Art and Poetry: Two Worlds Collide
Art and poetry are an expression of thoughts and ideas from the poet or painter’s point of view. They can be compared and analyzed through the use of mood, tone, symbols, and other literary devices. Both invoke an image of the events occurring that imply a deeper meaning; however, the scenes depicted may contrast depending on the creator of the work. Although Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem, “The Lady of Shalott,” and William Hunt’s painting, “The Lady of Shalott,” differ, they offer various similarities due to their use of symbols and imagery.
In William Hunt’s oil painting, he uses bright colors such as red and blue, which suggest a cool tone, to depict the Lady of Shalott entangled in the strings of her tapestry.
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In the painting, Hunt illustrates strings restricting the Lady of Shalott’s legs. Likewise, Tennyson describes the curse that imprisons her by revealing, “A curse is on her if she stay / To look down at Camelot” (40-41). Tennyson implies that the Lady of Shalott is cursed regardless of her decision. If she leaves, she will be forced to deal with the consequences of her curse; however, if she stays she will remain trapped, unable to experience life. Tennyson and Hunt symbolize the Lady of Shalott’s life changing forever. Tennyson conveys this by writing “Out flew the web and floated wide” (114). By describing the web floating away, Tennyson implies her life, as she knows it, has changed and can never be restored. Similarly, Hunt depicts the Lady of Shalott’s broken web. Once she experiences life outside her tower, she can no longer live in the reflection of reality. Alfred Lord Tennyson indicates that the Lady of Shalott’s emotions are divided between what she is comfortable with, weaving in Camelot, and her desire to live by expressing, ‘I’m half sick of shadows,’ said The Lady of Shalott” (71-72). By using the words “half sick” the poet shows her inability to decide whether to continue life in Camelot or depart. Hunt forms this idea by painting the Lady of Shalott’s body turned almost completely to the side emitting that she wants to look at Camelot from her window, but does not want to leave the life she
Besides bright or dim colors, and fine or rough brush strokes, artists use centralized composition to convey their interpretations in "The Acrobat's Family with a Monkey," "Amercian Gothic," "The Water-Seller," and "The Third of May,1808.”
“He uses similes to compare the curtains that danced in response to the breeze to pale flags gliding back and forth caught in the wind. The shadow from the curtains on the wine colored rug is related to the image of wind on the
Comparing Shakespeare’s Katharina, of The Taming of the Shrew and Beatrice, of Much Ado About Nothing
In the preceding poem, one can see the artistic style come through her composition. The best representation of that particular idea comes from the author Donald Thackrey when he says:
Though most works of art have some underlying, deeper meaning attached to them, our first impression of their significance comes through our initial visual interpretation. When we first view a painting or a statue or other piece of art, we notice first the visual details – its size, its medium, its color, and its condition, for example – before we begin to ponder its greater significance. Indeed, these visual clues are just as important as any other interpretation or meaning of a work, for they allow us to understand just what that deeper meaning is. The expression on a statue’s face tells us the emotion and message that the artist is trying to convey. Its color, too, can provide clues: darker or lighter colors can play a role in how we judge a piece of art. The type of lines used in a piece can send different messages. A sculpture, for example, may have been carved with hard, rough lines or it may have been carved with smoother, more flowing lines that portray a kind of gentleness.
Years ago, Sister Mary Corita Kent, a celebrated artist and educator of the 1960’s and 1970’s stated, “A painting is a symbol for the universe. Inside it, each piece relates to the other. Each piece is only answerable to the rest of that little world. So, probably in the total universe, there is that kind of total harmony, but we get only little tastes of it” (Lewis "Quotes from Women Artists"). Nowadays, a painting is not the main form of art humans appreciate. In fact, literature of all sorts can be considered a different form of art and often found in literature are symbols. A "symbol" is an object, person or action which represents an abstract idea (Warren “English 102”). In literature, a symbol or set of symbols can have a wide range of meanings. For example, color is a universal symbol; some may say it is a general symbol for life. However, each color separately can symbolize something different depending on the context. Analyzing five piece of literature for symbolism, one will be able to gain a deeper understating of symbols.
This painting is an oil-on-canvas painting that was painted by John William Waterhouse in 1888. The painting measures at 200 centimeters by 153 centimeters which converted to inches is 60.2 inches by 78.7 inches. The painting is one of Waterhouse’s best known oil paintings. This painting is said to be a representation from a scene from Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s 1833 poem titled “The Lady of Shallot”. The poem “The Lady of Shallot” was built upon the Arthurian legend of Elaine of Astolat, which she was mentioned in the Italian novella titled Donna di Scalotta. Tennyson’s work was popular with many Pre-Raphaelite poets and painters. Some of the artists that illustrated pain...
The French 1884 oil on canvas painting The Song of the Lark by Jules-Adolphe Breton draws grasps a viewer’s attention. It draws an observer in by its intense but subtle subject matter and by the luminous sun in the background. Without the incandescent sun and the thoughtful look of the young woman, it would just be a bland earth-toned farm landscape. However, Breton understood what to add to his painting in order to give it drama that would instantly grab an onlooker’s interest.
Theo and the young Narrator similarly discover the revelatory capacity of art through a single pivotal painting and author respectively, both which become significant motifs in either text. Tartt utilizes an existent painting ‘The Goldfinch’ as a fixed point of reference, which, for both Theo and the reader provides a sense of reality and constancy ‘rais[ing him] above the surface’ of an otherwise tumultuous childhood. Whereas Proust uses a fictional author, ‘Bergotte’, to communicate the universality of art, and invite the reader, through the vivid immediacy with which the Narrator’s early reading experiences are described, to participate in his epiphanic discovery that art can translate ‘imperceptible truths which would never have [otherwise] been revealed to us’ (97). Artistic imagery becomes a motif in Proust’s descriptions of scenes of domesticity and nature. In a scene recounting Francoise ‘masterful’ preparation of a family meal the Narrator describes asparagus in the technical language of painting as ‘finely stippled’ provoking an association between his observations of asparagus and the creation of a painting. By forming this improbable link he elevates unremarkable asparagus to the ‘precious’ status of art in the eyes of the reader. Proust’s presentation of his Narrator’s ‘fascination’ and pleasure at their ‘rainbow-loveliness’, forces the reader to consider asparagus with unfamiliar and attentive appreciation, conveying the idea that art can uncover the overlooked beauty of the mundane. Though Theo reveals a far more cynical view of ordinary life as a ‘sinkhole of hospital beds, coffins and broken hearts’ Tartt conveys the similar belief in art’s capacity to create a ‘rainbow-edge’ of beauty between our perceptions and the harshness of reality. In the most
Imagery is a key part of any poem or literary piece and creates an illustration in the mind of the reader by using descriptive and vivid language. Olds creates a vibrant mental picture of the couple’s surroundings, “the red tiles glinting like bent plates of blood/ the
2. Growth of Consciousness and Development of Tension 2.1. Initial Isolation Lord Alfred Tennyson's poem starts out with the total seclusion of the beautiful, young Lady of Shalott surrounded by '…four grey walls, and four grey towers…';. Tennyson, line 15 -. She is largely unaware of the world outside and of her own existence as a woman, only being able to see shadows of reality, which are reflected by her magic. crystal mirror and worked into her web. At this point of time, it is unknown to the reader whether the Lady of Shalott is forced to be in this situation or chose to live this life of isolation.
In this poem The Lady of Shalott was faced with a curse that would not even allow her to steal a glance out of her window, and the only way to view the world was through her mirror. She attempted to keep herself busy and distracted by weaving a web of beautiful colors and looking at the distorted images her mirror provided her with. Over time her strength that kept her safe wore thin and she grew tired of being held in solitude in her castle. Through watching Sir Lancelot, she fell in love and desired his attention so she left her web to pursue him. The Lady of Shalott pursued the knight, although she knew even a glance would mean certain death, but in her final moments she was happy and she sang of her happiness until her last moments breathing. The Lady chased unattainable love and faced death to find a sense of being whole and being loved. She tried to ignore her desires, but in the end she lost her life for the sake of love and only received the knight’s attention once her blood was frozen and her eyes were dark and
The final element of the Victorian Age that can be seen in Tennyson's poetry is a feeling of isolation that was heavily felt among the Victorians. This sense of isolation, which sparked a desire for social change, was felt for various reasons. The first is that the scientific discoveries mentioned before set younger generations apart from the previous ones. Many people feared the effects of rapid industrialization, as they often didn't fully understand technology, making them feel isolated from the modern world and nostalgic towards simpler, rural life. Another is that the spiritual doubt that came as a result of these scientific advancements also led Victorians, and in particular, Victorian artists, to feel isolated from life, love, and spirituality. This theme can be seen in The Lady of Shalott, along with the themes about women's roles. In the poem, the Lady of Shalott is completely isolated from society that it becomes harmful to her psyche and ultimately chooses death over her life of isolation. The dangers of social isolation shown in the poem emphasize the need for social change that was greatly felt in the Victorian age. It also shows the isolation of the Victorian artist, who must observe life rather than participate in it. For example, the Lady of Shalott must continue to weave her web alone, and as soon as she tries to participate in the world her web is ruined. This can be symbolic of how it was often thought that an artist's work can suffer when he tries to become more than an observer, when he breaks his isolation. A similar theme is expressed in Ulysses, where the speaker, like the Lady of Shalott, wishes to explore the world, but is resigned instead to a life of conformity: marriage, manners, a tedious job. He is r...
Before addressing any of Stevens’ poems, it must be made clear that this argument is narrowly focusing itself on the visual images within several of Stevens’ poems. To fully examine the sidelines and tangents of a single poem would be impossible, as the poems themselves grow with discovered philosophies, and appeal to innumerable viewpoints and interpretations. Furthermore, because the word image can have a multiplicity of meanings and derivatives, depending on the school of thought the reader has absorbed, I will constrain the definition of image, within this paper, to the stoic “To describe; especially to describe as to call up a mental picture of” (Morris, 657).
During the time-period when they authored this essay, the commonly held notion amongst people was that “In order to judge the poet’s performance, we must know what he intended.”, and this notion led to what is termed the ‘Intentional fallacy’. However, Wimsatt and Beardsley argue that the intention, i.e., the design or plan in the author’s mind, of the author is neither available nor desirable for judging the success of a work of literary art. It is not available because the author will most certainly not be beside the reader when he/she reads the text, and not desirable because intention as mentioned already is nothing but the author’s attitude towards his work, the way he felt while writing the text and what made him write that particular piece of writing and these factors might distract the reader from deciphering the meaning from the text. This method of reading a text without any biographical or historical background of either the poem or the poet practiced by the New Critics was known as ‘Closed Reading’. This stemmed from their belief in the autonomy of the text.