The Lady Of Shalott Character Analysis

When people try to find themselves, obstacles prevent them from doing so. The main character in “Battle Royal” faces an obstacle that prevents him from finding himself. The family in “The Piano Lesson” face an obstacle that prevents them from finding themselves. The character in “The Lady of Shalott” faces an obstacle that prevents her from finding herself. Often times, a person faces an obstacle that prevents them from finding themselves. The main character in “Battle Royal” faces an obstacle that prevents him from finding himself. In the story, the main character’s grandfather tells him to “Live with your head in the lion’s mouth (Ellison 275)” and the advice haunts him. Years later, he becomes the valedictorian of his class, but fears that he is subconsciously carrying out his grandfather’s advice. He receives an invite to give his speech on humility to the leading citizens of the town. The meeting turns out to be a smoker, and the main character is now fighting in a battle royal against his classmates. Only after being beaten down, is he allowed to give his speech. Throughout the speech, the men laugh and ignore almost every part, until he exchanges the words “Social Responsibility” for “Social Equality”. After this, the main character receives a briefcase with a scholarship to college. The society the main character is around prevents him from finding himself. He proves this by saying “All my life I had looked for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I even accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory (Ellison 275).” It also shows how the main character is treated throughout the story. The citizens of the town throw him into a fighting ring for their entertainment and when he speaks, they ignore him. In the end, it takes years for him to find himself as an invisible man. The family …show more content…
“The Lady of Shalott” focuses on a cursed woman, only known as the Lady of Shalott, that lives within a tower. Due to a curse, she is unable to look directly at the world outside of her window, and must look through a mirror. No one truly knows of her existence, besides a few people who hear her singing. Days pass as she weaves numerous “webs” or tapestries of what she sees through this mirror, viewing the world secondhand. As the story progresses, she sees Sir Lancelot through the mirror, but also steps away to look at him. The mirror starts to crack and knowing she is in trouble, the Lady of Shalott lies down in a boat with her name on it and drifts along the river to Camelot. She dies before reaching her destination. At first, people gather and wonder who she is, until Sir Lancelot looks at her and says she has a lovely face. The tower is what prevents the Lady of Shalott from finding who she is. This is shown when the story describes the tapestries that she weaves as webs. It could describe that she is caught in a web herself. The mirror also shows that the tower prevents her from finding herself. In the end of the story, the mirror cracks, possibly providing that the Lady of Shalott is freeing herself from the tower that is holding her. However, she gets a small glimpse of freedom and meets a tragic