Question

Read this excerpt from "The Lady of Shalott" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. In what way is the Lady of Shalott symbolic of an artist such as a poet?

There she weaves by night and day
A magic web with colours gay.
She has heard a whisper say,
A curse is on her if she stay
To look down to Camelot.
She knows not what the curse may be,
And so she weaveth steadily,
And little other care hath she,
The Lady of Shalott.

She is forced into isolation from the real world by devotion to her craft.
She is aware of the existence of her curse although she doesn't know its origin.
She devotes night and day to her craft and thinks of it as magical.
She has no interest in social concerns because they aren't relevant to her craft.

Answer 1

She is forced into isolation from the real world by devotion to her craft.

Answer 2

The Lady of Shalott is symbolic of an artist such as a poet because she also needs isolation so she can create. Plus, she has this idea that what she does stands at a superior level: it is magical, beyond ordinary. We can see it in the following line, which is the correct answer:

"She is forced into isolation from the real world by devotion to her craft."