Throw Away Your Life

The Lady of Shallot.
Undoubtedly, one of Tennyson's finest works, as well as one of my favourites. And I'm sure, one that has been discussed and written about a million times over. What is it that is so appealing or unappealing about the Lady of Shallot? Well, she was a fairy, whose job was to weave and not look upon Camelot. She did her work fairly well, and didn't look where she wasn't supposed to. A nice girl, on the whole.
Until, came Sir Lancelot. A knight, in shining armour. Loved by all, even though his heart was reserved for the one woman he couldn't have, Queen Guinevere. He wasn't even aware of the existence of the weaving Lady. He was prancing along the river bank singing ''Tirra lirra''. And yet she fell for him. So sickened was she by her daily routine and mundane life, that she chose to sway from her weaving, invite the curse upon her head, and ruin herself.
Why did she do it? Why did she give her life for someone who never even knew its value? Why did she destroy all that she had, her life and her security, in one ruinous second that she chose to look down on Camelot? Years of self-control and discipline, thrown away in one moment.
What is horrifying is that how many people do the same thing everyday, yet will never admit it. We hate the weaving fairy, yet there are more of us who follow in her footsteps than those who don't.
For a magical, weaving fairy, the Lady of Shallot has hopelessly human characteristics. As for Lancelot, the less said about him, the better. I've grown up admiring Sir Gawain, who by the way thoroughly disappointed me in the end too. Lancelot, I refuse to patronise. He's nothing but a below average male chauvinistic joe. His boorish, attention seeking ways, not to mention his hypocritical love for his King, who on all accounts was a nice guy, has for long been glorified and extolled in literature. So I'm going to spare him the laurels here.
P.S. Before I sign off, you should know, that I am not a English student, I do not claim a monopoly of expert knowledge on the interpretation of this poem. I am an Economics student. I understand Greek letters and graphs. Make what you will of that. Also, Paromita Mukherjee and Anwesha Sengupta are banned from making any comments about this post. I'm afraid they know too much.

Comments

  1. Khangra katiMarch 4, 2010 at 1:56 AM

    damn....just when i was cooking up the most juicy comment i read the last line ! that too finally after long procastination i sit down to comment and the first thing i read tells me i am banned from commenting ! life can be so harsh!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Prianthi RoyMarch 4, 2010 at 10:38 AM

    I'm sorry K2, but its true! You know waaay too much ;)

    ReplyDelete

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