Afterlives of the Lady of Shalott and Elaine of Astolat

This book investigates adaptations of The Lady of Shalott and Elaine of Astolat in Victorian and post-Victorian popular culture to explore their engagement with medievalism, social constructions of gender, and representations of the role of art in society. Although the figure of Elaine first appeared in medieval texts, including Malory’s Le Morte Darthur , Tennyson’s poems about the Lady and Elaine drew unprecedented response from musicians, artists, and other authors, whose adaptations in some cases inspired further adaptations. With chapters on music, art, and literature (including parody, young people’s literature, and historical fiction and fantasy), this book seeks to trace the evolution of these characters and the ways in which they reinforce or challenge conventional gender roles, represent the present’s relationship to the past, and highlight the power of art. Acknowledgments Praise for Afterlives of the Lady of Shalott and Elaine of Astolat Contents Abbreviations and Spellings List of Figures List of Tables 1 Introduction 1.1 The Topic 1.2 Death and the Maiden 1.3 King Arthur Returns 1.4 Medievalism(s), Neomedievalism 1.5 Adaptation and Allusion 1.6 Texts and Trends 1.7 Afterlives References 2 The Lady and Elaine: Medieval Literature and Victorian Adaptation 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Before Tennyson 2.3 Tennyson’s Lady, Tennyson’s Elaine 2.4 Responses References 3 Singing Her Own Song: The Lady/Elaine in Music 3.1 Introduction 3.2 The Lady and Elaine in Music 3.3 Nineteenth-Century Music: Material Conditions and Interpretations 3.3.1 Sweet Is True Love 3.4 Twentieth-Century Music: Material Conditions and Interpretations 3.4.1 Adapting the Lady to Music 3.4.2 Speaking for Her Own Self 3.5 The Power of the Voice References 4 “She Hath a Lovely Face”: The Lady/Elaine in Art 4.1 Introduction 4.2 The Victorian Context 4.3 “Who Hath Seen Her ...?” 4.4 Book Illustrations 4.4.1 Doré 4.4.2 Cameron 4.4.3 Rhead 4.5 Paintings 4.5.1 Rosenthal’s Elaine (1874) 4.5.2 Hunt’s Lady 4.5.3 Waterhouse’s Ladies (1888, 1894, 1915) 4.6 “Out Flew the Web ...”: The Lady/Elaine Online 4.7 Another Kind of Lady 4.8 The Power of the Image References 5 Patterns and Parody: The Lady/Elaine in Literature 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Patterns 5.2.1 Conflation of Lady/Elaine 5.2.2 Non-Arthurian Intertexts 5.2.3 Strategies of Adaptation 5.2.4 Images: Tower (Entrapment and Isolation) 5.2.5 Images: Mirror (Reality and Self) 5.2.6 Images: Weaving/Embroidery (Creativity and Art) 5.2.7 Images: Lancelot (Life-Altering Desire, Loss, and Rejection) 5.2.8 Images: Curse and Boat (Inevitability of Fate/Doom) 5.3 Parody 5.3.1 The Lady on South Street 5.3.2 Floating Down to Cambridge 5.4 Conclusion References 6 Reading and Resisting: The Lady/Elaine in Young People’s Literature 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Retelling the Story 6.3 Responding to the Story 6.4 Richardson’s Heroic Lily Maid 6.5 Montgomery’s Unfortunate Lily Maid 6.6 Pulman’s Virtual Lady 6.7 Cabot’s Anti-Elaine 6.8 Conclusion References 7 Desire and Art: The Lady/Elaine in Historical Fiction and Fantasy 7.1 Introduction 7.2 A Woman’s Place 7.3 Romancing Elaine 7.4 Changing the Material 7.5 Rewriting the Knight and Empowering the Lady 7.6 Conclusion References 8 Postscript References Index This book investigates adaptations of The Lady of Shalott and Elaine of Astolat in Victorian and post-Victorian popular culture to explore their engagement with medievalism, social constructions of gender, and representations of the role of art in society. Although the figure of Elaine first appeared in medieval texts, including Malory’s __Le Morte Darthur__, Tennyson’s poems about the Lady and Elaine drew unprecedented response from musicians, artists, and other authors, whose adaptations in some cases inspired further adaptations. With chapters on music, art, and literature (including parody, young people’s literature, and historical fiction and fantasy), this book seeks to trace the evolution of these characters and the ways in which they reinforce or challenge conventional gender roles, represent the present’s relationship to the past, and highlight the power of art.