Tennyson's Lady of Shalot is the story of a woman who lives in a tower, cursed to never leave her tower and look down on the outside world . It's almost like Rapunzel, a girl locked in her tower, separated from the outside world by a curse or an evil witch, until a handsome young knight stumbles into her tower, changing her life forever. Depending on which version of Rapunzel you read, however, it has a much happier ending than Tennyson's work. While Rapunzel leaves her tower under duress, she ultimately ends up with the prince and lives happily ever after. The Lady, on the other hand, makes the only serious decision she has ever made in her life, the decision to leave her sheltered room and venture out into the vastness somewhere, all the way to enchanted Camelot. The result is that he cannot even make it to shore, but floats with disinterest and acceptance towards death, singing his song, in the boat that bears his unique identifier. The lady in the tower has almost no power over her own life. Tennyson never presents his audience with even a name for her. In a time when naming things is considered one of the most important things about a character, we are introduced to a woman known only as The Lady, or even just She. This person is a woman who can be summed up in a pronoun and nothing more, a simple word that leaves so much to the imagination. Nothing is known about the woman's life. She lives to weave and really wants to get out and explore. How did the Lady get into that tower? was she born there? Who is his family or does he have one? There are so many questions surrounding this woman and there are never any answers. What exactly was Tennyson trying to portray with him... middle of paper... and thinking about England for the rest of his life. Or, and this is a big deal, he can run away. He has the fortitude to know that there is something outside the stone walls of his finishing school and he knows that he must get there, no matter the cost. Tennyson would have loved this young woman to bits. He is strong, he is capable and everything that his lady of Shalot is not. The Lady of Shalot is the representation of a woman who, unsure of herself and dissatisfied with the fictitious life she leads, wants more, but does not understand what she wants and why she wants more. Tennyson wanted to show how women can fall under the spell of the tower and curse themselves into believing that they can keep their lives or die alone. A Great and Terrible Beauty is a modern, young adult version of Tennyson's work. It allows girls to see that they have options, and only because you are