“She hath no loyal knight and true,
The Lady of Shalott”
Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s The Lady of Shalott is an iconic poem of the Victorian era. It has inspired a vast cultural output, from Pre-Raphaelite art to Scandinavian pop music. However, it is by no means the only poem inspired by the Arthurian legend and the setting of Camelot.
Since Thomas Mallory’s Le Morte D’Arthur – the seminal Arthurian text in the English language – writers like Tennyson and Edmund Spenser have re-imagined Camelot to write allegories relevant to their times; The Lady of Shalott is just one poem in a long history of reworking the legend of King Arthur. Along with The Idylls of the King, Tennyson’s Camelot is one of the most famous.
In this event, chair Remona Aly meets with experts on the Arthurian legend, Gregory Leadbetter, Raluca Radulescu and Matthew Townend, to consider the context and significance of Tennyson’s Camelot and its continuing relevance today.
This event is run in association with The Poetry Society.
