“The Lady of Shalott” as a Metaphor for Class Relations under Capitalism

“The Lady of Shalott,” written by Lord Tennyson, tells the story of a lady cursed to work in her tower, leaving which would, and eventually does, cause her death. However, characterisations and imageries present in the poem also evoke more social implications, implications which would be contemporary of Tennyson despite the poem’s setting. Accordingly, this paper argues that Lord Tennyson, in his “The Lady of Shalott,” provides a metaphor for the class relations that exist under capitalism. By drawing from the Marxian understanding of society and societal relations, the study explicates how this poem can also be understood as a “mirror” of the Victorian society. In this sense, the Lady comes to metaphorise the working class, Shalott the socio-material conditions of the working class, Lancelot the bourgeoisie, Camelot the socio-material conditions of the bourgeoisie. It is also important to note that this study does not argue that Lord Tennyson was even aware of any Marxist idea, rather, his understanding of societal relations coincided with that of Marxism.

Keywords:

The Lady of Shalott, Marxism, Class Relations, Victorian Society Dialectics,

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