The Pre-Raphaelites’ Incongruous Ekphrastic Rewriting of Tennyson’s “The Lady of Shalott”

Abstract

This essay examines the aesthetic value of the Pre-Raphaelites’ illustration of Moxon’s Tennyson in relation to the sister arts, an analogy within the context of the particular vicissitudes of visual culture of the second half of the nineteenth century. By paying special attention to Hunt’s and Rossetti’s incongruous ekphrastic performance of Tennyson’s “The Lady of Shalott,” this essay argues that the Pre-Raphaelites played a crucial role in launching a new style of illustration in the sixties with the possibilities of pictured poetry; they also proposed a radical new road for art and poetry in the modern world. First, by investigating the argument between Tennyson and the Pre-Raphaelites’ mentor, Ruskin, this essay explores how Tennyson responded to the Pre-Raphaelites’ version of “The Lady of Shalott” in relation to the sister arts analogy. Subsequently, this essay focuses on what Hunt and Rossetti considered the intrinsic value of singular art forms, by exploring their unconventional ekphrastic performances of “The Lady of Shalott.” Although the Pre-Raphaelites’ bold attempt was unwelcome, it was not only the most mirrored aesthetic cultural work responding to the boom of the visual arts in the period, but also the most advanced art form to anticipate the emergence of new illustrative genres.