The point behind this series of pictures was to break the stereo-typing of heroines in literature, as part of Magaly's "Sexy,Dark and Bloody" challenge over at Pagan Culture For the last 2 weeks I have been posting portraits inspired by the verses from Alfred Lord Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott", and everyone I asked(who had heard of or read the poem) described the Lady as a beautiful young white woman with flowing blonde hair, and probably blue eyes.
Here is the final verse, which contains the ONLY description of the Lady herself...
"Who is this? And what is here?
"Who is this? And what is here?And in the lighted palace near
Died the sound of royal cheer;
And they crossed themselves for fear,
All the Knights at Camelot;
But Lancelot mused a little space
He said, "She has a lovely face;
God in his mercy lend her grace,
But Lancelot mused a little space
He said, "She has a lovely face;
God in his mercy lend her grace,The Lady of Shalott."
And that's it....."She has a lovely face"....not "beautiful" or "stunning" or "angelic", just lovely. I think my mum has a lovely face, she is 72, short and a little round, but she still has a lovely face!
No where in the poem does it say what colour her skin is..."dead-pale" is an emphasis on the dead bit, not that she had particularly pale skin.
All we actually know about her is that she has a mellow singing voice..."chanted loudly, chanted lowly" made me think of the "Blues"singers my dad used to listen too, which in turn made me think she may have been black. One of my offspring said "that's a bit controversial mum! It's not like there would have been many black people in England in those days." Which is probably not true. Black and Asian merchants would have been around. Why couldn't she be the daughter/sister/widow of some rich merchant? She is weaving a grand tapestry....maybe she was Turkish?
No where in the poem does it say she is young! Her skill at the loom would suggest a talent of more mature years.
And no where does it say she went to Camelot to find Sir Lancelot! or that she loves him! It is the sight of the "two young lovers lately wed" that seems to be the point she decides to risk the curse for a change of scenery.
All in all, I read this literary epic as a "mysterious death" rather than a romance. Unidentified female washes up on the banks of Camelot. The only clue to her identity is the name of the boat "The Lady of Shalott". The rest would appear to be purely speculation by today's standards.
I really love the imagery of this poem, and highly recommend you read it, but read it with your own eyes...not through the eyes of the thousands of other story tellers.
What does the Lady look like in your head?
To me she is a 30 something black woman, experienced in life, who picked the wrong(stormy) night to go out in a boat on the river.
Why not pop over to Pagan Culture, and join Magaly in challenging Stereo-type in literature.
And my utmost gratitude to ALFRED LORD TENNYSON, for writing this stunningly brilliant masterpiece of a poem :D
Blessed Be :D XXX
