[TEST] The Lady of Shallott Painting by John William Waterhouse

The Lady of Shalott (1888), one of John William Waterhouse’s best-known paintings, illustrates the tragic conclusion of Alfred Tennyson’s 1832 poem The Lady of Shallot. Tennyson’s poem retells a medieval Arthurian legend about Elaine of Astolat, who died of unrequited love for Sir Lancelot. According to the legend, she was cursed in a tower near King Arthur’s Camelot. In Tennyson’s poem, the Lady of Shalott’s suffers from a curse that forbids her from leaving her tower: she sits in the tower and weaves, only allowed to look upon reality through a mirror. Defying her curse, she looks out the window and heads in a small boat to Camelot. Punished for breaking the curse, she dies before reaching her destination. Waterhouse depicts the Lady of Shalott in her final moments, as she lets go of the boat’s chain: her mouth is parted as she sings ‘her last song’. The tapestry she wove during her confinement is draped over the boat. The artist hints at her near demise: in front of her is a crucifix and next to her are three candles, two of them blown-out. Candles were often used to symbolized life, and the two blown-out candles signify that her life will end soon.