
...The Lady of Shalott The Lady of Shalott is cursed to stay in her tower, weaving the sights she sees in her mirror. The appearance of Lancelot prompts her to turn and look directly upon the world. She leaves the tower and, as she floats down to Camelot in a boat, dies. What does Tennyson make you feel about the Lady in his poem The Lady of Shalott? Support your ideas with details from the poem. What does Tennyson make you feel about Lancelot in The Lady of Shalott ? Refer to details in the poem in your answer. How far does Tennyson make you feel sympathy for the lady in The Lady of Shalott ? Support your answer with details from the poem. In what ways does Tennyson capture your interest in his poem, The Lady of Shalott? Support your answer with details from the poem. How does Tennyson make The Lady of Shalott such a memorable poem for you? Support your answer with details from the poem. How does Tennyson’s writing make the story so intriguing for you in either The Lady of Shalott or Mariana? Support your ideas with details from your chosen poem. How does Tennyson make the setting so vivid in The Lady of Shalott ? Support your answer with details from Tennyson’s writing. PART I On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye, That clothe the wold and meet the sky; And thro’ the field the road runs by To many-tower’d Camelot; And up and down the people go, Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below...
Words: 3148 - Pages: 13
...Tennyson Biography Alfred, Lord Tennyson, is one of the most famous poets in English literature. Many of his poems are standard of 19th-century literature and are critical and popular favorites. The body of critical work on him is immense, and although some of his work is seen as too sentimental today, his intellectual contributions to poetry and metaphysics are undeniable. Alfred Tennyson was born on August 5, 1809 in Somersby, Lincolnshire, where his father George was a clergyman. Young Alfred began writing poetry at a very early age, and published his first work "Poems by Two Brothers" at the tender age of sixteen. In that same year of 1827 Tennyson entered Cambridge University, where he befriended Thackery and produced his second collection, "Poems, Chiefly Lyrical". He also met Emily Selwood, to whom he became engaged in 1839. The Selwood family objected to the engagement, partly because of Tennyson's lack of money, and partly because his brother Charles was unhappily married to Emily's sister Louisa. Tennyson poured his energy into writing, and his "Poems" of 1842 made him extremely popular. He let his doctors convince him to give up writing for a time because of his poor health, but the respite was temporary. In 1847 "The Princess" was another success, and two years later Tennyson married Emily in a secret ceremony. When William Wordsworth died, the post off Poet Laureate became available. On the strength of Prince Albert's appreciation for Tennyson's In Memorium, he was...
Words: 3168 - Pages: 13
...King Arthur From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For other uses, see King Arthur (disambiguation). Statue of King Arthur, Hofkirche, Innsbruck, designed by Albrecht Dürer and cast by Peter Vischer the Elder, 1520s[1] King Arthur is a legendary British leader who, according to medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against the Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and his historical existence is debated and disputed by modern historians.[2] The sparse historical background of Arthur is gleaned from various histories, including those of Gildas, Nennius and the Annales Cambriae. Arthur's name also occurs in early poetic sources such as Y Gododdin.[3] The legendary Arthur developed as a figure of international interest largely through the popularity of Geoffrey of Monmouth's fanciful and imaginative 12th-century Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain).[4] However, some Welsh and Breton tales and poems relating the story of Arthur date earlier than this work; these are usually termed "pre-Galfridian" texts (from the Latin form of Geoffrey, Galfridus). In these works, Arthur appears either as a great warrior defending Britain from human and supernatural enemies, or as a magical figure of folklore, sometimes associated with the Welsh Otherworld, Annwn.[5] How much of Geoffrey's Historia (completed in 1138) was adapted from such earlier sources...
Words: 6395 - Pages: 26
...Министерство образования и науки Республики Казахстан Кокшетауский государственный университет им. Ш. Уалиханова An Outline of British Literature (from tradition to post modernism) Кокшетау 2011 УДК 802.0 – 5:20 ББК 81:432.1-923 № 39 Рекомендовано к печати кафедрой английского языка и МП КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова, Ученым Советом филологического факультета КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова, УМС КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова. Рецензенты: Баяндина С.Ж. доктор филологических наук, профессор, декан филологического факультета КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова Батаева Ф.А. кандидат филологических наук, доцент кафедры «Переводческое дело» Кокшетауского университета им. А. Мырзахметова Кожанова К.Т. преподаватель английского языка кафедры гуманитарного цикла ИПК и ПРО Акмолинской области An Outline of British Literature from tradition to post modernism (on specialties 050119 – “Foreign Language: Two Foreign Languages”, 050205 – “Foreign Philology” and 050207 – “Translation”): Учебное пособие / Сост. Немченко Н.Ф. – Кокшетау: Типография КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова, 2010 – 170 с. ISBN 9965-19-350-9 Пособие представляет собой краткие очерки, характеризующие английскую литературу Великобритании, ее основные направления и тенденции. Все известные направления в литературе иллюстрированы примерами жизни и творчества авторов, вошедших в мировую литературу благодаря...
Words: 82733 - Pages: 331
...Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 i RTNA01 1 13/6/05, 5:28 PM READING THE NOVEL General Editor: Daniel R. Schwarz The aim of this series is to provide practical introductions to reading the novel in both the British and Irish, and the American traditions. Published Reading the Modern British and Irish Novel 1890–1930 Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 Daniel R. Schwarz Brian W. Shaffer Forthcoming Reading the Eighteenth-Century Novel Paula R. Backscheider Reading the Nineteenth-Century Novel Harry E. Shaw and Alison Case Reading the American Novel 1780–1865 Shirley Samuels Reading the American Novel 1865–1914 G. R. Thompson Reading the Twentieth-Century American Novel James Phelan ii RTNA01 2 13/6/05, 5:28 PM Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 Brian W. Shaffer iii RTNA01 3 13/6/05, 5:28 PM © 2006 by Brian W. Shaffer BLACKWELL PUBLISHING 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of Brian W. Shaffer to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and...
Words: 123617 - Pages: 495
