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118-477: " The Lady of Shalott " ( / ʃ ə ˈ l ɒ t / ) is a lyrical ballad by the 19th-century English poet Alfred Tennyson and one of his best-known works. Inspired by the 13th-century Italian short prose text Donna di Scalotta , the poem tells the tragic story of Elaine of Astolat , a young noblewoman stranded in a tower up the river from Camelot . Tennyson wrote two versions of the poem, one published in 1832 (in Poems , incorrectly dated 1833), of 20 stanzas,

236-580: A "graceful and picturesque" accompaniment of violin, cello and piano. Another early musical setting of the poem was probably a work for mezzo-soprano soloist, chorus and orchestra by the English composer Cyril Rootham , composed in 1909–1910. The only known performance of Rootham's op 33 The Lady of Shalott was given in the School Hall at Eton College on 18 September 1999, with the Broadheath Singers and

354-544: A feminist movement developed. Parental authority was seen as important, but children were given legal protections against abuse and neglect for the first time towards the end of the period. Access to education increased rapidly during the 19th century. State-funded schools were established in England and Wales for the first time. Education became compulsory for pre-teenaged children in England, Scotland and Wales. Literacy rates increased rapidly, and had become nearly universal by

472-462: A bonus track on Super Extra Gravity . British musician and singer Richard Thompson took the title for his 1994 album Mirror Blue from the poem. The poem forms the backbone of voice-over for the episode "Tracie's Story" (2012) of Accused . In My Mother and Other Strangers (2016), Tennyson's poem plays an important role. The poem has been also often quoted in whole or in part within other television films and series. Examples of that include

590-648: A book of poems by Tennyson as she lies in a boat, floating down a river like the Lady of Shalott (the boat in the Perry video is similar to some illustrations of the poem, such as the image by W. E. F. Britten ). The poem has been furthermore referred to or quoted in various ways in modern music. For instance, folk duo the Indigo Girls refer to the Lady of Shalott in "Left Me a Fool" from their 1987 album Strange Fire and Swedish pop band The Cardigans quotes it "Give Me Your Eyes",

708-668: A cantata setting the poem for tenor, choir and orchestra in 1942. In 1946, Phyllis Tate 's The Lady of Shalott was written for the 10th anniversary of the BBC Third Programme. Danish composer Bent Sørensen created a piece for viola solo, based on Waterhouse's painting The Lady of Shalott . Canadian singer Loreena McKennitt adapted the poem to music, and featured it on her 1991 album The Visit , though some poem lines were removed. Dutch gothic metal band Autumn referred to "The Lady of Shalott" in their songs "Who Has Seen Her Wave Her Hand", "Mirrors Magic Sights", "When Lust Evokes

826-432: A commentary on his work it is uncertain exactly how and why he differentiated the 305 ballads printed that would be published as The English and Scottish Popular Ballads . There have been many different and contradictory attempts to classify traditional ballads by theme, but commonly identified types are the religious, supernatural, tragic, love ballads, historic, legendary and humorous. The traditional form and content of

944-585: A democracy. The political legacy of the reform movement was to link the nonconformists (part of the evangelical movement) in England and Wales with the Liberal Party . This continued until the First World War . The Presbyterians played a similar role as a religious voice for reform in Scotland. Religion was politically controversial during this era, with Nonconformists pushing for the disestablishment of

1062-455: A fashion among employers for providing welfare services to their workers, led to relative social stability. The Chartist movement for working-class men to be given the right to vote, which had been prominent in the early Victorian period, dissipated. Government involvement in the economy was limited. Only in the post-World War II period , around a century later, did the country experience substantial economic growth again. But whilst industry

1180-597: A further 400 have been identified as originating in America, including among the best known, ' The Ballad of Davy Crockett ' and ' Jesse James '. They became an increasing area of interest for scholars in the 19th century and most were recorded or catalogued by George Malcolm Laws , although some have since been found to have British origins and additional songs have since been collected. They are usually considered closest in form to British broadside ballads and in terms of style are largely indistinguishable, however, they demonstrate

1298-445: A major employer and industry in their own right. Expected standards of personal conduct changed in around the first half of the 19th century, with good manners and self-restraint becoming much more common. Historians have suggested various contributing factors, such as Britain's major conflicts with France during the early 19th century, meaning that the distracting temptations of sinful behaviour had to be avoided in order to focus on

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1416-422: A more pastoral form, like Isaac Bickerstaffe's Love in a Village (1763) and Shield's Rosina (1781), using more original music that imitated, rather than reproduced, existing ballads. Although the form declined in popularity towards the end of the 18th century its influence can be seen in light operas like that of Gilbert and Sullivan's early works like The Sorcerer as well as in the modern musical. In

1534-484: A particular concern with occupations, journalistic style and often lack the ribaldry of British broadside ballads. The blues ballad has been seen as a fusion of Anglo-American and Afro-American styles of music from the 19th century. Blues ballads tend to deal with active protagonists, often anti-heroes, resisting adversity and authority, but frequently lacking a strong narrative and emphasizing character instead. They were often accompanied by banjo and guitar which followed

1652-502: A poem based on Thomas Malory 's version of the story from Le Morte d'Arthur , which he included in his Idylls of the King . The first four stanzas of the 1842 second version of the poem describe a pastoral setting. The Lady of Shalott lives in an island castle in a river which flows to Camelot , but the local farmers know little about her. And by the moon the reaper weary, Piling sheaves in uplands airy, Listening, whispers, " 'Tis

1770-795: A product of the development of cheap print in the 16th century. They were generally printed on one side of a medium to large sheet of poor quality paper. In the first half of the 17th century, they were printed in black-letter or gothic type and included multiple, eye-catching illustrations, a popular tune title, as well as an alluring poem. By the 18th century, they were printed in white letter or roman type and often without much decoration (as well as tune title). These later sheets could include many individual songs, which would be cut apart and sold individually as "slip songs." Alternatively, they might be folded to make small cheap books or "chapbooks" which often drew on ballad stories. They were produced in huge numbers, with over 400,000 being sold in England annually by

1888-430: A rise in prosecutions for illegal sodomy in the middle of the 19th century. Male sexuality became a favourite subject of medical researchers' study. For the first time, all male homosexual acts were outlawed. Concern about sexual exploitation of adolescent girls increased during the period, especially following the white slavery scandal , which contributed to the increasing of the age of consent from 13 to 16 . At

2006-541: A role in economic life but exploitation of their labour became especially intense during the Victorian era. Children were put to work in a wide range of occupations, but particularly associated with this period are factories. Employing children had advantages, as they were cheap, had limited ability to resist harsh working conditions, and could enter spaces too small for adults. Some accounts exist of happy upbringings involving child labour, but conditions were generally poor. Pay

2124-409: A single image, and that the entrapment by the threads suggested her "weird fate". The scene fascinated Hunt, who returned to the composition at points throughout his life and finally painted a large scale version shortly before his death. He required assistants, as he was too frail to complete it himself. This deeply conceived evocation of the Lady, ensnared within the perfect rounds of her woven reality,

2242-486: A stressed syllable) tetrameter (eight syllables) and iambic trimeter (six syllables), known as ballad meter . Usually, only the second and fourth line of a quatrain are rhymed (in the scheme a, b, c, b), which has been taken to suggest that, originally, ballads consisted of couplets (two lines) of rhymed verse, each of 14 syllables. This can be seen in this stanza from " Lord Thomas and Fair Annet ": The horse | fair Ann | et rode | up on | He amb | led like |

2360-559: A substantial part of the metropolis... In big, once handsome houses, thirty or more people of all ages may inhabit a single room Hunger and poor diet was a common aspect of life across the UK in the Victorian period, especially in the 1840s, but the mass starvation seen in the Great Famine in Ireland was unique. Levels of poverty fell significantly during the 19th century from as much as two thirds of

2478-526: A symbol of female empowerment." Based on Poulson's view, escaping from the tower allows the Lady of Shalott to emotionally break free and come to terms with female sexuality. The depiction of death has also been interpreted as sleep. Poulson says that sleep has a connotation of physical abandonment and vulnerability, which can either suggest sexual fulfillment or be a metaphor for virginity. Fairy tales, such as " Sleeping Beauty " or " Snow White ", have traditionally depended upon this association. So, as related to

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2596-468: A symbol of the British Empire. Queen Victoria died on 22 January 1901. The Victorian era saw a rapidly growing middle class who became an important cultural influence, to a significant extent replacing the aristocracy as British society's dominant class. A distinctive middle-class lifestyle developed that influenced what society valued as a whole. Increased importance was placed on the value of

2714-687: A time when job options for women were limited and generally low-paying, some women, particularly those without familial support, took to prostitution to support themselves. Attitudes in public life and among the general population to prostitution varied. Evidence about prostitutes' situation also varies. One contemporary study argues that the trade was a short-term stepping stone to a different lifestyle for many women, while another, more recent study argues they were subject to physical abuse, financial exploitation, state persecution, and difficult working conditions. Due to worries about venereal disease , especially among soldiers, women suspected of prostitution were for

2832-403: A warning of imminent death to women who stepped from their restricted roles and explored their desires. Rossetti depicted Lancelot's contemplation of the Lady's "lovely face". Neither illustration pleased Tennyson, who took Hunt to task for depicting the Lady caught in the threads of her tapestry, something which is not described in the poem. Hunt explained that he wanted to sum up the whole poem in

2950-461: A wide range of new inventions. This led Great Britain to become the foremost industrial and trading nation of the time. Historians have characterised the mid-Victorian era (1850–1870) as Britain's 'Golden Years', with national income per person increasing by half. This prosperity was driven by increased industrialisation, especially in textiles and machinery, along with exports to the empire and elsewhere. The positive economic conditions, as well as

3068-569: A wide-ranging change to the electoral system of England and Wales . Definitions that purport a distinct sensibility or politics to the era have also created scepticism about the worth of the label 'Victorian', though there have also been defences of it. Michael Sadleir was insistent that "in truth, the Victorian period is three periods, and not one". He distinguished early Victorianism—the socially and politically unsettled period from 1837 to 1850 —and late Victorianism (from 1880 onwards), with its new waves of aestheticism and imperialism , from

3186-604: Is an apt illustration of the mythology of the weaving arts . This work is now in the collection of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut. John William Waterhouse painted three episodes from the poem. In 1888, he painted the Lady setting out for Camelot in her boat; this work is now in Tate Britain . In 1894, Waterhouse painted the Lady at the climactic moment when she turns to look at Lancelot in

3304-556: Is inspired by the legend of Elaine of Astolat , as recounted in a 13th-century Italian novellina titled La Damigella di Scalot , or Donna di Scalotta (No. LXXXII in the collection Il Novellino: Le ciento novelle antike ); the earlier version is closer to the source material than the latter. Tennyson focused on the Lady's "isolation in the tower and her decision to participate in the living world, two subjects not even mentioned in Donna di Scalotta ." Tennyson also wrote "Lancelot and Elaine",

3422-456: Is now called classical music was somewhat undeveloped compared to parts of Europe but did have significant support. Photography became an increasingly accessible and popular part of everyday life. Many sports were introduced or popularised during the Victorian era. They became important to male identity. Examples included cricket , football , rugby , tennis and cycling . The idea of women participating in sport did not fit well with

3540-491: Is often dramatized as a narrative of degeneration away from the pure 'folk memory' or 'immemorial tradition'. In the introduction to Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (1802) the romantic poet and historical novelist Walter Scott argued a need to 'remove obvious corruptions' in order to attempt to restore a supposed original. For Scott, the process of multiple recitations 'incurs the risk of impertinent interpolations from

3658-476: Is the main character and a close friend and advisor to King Arthur ; the story primarily deals with the crowning of Arthur, but Elaine also has the ability to see future events through scrying at her loom. Quotes from the poem have been included in many novels, including Oscar Wilde 's The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890), Eric Frank Russell 's Next of Kin (1959), Muriel Spark 's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961), Connie Willis ' To Say Nothing of

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3776-522: Is traceable to Tennyson's work". In 1848, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Holman Hunt made a list of "Immortals", artistic heroes whom they admired, especially from literature, some of whose work would form subjects for PRB paintings, notably including John Keats and Tennyson. "The Lady of Shalott" was particularly popular with the Brotherhood, which shared Tennyson's interest in Arthuriana; several of

3894-837: The Upstairs, Downstairs episode "The Understudy" (1975), "Anne of Green Gables" (1985), The Buccaneers episode "Invasion" (1995), the Endeavour episode "Girl" (2013), and the Tales of the City episode "She Messy" (2019), as well as the BBC film An Englishman Abroad (1983). The poem is also referenced in Downton Abbey season 4, episode 3. Ballad While ballads have no prescribed structure and may vary in their number of lines and stanzas, many ballads employ quatrains with ABCB or ABAB rhyme schemes ,

4012-462: The 1891 Australian shearers' strike , class conflicts between the landless working class and the squatters (landowners), and outlaws such as Ned Kelly , as well as love interests and more modern fare such as trucking . The most famous bush ballad is " Waltzing Matilda ", which has been called "the unofficial national anthem of Australia". Sentimental ballads, sometimes called "tear-jerkers" or "drawing-room ballads" owing to their popularity with

4130-519: The Church of England . Nonconformists comprised about half of church attendees in England in 1851, and gradually the legal discrimination that had been established against them outside of Scotland was removed. Legal restrictions on Roman Catholics were also largely removed . The number of Catholics grew in Great Britain due to conversions and immigration from Ireland . Secularism and doubts about

4248-736: The Georgian era and preceded the Edwardian era , and its later half overlaps with the first part of the Belle Époque era of continental Europe. Various liberalising political reforms took place in the UK, including expanding the electoral franchise. The Great Famine caused mass death in Ireland early in the period. The British Empire had relatively peaceful relations with the other great powers . It participated in various military conflicts mainly against minor powers. The British Empire expanded during this period and

4366-557: The Pax Britannica , was a time of relatively peaceful relations between the world's great powers . This is particularly true of Britain's interactions with the others. The only war in which the British Empire fought against another major power was the Crimean War , from 1853 to 1856. There were various revolts and violent conflicts within the British Empire, and Britain participated in wars against minor powers. It also took part in

4484-475: The Roxburghe Ballads collected by Robert Harley , (1661–1724), which paralleled the work in Scotland by Walter Scott and Robert Burns . Inspired by his reading as a teenager of Reliques of Ancient English Poetry by Thomas Percy , Scott began collecting ballads while he attended Edinburgh University in the 1790s. He published his research from 1802 to 1803 in a three-volume work, Minstrelsy of

4602-560: The wind |, With sil | ver he | was shod | be fore , With burn | ing gold | be hind |. There is considerable variation on this pattern in almost every respect, including length, number of lines and rhyming scheme, making the strict definition of a ballad extremely difficult. In southern and eastern Europe, and in countries that derive their tradition from them, ballad structure differs significantly, like Spanish romanceros , which are octosyllabic and use consonance rather than rhyme. Ballads usually are heavily influenced by

4720-587: The 'workshop of the world', Britain was uniquely advanced in technology in the mid-19th century. Engineering, having developed into a profession in the 18th century, gained new profile and prestige in this period. The Victorian era saw methods of communication and transportation develop significantly. In 1837, William Fothergill Cooke and Charles Wheatstone invented the first telegraph system . This system, which used electrical currents to transmit coded messages, quickly spread across Britain, appearing in every town and post office. A worldwide network developed towards

4838-542: The 1660s. Tessa Watt estimates the number of copies sold may have been in the millions. Many were sold by travelling chapmen in city streets or at fairs. The subject matter varied from what has been defined as the traditional ballad, although many traditional ballads were printed as broadsides. Among the topics were love, marriage, religion, drinking-songs, legends, and early journalism, which included disasters, political events and signs, wonders and prodigies. Literary or lyrical ballads grew out of an increasing interest in

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4956-576: The 1880s, sanitation was inadequate in areas such as water supply and disposal of sewage. This all had a negative effect on health, especially that of the impoverished young. For instance, of the babies born in Liverpool in 1851, only 45 per cent survived to age 20. It had been hoped that there would be a rapid improvement following the Public Baths and Wash-houses Act 1846. This was the first legislation to empower local authorities in England and Wales to fund

5074-499: The 18th century ballad operas developed as a form of English stage entertainment , partly in opposition to the Italian domination of the London operatic scene. It consisted of racy and often satirical spoken (English) dialogue, interspersed with songs that are deliberately kept very short to minimize disruptions to the flow of the story. Rather than the more aristocratic themes and music of

5192-413: The 19th century and germ theory was developed for the first time. Doctors became more specialised and the number of hospitals grew. The overall number of deaths fell by about 20%. The life expectancy of women increased from around 42 to 55 and 40 to 56 for men. In spite of this, the mortality rate fell only marginally, from 20.8 per thousand in 1850 to 18.2 by the end of the century. Urbanisation aided

5310-536: The 19th century for the first time in history, improved nutrition, and a lower overall mortality rate. Ireland's population shrank significantly, mostly due to emigration and the Great Famine. The professionalisation of scientific study began in parts of Europe following the French Revolution but was slow to reach Britain. William Whewell coined the term 'scientist' in 1833 to refer to those who studied what

5428-408: The 20th century, one of the most influential plays, Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht's (1928) The Threepenny Opera was a reworking of The Beggar's Opera , setting a similar story with the same characters, and containing much of the same satirical bite, but only using one tune from the original. The term ballad opera has also been used to describe musicals using folk music, such as The Martins and

5546-577: The Ancient Mariner . Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Keats were attracted to the simple and natural style of these folk ballads and tried to imitate it. At the same time in Germany Goethe cooperated with Schiller on a series of ballads, some of which were later set to music by Schubert . Later important examples of the poetic form included Rudyard Kipling's " Barrack-Room Ballads " (1892–6) and Oscar Wilde 's The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1897). In

5664-590: The Arthurian material is "introduced as a valid setting for the study of the artist and the dangers of personal isolation". Feminist critics see the poem as concerned with issues of women's sexuality and their place in the Victorian world, arguing that "The Lady of Shalott" centres on the temptation of sexuality and her innocence preserved by death. Christine Poulson discusses a feminist viewpoint and suggests: "the Lady of Shalott's escape from her tower as an act of defiance,

5782-450: The Bible. A variety of reading materials grew in popularity during the period, including novels, women's magazines, children's literature, and newspapers. Much literature, including chapbooks , was distributed on the street. Music was also very popular, with genres such as folk music , broadsides , music halls , brass bands , theater music and choral music having mass appeal. What

5900-485: The British Empire, reform included rapid expansion, the complete abolition of slavery in the African possessions and the end of transportation of convicts to Australia . Restrictions on colonial trade were loosened and responsible (i.e. semi-autonomous) government was introduced in some territories. Throughout most of the 19th century Britain was the most powerful country in the world. The period from 1815 to 1914 , known as

6018-416: The Brotherhood made paintings based on episodes from the poem. Two aspects, in particular, of "The Lady of Shalott" intrigued these artists: the idea of the lady trapped in her tower and the dying girl floating down the river towards Camelot. In Edward Moxon 's 1857 edition of Tennyson's works, illustrated by Hunt and Rossetti, Hunt depicted the moment when the Lady turns to see Lancelot. In the background of

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6136-584: The Coys in 1944, and Peter Bellamy's The Transports in 1977. The satiric elements of ballad opera can be seen in some modern musicals such as Chicago and Cabaret . Some 300 ballads sung in North America have been identified as having origins in Scottish traditional or broadside ballads. Examples include ' The Streets of Laredo ', which was found in Great Britain and Ireland as 'The Unfortunate Rake'; however,

6254-460: The Curse", and "Floating Towards Distress" from their 2002 album When Lust Evokes the Curse , each song retelling parts of the story from the poem. The song titled "Shalott" on Emilie Autumn 's 2006 album Opheliac tells the poem from her own perspective. The Band Perry 's country music video " If I Die Young " makes clear visual references to "The Lady of Shalott": lead vocalist Kimberly Perry holds

6372-704: The Dog (1997), and Meg Cabot 's Avalon High (2005). In some novels, the poem is also referenced within the plot by characters, as in Nancy Mitford 's Love in a Cold Climate (1949), Bel Kaufman 's Up the Down Staircase (1965), David Benedictus 's Floating Down to Camelot (1985), Diana Wynne Jones ' Hexwood (1993), Libba Bray 's A Great and Terrible Beauty (2003), and Jilly Cooper 's Wicked! (2006). Its various lines have been turned into book titles by authors such as Jessica Anderson ( Tirra Lirra by

6490-510: The Italian opera, the ballad operas were set to the music of popular folk songs and dealt with lower-class characters. Subject matter involved the lower, often criminal, orders, and typically showed a suspension (or inversion) of the high moral values of the Italian opera of the period. The first, most important and successful was The Beggar's Opera of 1728, with a libretto by John Gay and music arranged by John Christopher Pepusch , both of whom probably influenced by Parisian vaudeville and

6608-550: The Lady of Shalott, Poulson says: "for in death [she] has become a Sleeping Beauty who can never be wakened, symbols of perfect feminine passivity." Tennyson's early poetry, with its medievalism and powerful visual imagery, was a major influence on the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB). According to scholar Anne Zanzucchi, "in a more general sense, it is fair to say that the Pre-Raphaelite fascination with Arthuriana

6726-607: The Middle Ages, there are many variations of each. The ballads remained an oral tradition until the increased interest in folk songs in the 18th century led collectors such as Bishop Thomas Percy (1729–1811) to publish volumes of popular ballads. In all traditions most ballads are narrative in nature, with a self-contained story, often concise, and rely on imagery, rather than description, which can be tragic, historical, romantic or comic. Themes concerning rural labourers and their sexuality are common, and there are many ballads based on

6844-682: The Minnelieder of the Minnesang tradition. The earliest example of a recognizable ballad in form in England is " Judas " in a 13th-century manuscript . Ballads were originally written to accompany dances, and so were composed in couplets with refrains in alternate lines. These refrains would have been sung by the dancers in time with the dance. Most northern and west European ballads are written in ballad stanzas or quatrains (four-line stanzas ) of alternating lines of iambic (an unstressed followed by

6962-549: The Origin of Species (1859), which sought to explain biological evolution by natural selection, gained a high profile in the public consciousness. Simplified (and at times inaccurate) popular science was increasingly distributed through a variety of publications which caused tension with the professionals. There were significant advances in various fields of research, including statistics , elasticity , refrigeration , natural history , electromagnetism , and logic . Known as

7080-612: The River , 1978), Sharyn McCrumb ( Sick of Shadows , 1984), Robin Klein ( All in the Blue Unclouded Weather , 1991), and Alan Bradley ( I Am Half-Sick of Shadows , 2011). It also inspired the title of Elizabeth Bishop 's poem "The Gentleman of Shalott" (1946). One of the first settings of the poem to music was by English composer Amy Horrocks who appeared at the 1898 Ballad Concert accompanying Ellen Bowick, for which Amy had composed

7198-588: The Robin Hood legend. Another common feature of ballads is repetition, sometimes of fourth lines in succeeding stanzas, as a refrain , sometimes of third and fourth lines of a stanza and sometimes of entire stanzas. Scholars of ballads have been divided into "communalists", such as Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803) and the Brothers Grimm , who argue that ballads are originally communal compositions, and "individualists" such as Cecil Sharp , who assert that there

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7316-470: The Scottish Border . Burns collaborated with James Johnson on the multi-volume Scots Musical Museum , a miscellany of folk songs and poetry with original work by Burns. Around the same time, he worked with George Thompson on A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice . Both Northern English and Southern Scots shared in the identified tradition of Border ballads , particularly evinced by

7434-657: The Sparrow (2007) is a retelling of the story. Tennyson's poem is also used for narration and as a narrative device in Kaori Yuki 's "Camelot Garden" (2008). In Jasper Fforde 's novel One of our Thursdays Is Missing (2011), the Lady of Shalott appears as a character, possessing a mirror that allows characters in the Book World to see into the real world ("the Outland"). In Half Sick of Shadows (2021) by Laura Sebastian, Elaine of Shalott

7552-465: The Victorian era covers the duration of Victoria's reign as Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , from her accession on 20 June 1837—after the death of her uncle, William IV —until her death on 22 January 1901, after which she was succeeded by her eldest son, Edward VII . Her reign lasted 63 years and seven months, a longer period than any of her predecessors. The term 'Victorian'

7670-420: The Victorian heyday: mid-Victorianism, 1851 to 1879. He saw the latter period as characterised by a distinctive mixture of prosperity, domestic prudery , and complacency —what G. M. Trevelyan called the 'mid-Victorian decades of quiet politics and roaring prosperity'. The Reform Act , which made various changes to the electoral system including expanding the franchise, had been passed in 1832. The franchise

7788-631: The Victorian view of femininity, but their involvement did increase as the period progressed. For the middle classes, many leisure activities such as table games could be done in the home while domestic holidays to rural locations such as the Lake District and Scottish Highlands were increasingly practical. The working classes had their own culture separate from that of their richer counterparts, various cheaper forms of entertainment and recreational activities provided by philanthropy . Trips to resorts such as Blackpool were increasingly popular towards

7906-447: The West." The rapid growth in the urban population included the new industrial and manufacturing cities, as well as service centres such as Edinburgh and London. Private renting from housing landlords was the dominant tenure. P. Kemp says this was usually of advantage to tenants. Overcrowding was a major problem with seven or eight people frequently sleeping in a single room. Until at least

8024-466: The Windsor Sinfonia conducted by Robert Tucker. In 1957–1958, Arthur Bliss (once a pupil of Cyril Rootham) composed a 40-minute ballet suite titled The Lady of Shalott . Olivier Messiaen composed a piece for solo piano La dame de Shalott in 1917 based on Tennyson's poem as his first composition; however, this piece is unpublished. It has been recorded at least twice. Maurice Jacobson composed

8142-497: The accuracy of the Old Testament grew among people with higher levels of education. Northern English and Scottish academics tended to be more religiously conservative, whilst agnosticism and even atheism (though its promotion was illegal) gained appeal among academics in the south. Historians refer to a 'Victorian Crisis of Faith', a period when religious views had to readjust to accommodate new scientific knowledge and criticism of

8260-534: The authors and performers are often referred to as bush bards. The 19th century was the golden age of bush ballads. Several collectors have catalogued the songs including John Meredith whose recording in the 1950s became the basis of the collection in the National Library of Australia . The songs tell personal stories of life in the wide open country of Australia. Typical subjects include mining, raising and droving cattle, sheep shearing , wanderings, war stories,

8378-519: The ballad form among social elites and intellectuals, particularly in the Romantic movement from the later 18th century. Respected literary figures Robert Burns and Walter Scott in Scotland collected and wrote their own ballads. Similarly in England William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge produced a collection of Lyrical Ballads in 1798 that included Coleridge's The Rime of

8496-416: The ballad were modified to form the basis for twenty-three bawdy pornographic ballads that appeared in the underground Victorian magazine The Pearl , which ran for eighteen issues between 1879 and 1880. Unlike the traditional ballad, these obscene ballads aggressively mocked sentimental nostalgia and local lore. Broadside ballads (also known as 'broadsheet', 'stall', 'vulgar' or 'come all ye' ballads) were

8614-411: The basis for welfare provision into the 20th century. While many people were prone to vices, not least alcoholism, historian Bernard A. Cook argues that the main reason for 19th century poverty was that typical wages for much of the population were simply too low. Barely enough to provide a subsistence living in good times, let alone save up for bad. Improvements were made over time to housing along with

8732-452: The blues musical format. The most famous blues ballads include those about John Henry and Casey Jones . The ballad was taken to Australia by early settlers from Great Britain and Ireland and gained particular foothold in the rural outback . The rhyming songs, poems and tales written in the form of ballads often relate to the itinerant and rebellious spirit of Australia in The Bush , and

8850-413: The building of public baths and wash houses but, since the act was only permissive rather than mandatory, improvement was slow. Conditions were particularly bad in London, where the population rose sharply and poorly maintained, overcrowded dwellings became slum housing. Kellow Chesney wrote of the situation: Hideous slums, some of them acres wide, some no more than crannies of obscure misery, make up

8968-444: The burlesques and musical plays of Thomas d'Urfey (1653–1723), a number of whose collected ballads they used in their work. Gay produced further works in this style, including a sequel under the title Polly . Henry Fielding , Colley Cibber , Arne, Dibdin, Arnold, Shield, Jackson of Exeter, Hook and many others produced ballad operas that enjoyed great popularity. Ballad opera was attempted in America and Prussia. Later it moved into

9086-489: The children in school; in 1840 only about 20 per cent of the children in London had any schooling. By the 1850s, around half of the children in England and Wales were in school (not including Sunday school ). From the 1833 Factory Act onwards, attempts were made to get child labourers into part time education, though this was often difficult to achieve. Only in the 1870s and 1880s did children begin to be compelled into school. Work continued to inhibit children's schooling into

9204-614: The common themes of sailing and naval battles may also have prompted the use (at least in England) of popular ballads as naval recruitment tools. Key work on the traditional ballad was undertaken in the late 19th century in Denmark by Svend Grundtvig and for England and Scotland by the Harvard professor Francis James Child . They attempted to record and classify all the known ballads and variants in their chosen regions. Since Child died before writing

9322-564: The conceit of one rehearser, unintelligible blunders from the stupidity of another, and omissions equally to be regretted, from the want of memory of a third.' Similarly, John Robert Moore noted 'a natural tendency to oblivescence'. European Ballads have been generally classified into three major groups: traditional, broadside and literary. In America a distinction is drawn between ballads that are versions of European, particularly British and Irish songs, and 'Native American ballads', developed without reference to earlier songs. A further development

9440-495: The cross-border narrative in versions of " The Ballad of Chevy Chase " sometimes associated with the Lancashire-born sixteenth-century minstrel Richard Sheale . It has been suggested that the increasing interest in traditional popular ballads during the eighteenth century was prompted by social issues such as the enclosure movement as many of the ballads deal with themes concerning rural laborers. James Davey has suggested that

9558-774: The diplomatic struggles of the Great Game and the Scramble for Africa . In 1840, Queen Victoria married her German cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha . The couple had nine children, who themselves married into various royal families, and the queen thus became known as the 'grandmother of Europe'. In 1861, Albert died. Victoria went into mourning and withdrew from public life for ten years. In 1871, with republican sentiments growing in Britain, she began to return to public life. In her later years, her popularity soared as she became

9676-465: The early 20th century. 19th-century Britain saw a huge population increase accompanied by rapid urbanisation stimulated by the Industrial Revolution. In the 1901 census , more than three out of every four people were classified as living in an urban area, compared to one in five a century earlier. Historian Richard A. Soloway wrote that "Great Britain had become the most urbanized country in

9794-438: The effect on the lady of seeing Lancelot; she stops weaving and looks out of her window toward Camelot, bringing about the curse. Out flew the web and floated wide— The mirror crack'd from side to side; "The curse is come upon me," cried       The Lady of Shalott. She leaves her tower, finds a boat upon which she writes her name, and floats down the river to Camelot. She dies before arriving at

9912-424: The end of period. Initially the industrial revolution increased working hours, but over the course of the 19th century a variety of political and economic changes caused them to fall back down to and in some cases below pre-industrial levels, creating more time for leisure. Before the Industrial Revolution, daily life had changed little for hundreds of years. The 19th century saw rapid technological development with

10030-550: The end of the 15th century there are printed ballads that suggest a rich tradition of popular music. A reference in William Langland 's Piers Plowman indicates that ballads about Robin Hood were being sung from at least the late 14th century and the oldest detailed material is Wynkyn de Worde's collection of Robin Hood ballads printed about 1495. Early collections of English ballads were made by Samuel Pepys (1633–1703) and in

10148-453: The end of the century. Private education for wealthier children, boys and more gradually girls, became more formalised over the course of the century. The growing middle class and strong evangelical movement placed great emphasis on a respectable and moral code of behaviour. This included features such as charity, personal responsibility, controlled habits, child discipline and self-criticism. As well as personal improvement, importance

10266-470: The end of the century. In 1876, an American patented the telephone . A little over a decade later, 26,000 telephones were in service in Britain. Multiple switchboards were installed in every major town and city. Guglielmo Marconi developed early radio broadcasting at the end of the period. The railways were important economically in the Victorian era, allowing goods, raw materials, and people to be moved around, stimulating trade and industry. They were also

10384-573: The fairy       Lady of Shalott." Stanzas five to eight describe the lady's life. She suffers from a mysterious curse and must continually weave images on her loom without ever looking directly out at the world. Instead, she looks into a mirror, which reflects the busy road and the people of Camelot who pass by her island. She knows not what the curse may be, And so she weaveth steadily, And little other care hath she,       The Lady of Shalott. The reflected images are described as "shadows of

10502-516: The family, and the idea that marriage should be based on romantic love gained popularity. A clear separation was established between the home and the workplace, which had often not been the case before. The home was seen as a private environment, where housewives provided their husbands with a respite from the troubles of the outside world. Within this ideal, women were expected to focus on domestic matters and to rely on men as breadwinners. Women had limited legal rights in most areas of life, and

10620-414: The first time. Whilst some attempts were made to improve living conditions, slum housing and disease remained a severe problem. The period saw significant scientific and technological development. Britain was advanced in industry and engineering in particular, but somewhat undeveloped in art and education. Great Britain's population increased rapidly, while Ireland's fell sharply. In the strictest sense,

10738-470: The illustration, Hunt juxtaposes the window facing Lancelot with a painting of Christ's crucifixion . According to Christine Poulson, the Crucifixion is the archetype of self-sacrifice and further emphasises the ideal that the Lady of Shalott fails to represent. Poulson also considers this representation of the subject in the context of changing women's roles in the 1880s and 1890s, suggesting that it served as

10856-401: The key being a rhymed second and fourth line. Contrary to a popular conception, it is rare if not unheard-of for a ballad to contain exactly 13 lines. Additionally, couplets rarely appear in ballads. Many ballads were written and sold as single-sheet broadsides . The form was often used by poets and composers from the 18th century onwards to produce lyrical ballads. In the later 19th century,

10974-482: The line "The mirror crack'd from side to side" as the title of her 1962 novel in which the poem itself plays a large part in the plot. In Lucy Maud Montgomery 's Anne of Green Gables (1908), Anne Shirley reads various stanzas of the poem and acts out the Lady of Shalott's tragic end as she floats down the river. Patricia A. McKillip used an adaptation of the poem as a primary theme of her novel The Tower at Stony Wood (2000). Lisa Ann Sandell 's novel Song of

11092-420: The management of sewage and water eventually giving the UK the most advanced system of public health protection anywhere in the world. The quality and safety of household lighting improved over the period with oil lamps becoming the norm in the early 1860s, gas lighting in the 1890s and electric lights beginning to appear in the homes of the richest by the end of the period. Medicine advanced rapidly during

11210-403: The medieval French chanson balladée or ballade , which were originally "dancing songs" ( L : ballare , to dance), yet becoming "stylized forms of solo song" before being adopted in England. As a narrative song, their theme and function may originate from Scandinavian and Germanic traditions of storytelling that can be seen in poems such as Beowulf . Musically they were influenced by

11328-555: The middle classes, had their origins in the early " Tin Pan Alley " music industry of the later 19th century. They were generally sentimental, narrative, strophic songs published separately or as part of an opera (descendants perhaps of broadside ballads , but with printed music , and usually newly composed). Such songs include "Little Rosewood Casket" (1870), " After the Ball " (1892) and " Danny Boy ". The association with sentimentality led to

11446-444: The middle of the 19th century to 'diminished cruelty to animals, criminals, lunatics, and children (in that order)'. Legal restrictions were placed on cruelty to animals. Restrictions were placed on the working hours of child labourers in the 1830s and 1840s. Further interventions took place throughout the century to increase the level of child protection. Use of the death penalty also decreased. Crime rates fell significantly in

11564-487: The middle- and working-classes a role in politics. However, all women and a large minority of men remained outside the system into the early 20th century. Cities were given greater political autonomy and the labour movement was legalised. From 1845 to 1852, the Potato Famine caused mass starvation, disease and death in Ireland, sparking large-scale emigration. The Corn Laws were repealed in response to this. Across

11682-518: The other in 1842 , of 19 stanzas (also in a book named Poems ), and returned to the story in "Lancelot and Elaine" . The vivid medieval romanticism and enigmatic symbolism of "The Lady of Shalott" inspired many painters, especially the Pre-Raphaelites and their followers, as well as other authors and artists. Like Tennyson's other early works, such as " Sir Galahad ", the poem recasts Arthurian subject matter loosely based on medieval sources. It

11800-552: The palace. Among the knights and ladies who see her is Lancelot, who thinks she is lovely. "Who is this? And what is here?" And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer; And they crossed themselves for fear,       All the Knights at Camelot; But Lancelot mused a little space He said, "She has a lovely face; God in his mercy lend her grace,       The Lady of Shalott." One of Tennyson's biographers found

11918-504: The population in 1800 to less than a third by 1901. However, 1890s studies suggested that almost 10% of the urban population lived in a state of desperation lacking the food necessary to maintain basic physical functions. Attitudes towards the poor were often unsympathetic and they were frequently blamed for their situation. In that spirit, the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 had been deliberately designed to punish them and would remain

12036-587: The regions in which they originate and use the common dialect of the people. Scotland 's ballads in particular, both in theme and language, are strongly characterised by their distinctive tradition, even exhibiting some pre-Christian influences in the inclusion of supernatural elements such as travel to the Fairy Kingdom in the Scots ballad "Tam Lin". The ballads do not have any known author or correct version; instead, having been passed down mainly by oral tradition since

12154-405: The second half of the 19th century. Sociologist Christie Davies linked this change to attempts to morally educate the population, especially at Sunday schools . Contrary to popular belief, Victorian society understood that both men and women enjoyed copulation . Chastity was expected of women, whilst attitudes to male sexual behaviour were more relaxed. The development of police forces led to

12272-402: The spread of diseases and squalid living conditions in many places exacerbated the problem. The population of England, Scotland and Wales grew rapidly during the 19th century. Various factors are considered contributary to this, including a rising fertility rate (though it was falling by the end of the period), the lack of a catastrophic pandemic or famine in the island of Great Britain during

12390-523: The term "ballad" being used for slow love songs from the 1950s onwards. Modern variations include " jazz ballads ", " pop ballads ", " rock ballads ", " R&B ballads " and " power ballads ". Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire , the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria , from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed

12508-412: The term took on the meaning of a slow form of popular love song and is often used for any love song, particularly the sentimental ballad of pop or rock music, although the term is also associated with the concept of a stylized storytelling song or poem, particularly when used as a title for other media such as a film. A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music . Ballads derive from

12626-402: The war effort, and the evangelical movement's push for moral improvement. There is evidence that the expected standards of moral behaviour were reflected in action as well as rhetoric across all classes of society. For instance, an analysis suggested that less than 5% of working class couples cohabited before marriage. Historian Harold Perkin argued that the change in moral standards led by

12744-699: The window in The Lady of Shalott Looking at Lancelot ; this work is now in Leeds Art Gallery . Poulson argues that Waterhouse's impressionistic painting style in his 1894 rendering of The Lady of Shalott evokes a "sense of vitality and urgency". In 1915, Waterhouse painted I Am Half-Sick of Shadows, Said the Lady of Shalott , as she sits wistfully before her loom; this work is now in the Art Gallery of Ontario . "The Lady of Shalott" has been adapted in various ways in later works of literature. Agatha Christie used

12862-478: The world", a metaphor that makes it clear they are a poor substitute for seeing directly ("I am half-sick of shadows"). Stanzas nine to twelve describe "bold Sir Lancelot " as he rides by and is seen by the lady. All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewell'd shone the saddle-leather, The helmet and the helmet-feather Burn'd like one burning flame together,       As he rode down to Camelot. The remaining seven stanzas describe

12980-526: Was expanded again by the Second Reform Act in 1867. The Third Reform Act in 1884 introduced a general principle of one vote per household. All these acts and others simplified the electoral system and reduced corruption. Historian Bruce L Kinzer describes these reforms as putting the United Kingdom on the path towards becoming a democracy. The traditional aristocratic ruling class attempted to maintain as much influence as possible while gradually allowing

13098-478: Was generally then known as natural philosophy, but it took a while to catch on. Having been previously dominated by amateurs with a separate income, the Royal Society admitted only professionals from 1847 onwards. The British biologist Thomas Henry Huxley indicated in 1852 that it remained difficult to earn a living as a scientist alone. Scientific knowledge and debates such as that about Charles Darwin 's On

13216-448: Was given to social reform. Utilitarianism was another philosophy that saw itself as based on science rather than on morality, but also emphasised social progress. An alliance formed between these two ideological strands. The reformers emphasised causes such as improving the conditions of women and children, giving police reform priority over harsh punishment to prevent crime, religious equality, and political reform in order to establish

13334-467: Was in contemporaneous usage to describe the era. The era can also be understood in a more extensive sense—the 'long Victorian era'—as a period that possessed sensibilities and characteristics distinct from the periods adjacent to it, in which case it is sometimes dated to begin before Victoria's accession—typically from the passage of or agitation for (during the 1830s) the Reform Act 1832 , which introduced

13452-401: Was low, punishments severe, work was dangerous and disrupted children's development (often leaving them too tired to play even in their free time). Early labour could do lifelong harm; even in the 1960s and '70s, the elderly people of industrial towns were noted for their often unusually short stature, deformed physiques, and diseases associated with unhealthy working conditions. Reformers wanted

13570-438: Was one single original author. Communalists tend to see more recent, particularly printed, broadside ballads of known authorship as a debased form of the genre, while individualists see variants as corruptions of an original text. More recently scholars have pointed to the interchange of oral and written forms of the ballad. The transmission of ballads comprises a key stage in their re-composition. In romantic terms this process

13688-454: Was the evolution of the blues ballad, which mixed the genre with Afro-American music. For the late 20th century the music publishing industry found a market for what are often termed sentimental ballads, and these are the origin of the modern use of the term 'ballad' to mean a slow love song. The traditional, classical or popular (meaning of the people) ballad has been seen as beginning with the wandering minstrels of late medieval Europe. From

13806-461: Was the predominant power in the world. Victorian society valued a high standard of personal conduct across all sections of society. The emphasis on morality gave impetus to social reform but also placed restrictions on certain groups' liberty. Prosperity rose during the period, but debilitating undernutrition persisted. Literacy and childhood education became near universal in Great Britain for

13924-432: Was well developed, education and the arts were mediocre. Wage rates continued to improve in the later 19th century: real wages (after taking inflation into account) were 65 per cent higher in 1901 compared to 1871. Much of the money was saved, as the number of depositors in savings banks rose from 430,000 in 1831 to 5.2 million in 1887, and their deposits from £14 million to over £90 million. Children had always played

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