Once upon a time Umbert Eco quoted Tennyson’s continental contemporary Mallarmé who wrote about avoiding a single absolute word sense concerning the typo-logographic space and epistemic-symbolic landscape:
"Einen Gegenstand benennen bedeutet, die drei Viertel des Genusses am Gedicht zu unterdrücken, welche aus dem Glück bestehen, nach und nach zu entschlüsseln, es hervorzubringen […] dies ist der Traum […] Es muß vermieden werden, daß ein einziger Sinn sich aufdrängt: der leere Raum um das Wort herum, (…), die räumliche Komposition des Textes tragen dazu bei, dem Wort eine Aura des Unbestimmten zu verleihen und es auf tausend verschiedene Dinge hindeuten zu lassen." (Eco 1989, 121f.)
Various literary critics describe a rather psychological dilemma within Tennyson’s work in general which seems important for the understanding of The Lady of Shalott which in my opinion is not theme of this work. Once with-in the discourse of art and mythopoetics this dilemma resembles Tennyson’s struggle for both artistic strategy as well as rhetorical and logical validity (Alaya 1970, 289.) Another remark refers to Tennyson’s ”difficulty in leaving the world and passing into „a Nameless, shadow-less realm“ which insert the reader into autopoietic ordering „spaces between images and words.“ (Colley 1985, 370 and 377.) An expression of this dilemma we find in Tennyson’s The Lady of Shalott with the metaphorical presence in absence of sword and primarily window which will be discussed later on. But the expressive representing or non-symbolic Nameless cannot exist if the symbolic is the only associative between the imaginary and the real which is the other side of the symbolic per se.
Table of Contents
Entrance and Tennyson’s dilemma
I RSI and the Lady’s fall into the landscape of desire
II The sin of magic and Mary’s desire
Exit and junctions
Literature
Objectives & Core Themes
This work explores Lord Alfred Tennyson's poem "The Lady of Shalott" through a multidisciplinary lens, primarily utilizing discourse analysis, topological psychoanalysis, and cultural semiotics. It aims to investigate the interplay between poetic composition, metaphorical landscapes, and the philosophical conceptualization of desire and identity, ultimately examining how the subject navigates the symbolic order versus the real.
- Application of Lacanian topology (RSI: Real, Symbolic, Imaginary) to literary analysis.
- Examination of Marian typology and biblical-metaphorical imagery within the poem.
- Deconstruction of the Victorian era's gendered tropes and symbolic representations.
- Investigation into the ontological "dilemma" of the poet and the creative subject.
- The role of the written word and proper naming in the subject's emancipation and mortality.
Excerpt from the Book
I RSI and the Lady’s fall into the landscape of desire
What follows is an attempt on The Lady of Shalott from the perspective of discourse analysis as a topological psychoanalysis of symptoms of literal phe-nomenology which simultaneously means a deconstruction of the poetical sublimation of the script. This sublimation reveals itself in the two movements of the Lady which act to each other in a right-angled, geometrical and discour-sive manner, that is, in the sense of the RSI-topology of the Borromæic knot. One movement appears in the descent from the tower out of the nameless real dream world of indefinite, metonymic perforated visions. The other movement is guided by the definite symbolic order of the continuous metaphoric landscape along the river. What kind of desire presses the lady through the poem’s lines? Are the final fearful questions „Who is this ? and what is here?“ (iv.47)[13] of „knight and burgher, lord and dame“ (iv.45) actually the answer, although they read her name a line before? Does the proper name (Eigen-name) and its reading manifest the awareness of the ontological difference between the real speaking of speech and the discourse of the imaginary sym-bolic order as a fracture of the real beyond the first outcry in the dessert of undecidedness?[14]
Before we follow the Lady’s journey it is inspiring to hold a sketch of the Borromæic knot of the real, symbolic and imaginary in our hand. This forma-lism is a knowledge historically derived from Saussure’s synchronic language theory of the sign and elaborated in new independent categories by Lacan, up to the smallest unit of the symbolic order which is the letter of our concrete speech. Lacan makes the decisive distinction by the prophetic formula: „Spra-che existiert samt ihrer Struktur, bevor ein beliebiges Subjekt in einem be-stimmten Moment seiner geistigen Entwicklung in sie tritt.“[15] In concept his-tory after Freud this formular is syncopately absorbed with das Unbewußte ist strukturiert wie eine Sprache und als solches formalisierbar.
Summary of Chapters
Entrance and Tennyson’s dilemma: Introduces the theoretical framework, connecting Mallarmé’s poetics with Tennyson’s struggle to resolve artistic ambiguity and the "mystery of life."
I RSI and the Lady’s fall into the landscape of desire: Applies a topological psychoanalytic approach using Lacan’s RSI model to analyze the Lady's movement between the real, symbolic, and imaginary realms.
II The sin of magic and Mary’s desire: Provides a systematic study of biblical-metaphorical landscapes, focusing on Marian typology and the semiotics of cultural symbols like the web, mirror, and window.
Exit and junctions: Concludes the analysis by discussing the ambiguity of the Lady's triumph and the broader philosophical implications of poetry as a grasp beyond instinct into free will.
Keywords
Tennyson, The Lady of Shalott, Lacan, RSI, Topology, Discourse Analysis, Marian Typology, Symbolic Order, Imaginary, Real, Metaphorology, Subjectivity, Victorian Era, Deconstruction, Poetics
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
The work provides a discourse-analytical and topological reading of Tennyson’s "The Lady of Shalott," focusing on the intersection of psychoanalytic theory and biblical symbolism.
Which theoretical frameworks are primarily utilized?
The study primarily utilizes Jacques Lacan’s RSI topology (Real, Symbolic, Imaginary), Derrida’s deconstruction, and Heideggerian ontological concepts.
What is the primary goal of the author?
The goal is to explore the Lady’s journey as a symptomatic expression of the creative subject’s desire, emancipation, and the ontological tension between artistic strategy and logical validity.
How is the "landscape" of the poem interpreted?
The landscape is treated as a metaphoric network, particularly through the lens of Marian typology and cultural memory, mapping the Lady's movement from the "tower" to the "river."
What role does the "window" play in the text?
The window is analyzed as a critical, albeit often omitted, symbolic junction between the Lady’s internal imaginary world and the external symbolic reality, representing her choice and eventual existential awareness.
Which keywords best encapsulate the arguments?
Key terms include RSI topology, Marian typology, discourse analysis, the subject, metaphorology, and the symbolic order.
How does the author interpret the significance of the "proper name"?
The act of naming is interpreted as the crucial moment of the subject's entry into the symbolic order, acting as an inscription of mortality and a necessary, though fatal, step toward selfhood.
What does the "magic web" symbolize within this analysis?
The magic web is seen as an expression of the subject's dreaming state, which, when disrupted, reveals the "real" and necessitates the transition from pure image to symbolic meaning.
How is Lancelot's appearance contextualized?
Lancelot is described as a "positive presence" that exacerbates the disjunction between the Lady’s imaginary world and the symbolic landscape, functioning as the catalyst for her fall and subsequent transformation.
- Quote paper
- Dr. des. Robert Dennhardt (Author), 2002, Tennysons "The Lady of Shalott" and her nameless desire for the veiled unveiling , Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/68393
