What does Tennyson make you feel about the Lady in his poem The Lady of Shalott? Support your ideas with details from the poem.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2011). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. Candidates should explore their feelings about The Lady of Shalott, supported by details from the poem.
2. Focus on her isolation and entrapment ('four gray walls, and four gray towers'), her curse, and her longing for the world outside.
3. Sympathy for her fate, her brief experience of life through the mirror, and the tragic consequences of breaking the curse.
4. Admiration for her courage in finally confronting reality ('The mirror crack'd from side to side').
5. Pity for her death and her journey to Camelot ('She floated down to Camelot'), a figure of tragic beauty.
6. The poem’s exploration of the artist’s isolation and the conflict between art and life.
7. Tennyson’s use of rich imagery, ballad-like structure, and evocative language to create these feelings.