Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Download June's Journey for free cherrypick.gg/ArtDeco
Thank you to June's Journey for sponsoring this video!
This is The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse, one of the most beloved paintings in all of Britain. It's based on Sir Alfred Tennyson’s poem, The Lady of Shalott, set in the medieval time of King Arthur. Tennyson made two versions of this poem, one in 1833 and a revised one in 1842. Waterhouse was so obsessed with Tennyson’s poem that it inspired him to create three different paintings.
The Lady of Shalott spent her days in a tower on an island called Shalott downriver from the city of Camelot. She lived under a curse that prevented her from going outside or even looking out her window; She could only view the world through a mirror. Because of the curse, she spent her days weaving images of the outside world she saw in the reflection of her mirror onto a tapestry.
One day, a handsome knight named Sir Lancelot walks by in her mirror and she can’t resist it any longer. She turns her back to the mirror to gaze at him directly through the window. But when she does, the mirror cracks from side to side. The curse has come upon her.
Determined to meet Lancelot, the lady leaves her castle for the first time, climbs in to a boat and begins her journey toward Camelot. According to Tennyson’s poem, the Lady of Shalott sang a song as she drifted. She reached Camelot only after she was already gone.
It’s tempting to read the Lady of Shalott as pure tragedy: a woman who lived at the margins, sacrificing herself for a man she never knew, dying without ever experiencing real human connection with another person. But that’s not what I see when I look at it. Instead I see raw and defiant determination. A choice to live, if only for a single, fleeting moment.
I hope you enjoy this deep dive into Waterhouse's paintings I Am Half-Sick of Shadows, Said the Lady of Shalott, The Lady of Shalott Looking at Lancelot and The Lady of Shalott. Thank you for watching!
References and further reading:
Dr. Chloe Portugeis, "John William Waterhouse, The Lady of Shalott," in Smarthistory, August 9, 2015, accessed September 16, 2025, smarthistory.org/waterhouse-the-lady-of-shalott/.
collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O155150/sketchbook-waterhouse-john-william
news.artnet.com/art-world/waterhouse-tennyson-lady-of-shalott-2650097
artincontext.org/the-lady-of-shalott-by-john-william-waterhouse
Celtic Impulse - Celtic by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100297
Artist: incompetech.com
Comfortable Mystery 4 - Film Noire by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100535
Artist: incompetech.com
Ghost Processional (Alternate) by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100219
Artist: incompetech.com
Blue Feather - Reunited by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1200068
Artist: incompetech.com
Download June's Journey for free cherrypick.gg/ArtDeco
Thank you to June's Journey for sponsoring this video!
This is The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse, one of the most beloved paintings in all of Britain. It's based on Sir Alfred Tennyson’s poem, The Lady of Shalott, set in the medieval time of King Arthur. Tennyson made two versions of this poem, one in 1833 and a revised one in 1842. Waterhouse was so obsessed with Tennyson’s poem that it inspired him to create three different paintings.
The Lady of Shalott spent her days in a tower on an island called Shalott downriver from the city of Camelot. She lived under a curse that prevented her from going outside or even looking out her window; She could only view the world through a mirror. Because of the curse, she spent her days weaving images of the outside world she saw in the reflection of her mirror onto a tapestry.
One day, a handsome knight named Sir Lancelot walks by in her mirror and she can’t resist it any longer. She turns her back to the mirror to gaze at him directly through the window. But when she does, the mirror cracks from side to side. The curse has come upon her.
Determined to meet Lancelot, the lady leaves her castle for the first time, climbs in to a boat and begins her journey toward Camelot. According to Tennyson’s poem, the Lady of Shalott sang a song as she drifted. She reached Camelot only after she was already gone.
It’s tempting to read the Lady of Shalott as pure tragedy: a woman who lived at the margins, sacrificing herself for a man she never knew, dying without ever experiencing real human connection with another person. But that’s not what I see when I look at it. Instead I see raw and defiant determination. A choice to live, if only for a single, fleeting moment.
I hope you enjoy this deep dive into Waterhouse's paintings I Am Half-Sick of Shadows, Said the Lady of Shalott, The Lady of Shalott Looking at Lancelot and The Lady of Shalott. Thank you for watching!
References and further reading:
Dr. Chloe Portugeis, "John William Waterhouse, The Lady of Shalott," in Smarthistory, August 9, 2015, accessed September 16, 2025, smarthistory.org/waterhouse-the-lady-of-shalott/.
collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O155150/sketchbook-waterhouse-john-william
news.artnet.com/art-world/waterhouse-tennyson-lady-of-shalott-2650097
artincontext.org/the-lady-of-shalott-by-john-william-waterhouse
Celtic Impulse - Celtic by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100297
Artist: incompetech.com
Comfortable Mystery 4 - Film Noire by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100535
Artist: incompetech.com
Ghost Processional (Alternate) by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100219
Artist: incompetech.com
Blue Feather - Reunited by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1200068
Artist: incompetech.com
