COVE

William Holeman Hunt’s first interpretive illustration of the “Lady of Salott” was featured in the 1857, Edward Moxon publication of Alfred Tennyson’s Poems. Tennyson disagreed with many of the initial interpretations of his poem, including Hunt’s imagery and use of the web. Despite Tennyson’s disappointment, Hunt went on to illustrate two more versions of the “Lady of Shalott”. His final depiction of the lady in 1886 was his largest work, featuring oil paint and canvas. The painting took Hunt a total of twenty years to complete. Over time, his eyesight began to deplete and the painting had to be finished by Arthur Hughs in 1905. Aside from the difference in medium, Hunt also made a few changes in the roundels decorating the tower walls. The imagery depicts different forms of religious beliefs ranging from Christianity, Greek Mythology, and the use of Spiritualism in the overall illustration. This pattern in Hunt’s interpretation suggests that he has high religious values and idealisms, and works to emphasize the morality and duty placed upon the lady. The oil painting especially captures the lady in a moment of rebellion. Her previous attention to weaving is challenged when she sees Lancelot through her looking glass, and is ultimately destroyed when she abandons her duty for secular passions. This imagery reflects on the rise of different religions in England during the nineteenth century, and incorporates popular ideas of clairvoyance and crystal-gazing. During the Victorian era, it was common to associate feminine virtue with genteel domesticity. The questioning of these values gives way to the Arthurian world in which the “Lady of Shalott” exists: that is a world of magic, religion, and female rebellion. 

Sources:

Luckhurst, Roger. “The Victorian Supernatural.” British Library, 15 May 2014, www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/the-victorian-supernatural.

Inglis, Allison & Cecelia O’Brien. “‘The Breaking of the Web’: William Holman Hunt’s two early versions of The Lady of Shalott.” Art Journal 32, 18 June 2014, https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/essay/the-breaking-of-the-web-william-holman-hunts-two-early-versions-of-the-lady-of-shallot/