A Feminist Perspective of The Lady of Shalott Essay

A Feminist Perspective of The Lady of Shalott In an essay on feminist criticism, Linda Peterson of Yale University explains how literature can reflect and shape the attitudes that have held women back (330). From the viewpoint of a feminist critic, The Lady of Shalott provides its reader with an analysis of the Victorian womans conflict between her place in the interior, domestic role of society and her desire to break into the exterior, public sphere which generally had been the domain of men. Read as a commentary on womens roles in Victorian society, The Lady of Shalott may be interpreted in different ways. Thus, the speakers commentary is ambiguous: Does he seek to reinforce the institution of patriarchal society†¦show more content†¦Quite simply, a womans place was in the home. According to Deborah Gorham, in The Victorian Girl and the Feminine Ideal, women were told they must remain within the domestic sphere both because their duties were to be performed there, and because contact with the wider world would damage their ability to perform those duties (6). To many women of the time, this expectation of domesticity made for a very boring life (Woman Question 1596). As Harriet Martineau commented, young ladies ... were expected to sit down in the parlour to sew, -- during which reading aloud was permitted, -- or to practice their music (1601). A contemporary of Martineau, Dinah Maria Mulock, made a biting critique of the social expectation in her essay on women. She wrote that despite being furnished with all the domestic comforts money could buy, well-bred young ladies were given no solid food whatever to satisfy the mind and heart ... they literally had nothing to do (1604). Tennyson opens The Lady of Shalott by describing the disparities between the traditionally feminine, interior world of Shalott and the more masculine, exterior world of Camelot. In stanzas one and two, he paints a picture of Camelot as a pastoral setting in which there are long fields of barley and rye (line 2), whitening willows, and quivering aspens (10). Camelot is a place of many towers (5), andShow MoreRelatedKing Arthur Literary Analysis3547 Words   |  15 PagesThe peasant woman shrugs and says, â€Å"I didn’t know we had a king. I thought we were an autonomous collective!† They argue about this for a moment and then the woman asked, â€Å"Well, how did you become king then?† Arthur dramatically respond with, â€Å"The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water signifying by Divine Providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. That is why I am your king!† Another peasant ne arby shouts, â€Å"ListenRead MoreVictorian Literature Essay2858 Words   |  12 Pageson the immense discrepancy of the social classes. At the beginning of chapter ten, Jekyll explains that because he was born into a wealthy upper-class family, he was assured an â€Å"honourable and distinguished future†. Both writers adopt a Marxist perspective and go as far as to argue that individuals in Victorian society, were bound by the wealth and status they were born into, limiting a sense of quest for an alternative means of living life. This strongly suggests that both Dickens and Stevenson,Read MoreThe Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie2388 Words   |  10 Pagescommenting on the novels structure. (The Faith and Fiction of Muriel Spark, Ruth Whittaker, The Macmillan Press ltd, 1982, Hong Kong.page 106)Whittaker believes that Miss Brodie is attempting to play God in a dangerous and controlling way; she is a feminist manipulator who uses her charm in a frightening manner; give me a girl at an impressionable age, and she is mine for life.(page9) By taking in the girls as hers she is subjecting them to become what her conventional idea of a woman should be