What does The Lady of Shalott represent?
pmiranda2857 Teacher High School – 11th Grade The lady in The Lady of Shallott, symbolically represents the conditions that existed in society that controlled the lives of Victorian women. As sons were gaining more freedom in upper class families, daughters were still considered possessions to be guarded and controlled by the Victorian family which was ruled by men, fathers, uncles, grandfathers, or male guardians who made all decisions for young women. The imprisonment in the tower could be viewed as a metaphor for maintaining the young woman’s purity, by keeping her out of the real world of temptations. “Possibly the most important, and most broadly felt pattern dominating the life of the Victorian woman was what the reformer Jane Addams once called the “family claim.” According to the family claim, women, far more than men, were regarded as possessions of their families.” As a metaphor for the life of a Victorian women, the lady is held prisoner in a tower, which could be symbolical
