1. Write about Tennyson’s 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 Lady’s 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 Lady’s 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 Lady’s death. Furthermore, Tennyson’s
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 Lady’s 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 Lancelot’s banal disengaged description of the Lady’s
having a “lovely face”. The stanza and the poem ends in Lancelot’s speech, echoing the
prayer that has been recited; however Lancelot’s lack of interest is poignantly ironic in
highlighting the Lady’s reason for leaving her safe-house as unjustified and arguably
creating a distasteful feeling in the reader.