What do you like or dislike about "The Lady of Shallot?" Refer closely to the text in support of your answers.

"The Lady of Shallot" by Alfred Lord Tennyson, has the
three characteristics of a medieval romance: love, magic (the supernatural), and
chivalry. I very much enjoy the romantic mood of the story expressed in these
characteristics within the poem.

The Lady of Shallot has
had a spell cast over her (she knows not why or how) so that she can only view the world
through a mirror: to do otherwise would mean her death. Never can she look at life full
on, and in this way, she can only experience the world around her in a very superficial
fashion.

There seems no way to break the spell, and this is
very sad as she literally watches people pass her by her house each day going to
Camelot. This makes the poem tragic and beautiful at the same time, and in this way we
see the magic at work in the story. The imagery (especially the use of colors) brings
the story alive:

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And sometimes through the mirror
blue

The knights come riding two and
two:

She hath no loyal Knight and
true,

The Lady of
Shallot.

The Lady of Shallot
watches and falls in love with the romantic figure of Sir Lancelot, the handsome, good
and virtuous knight as he travels to and from King Arthur's
court.

"...he
rode between the barley sheaves...His broad clear brow in sunlight glowed... / From
underneath his helmet flowed / His coal-black curls as on he rode / As he rode down to
Camelot..."Tirra Lirra, " by the river / Sang Sir
Lancelot..."

Finally, when
she can take it no longer—as she sees his image flash in her mirror—she decides she
would rather look at the world in all its splendor, including Lancelot, and die, than
live imprisoned any longer.

She quickly leaves the room,
goes outside and sees the world for the first time without the mirror. I love the sense
of her freedom expressed here.

She paints her name on the
prow of a boat and lays down within; as the boat moves along, she dies—and the wooden
craft wends its way down to Camelot. All the people there are saddened by the sight of
the lovely lady within ("...And in the lighted palace near / Died the sound of royal
cheer..."); they are also afraid ("...and they crossed themselves for fear..."). When
Lancelot sees the dead woman in her boat, he notes how beautiful she is, and—just as a
true knight should—calls down a blessing from God for this unknown
woman:

"...She
has a lovely face; /

God in his mercy lend her
grace..."

The rhyme, the
vivid descriptions, the color, use of light and dark, and the elements of the medieval
romance are things I greatly enjoy about the poem.