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Broadly speaking, “The Lady of Shalott” takes place in the time associated with the medieval legends of King Arthur. According to this tradition, King Arthur united Britain during the period after Roman rule, in the late fifth century and early sixth century. However, the setting of Tennyson’s poem is mythical rather than historical, and it centers on a fictional island called Shalott. This island sits within a river that flows toward Camelot, where King Arthur famously convened his court. This more restricted framing of the poem’s setting establishes a tension between the isolating remoteness of Shalott and the active centrality of Camelot. Nothing happens on the island other than the harvesting of grains. In the meantime, the Lady sits alone in her confinement, laboring over her loom and longing for the excitement and company represented by the king’s court. The river that encompasses the island and flows toward Camelot symbolizes the Lady’s intense and ultimately tragic longing. When she finally succumbs to temptation and allows her eyes to follow Lancelot in the direction of the court, a mysterious curse comes upon her. She then literally follows him on a boat flowing down the river. By the time she gets there, however, she has already died.

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