Fools Love In this narrative poem The Lady of Shalott imprudently makes decisions that will later cost her, her life. Four gray towers and four gray walls embower the Lady of Shalott, who cannot look down on Camelot or a curse is put upon her. In her mirror she gazes at a striking red-cross knight and foolishly believes to have fallen in love.
This knight had no idea of her existence and he too was love crazed for another woman. The Lady of Shalott was content dwelling within the castle walls and weaving vivid tapestry.The Lady of Shalott neglects to realize that what she feels is a forbidden love and that love at first sight is impossible. The tragic and ironic theme of love causes the Lady of Shalott to make foolish decisions. Beleaguered by love, the Lady of Shalott foolishly gave her life for a man who she meant nothing to.
In addition this man was foreign to her, she knew nothing about this handsome knight she fell head over heels for. Later identified as Lancelot, this red- cross knight is compared to the rarity of a shooting star and his passion to a burning flame.Thoughtlessly the Lady of Shalott leaves the loom, makes three paces and gazes downward to where Lancelot stood, bringing the curse upon her. Little did she know, Sir Lancelot had an infatuation with Queen Guinevere and could not fall in love with a mere middle class woman . Tragically singing in her last song the Lady of Shalott dies along with her proscribed love for Lancelot before reaching the wharfs of Camelot.
A gleaming shape she floated by Camelot and when laying his eyes upon the dead-pale face of the Lady of Shalott, Lancelot simply acknowledges that she has a pretty face.Little care has the Lady of Shalott when she weaves by night and day, an enchanting web with exultant colors. Furthermore a mirror hangs before her all the year, illustrating the shadows of Camelot. The Lady of Shalott is only exposed to the beautiful occurrences in Camelot, she is unfamiliar with the real world and is unable to understand the dangers that come from her foolish decisions. The Lady of Shalott was content with residing in the castle and steadily weaving tapestry, therefore she had no incentive to leave her loom.
While weaving she uses colors gay, signifying that she is lissful and takes pleasure in her masterpiece. She lives vicariously through the people of Camelot, and experiences their joys as she sees them in the mirror. Among the bearded barley, farmers can hear a song that echoes cheerily, symptomatic of the contentment the Lady of Shalott feels. Loneliness and the want to find genuine love take over her sense of what is sensible and what is erroneous. The Lady of Shalott foolishly risked her comfortable life, only to die on the waters of Camelot.
The Lady of Shalott so foolishly wanted the one man she couldn’t have and gave her life for a forbidden love.Consequently by not thinking before she acted, the Lady of Shalott was fooled by love at first sight and paid significantly for her faults. She knew little about the alluring young knight she desperately fell in love with and this had a negative corollary on the Lady of Shalott. She was unaware of Lancelot’s relationship with Queen Guinevere and ultimately assumed that Lancelot would love her back.
What the Lady of Shalott failed to realize is that love is more than skin deep, you must take a closer look to find the truth.Lancelot may have been an entirely different character than what the Lady of Shalott made him out to be. For all she knew the man she fell in love with could have been an unappreciative, ill-mannered, insensitive womanizer. Equally important, Lancelot simply stated that she has a pretty face, he didn’t develop the passionate affection she had momentarily grown for him. The Lady of Shalott was unsuccessful in recognizing the numerous factors she had to take to consideration but this could be due to her poor understanding of the world.
Love causes individuals to make foolish decisions, based on the now and not the future. The Lady of Shalott irrationally falls in love with Lancelot and does not take into consideration what he will think. She willingly gave up her contented life of weaving tapestry in her loom for a man who ironically doesn’t love her back. The Lady of Shalott is cursed to a secluded existence and her love for Lancelot is forbidden.
Life is full of risks, you just have to choose which ones are worth taking.
