Much of the poem's poignancy lies in the physical and emotional isolation the Lady of Shalott experiences. In the first three parts, Tennyson builds her isolation until it reaches a crescendo. First, the lady lives on "the silent isle" of Shalott, a piece of ground that stands isolated from the main road that leads to Camelot. Because she never so much as comes to her window, she is not "known in all the land," but...
Much of the poem's poignancy lies in the physical and emotional isolation the Lady of Shalott experiences. In the first three parts, Tennyson builds her isolation until it reaches a crescendo. First, the lady lives on "the silent isle" of Shalott, a piece of ground that stands isolated from the main road that leads to Camelot. Because she never so much as comes to her window, she is not "known in all the land," but the reapers hear her vocal solo. She sees in her mirror many groups of people: "village churls," "market girls," and "a troop of damsels glad." Sometimes she sees individuals traveling past as well, but the knights, interestingly, come by "two and two," and the poet points out that "she hath no loyal knight and true." Seeing the "two young lovers lately wed" is the event that prompts the lady to realize that she is "half sick of shadows," meaning that she is beginning to feel the emotional pain of her isolation. The pairs she sees, the lovers and the pairs of knights, seem to make the isolation even more distressing. When Lancelot appears, he is by himself, but "a red-cross knight forever kneeled to a lady in his shield," pointing out that he, like the lady, was made to be in a man-woman relationship. This sight causes the lady to risk the curse and leave her weaving. When she goes down to the river, no other people seem to be present. She rides alone in the boat toward Camelot. In fact, she dies before she reaches the presence of any people, "ere she reached upon the tide the first house by the waterside." So she dies alone. The people who come to see her are listed in pairs: "knight and burger, lord and dame." Lancelot separates himself from the crowd, however, and speaks a blessing over the lady's dead body. Although it has come too late, she is paired, if only briefly, with Lancelot at the end; that is the first time she has been with another person during the entire poem.
The poem has been interpreted by some as a reflection on the isolation of the artist and by others of the isolation and captivity of the Victorian woman. Either way, the poem poignantly pictures a person who has suffered from physical and emotional isolation in life and in death.
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