The Lady of Shalott Analysis

Waterhouse's The Lady of Shalott is an iconic painting and possibly one of his best-known oils. As with many of his other works, Waterhouse focuses on the plight of a beautiful and tragic woman. He uses symbolism and realism to convey the story based on the poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson.

In The Lady of Shalott Waterhouse creates a composition resonant of isolation and despair. The dark woods behind the lady and the unkempt reeds in the foreground echo the women and her plight.

The artist creates a balance in the composition by apposing the pale figure of the women on one side of the painting with the horizon on the other, gently going back towards the hills. This balance enables Waterhouse to paint the long boat in full, without the painting becoming one-sided.

The warm and autumnal color palette used by the artist is reflective on the poem and the fact that The Lady of Shalott is about to die. Although a lot of detail is conveyed in this painting it is all produced in similar tones, underlining the tragic events unfolding and the ultimately unhappy heroine of the story.

The autumnal feeling of this painting is captured by the low cast light Waterhouse creates. As this image is outside, the artist uses natural light to maintain realism in what could have otherwise become an otherworldly scene.

Waterhouse really captures a sense of sorrow in this painting, in-keeping with Tennyson's poem. The bewildered look on the woman's face, her unkempt hair both give the image of a women not in control of her own destiny, a possible nod to the political power of women in Britain at the time.

The dark woodland and sky also add another suppressive element to the mood of the piece, further adding to the idea of a woman suppressed.

In the Pre-Raphaelite tradition, Waterhouse uses symbolism throughout his paintings to add further narrative to the scene. The Lady of Shalott is no exception to this and the artist uses several symbolic images to further develop the viewers understanding of the scene.

Candles on the boat, two of which are out, symbolize that the end of the Lady's life is near.

The tapestry the lady wove in her tower hangs from the side of the boat illustrating the rest of the poem.

The complete absence of other people from this composition also underlines the loneliness of The Lady of Shalott, and the fact that her death is now inevitable.

The Lady is shown about to let go of the chain which moors the boat, symbolic of her release from the tower.

The ladies mouth is slightly open, 'Singing her last song', in direct correlation with the poem.

She stares at a crucifix next to the candles, another sign of her untimely death.

Waterhouse always used models in his work in order to create realistic shapes and positions for his figures. Although the artist never specifically mentions who modeled for him in The Lady of Shalott, a model who is known to have been used by him throughout 1888 is a women called Jennifer Flora. Other models used by Waterhouse include his sister-in-law Mary, and a woman named Beatrice Flaxman.