Symbol. A symbol is a thing that stands for or represents both itself and something else. “The Lady of Shalott” can be read as a simple story about a magical curse and its consequences. It can also be read with symbolic interpretation. Consider what other meaning this story of the Lady of Shalott may have as you read the poem.
Foil. A foil is a character whose attributes, or characteristics, contrast with and therefore throw into relief the attributes of another character. In “The Lady of Shalott,” Lancelot serves as a foil for the Lady of Shalott.
Dramatic Monologue. A dramatic monologue is a poem that presents the speech of a single character in a dramatic situation. The technique is often used to explore the psychological state—the thoughts, sensations, and feelings—of characters in times of crises.
Character and Motivation. A character is a person who figures in the action of a literary work. A motivation is a force that moves a character to think, feel, or behave in a certain way. The sociologist and psychologist Erik Erikson wrote that in advanced age, people struggle between acceptance and defeat. Keep this in mind as you read “Ulysses” and consider his motivation.
Elegiac Lyric. An elegiac lyric is a poem that expresses a speaker’s feelings of loss, often because of the death of a loved one or friend. Tennyson expresses the loss of his friend Arthur Hallam in this selection from In Memoriam.
Image. An image is language that creates a concrete representation of an object or an experience. An image is also the vivid mental picture created in the reader’s mind by that language. As you read, notice the imagery Tennyson uses in In Memoriam.
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“The Lady of Shalott” tells a story set in the legendary days of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. The city of Camelot, mentioned repeatedly in the poem, was the capital of Arthur’s kingdom. Sir Lancelot, also mentioned, was one of Arthur’s most capable knights.
Ulysses was the Roman name of Odysseus, a hero from those ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Ulysses fought in the Trojan War and returned to his kingdom, Ithaca. On the decade-long return journey, he saw many strange lands and had many marvelous, heroic adventures. In Tennyson’s poem “Ulysses,” the aged king Ulysses longs for one last adventure to culminate his career.
In Memoriam is an elegy written by Tennyson over the course of seventeen years, in response to the death of his friend Arthur Hallam. The poem is a moving record of Tennyson’s struggle through loss, grief, and doubt toward spiritual renewal.
Make a chart like the one below listing the differences between the portrayals of the Lady and Sir Lancelot in this poem.
Write about a time when you felt isolated. What caused the feelings, and how did you overcome them?
Suppose that you had very little time in which to live. What would you want to accomplish before you died?
Write suggestions for dealing with the loss of a loved one.
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