"Flashing into the crystal mirror" : the recurrence of the mirror motif in three Arthurian works

When constructing “The Lady of Shalott”, Tennyson resorts to the medieval atmosphere of King Arthur’s court to set a poem in which the development of the action is dictated by the pervasive force of a mirror. This object, which controls the Lady’s fate, is the one that rules the sense of...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lara Rallo, Carmen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad de Alicante 2004-11-01
Series:Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses
Online Access:https://raei.ua.es/article/view/2004-n17-flashing-into-the-crystal-mirror-the-recurrence-of-the-mirror-motif-in-three-arthurian-works
id doaj-242f303cb78b4b55913dc585826968d6
record_format Article
spelling doaj-242f303cb78b4b55913dc585826968d62020-11-25T03:54:40ZengUniversidad de AlicanteRevista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses0214-48082171-861X2004-11-011713910.14198/raei.2004.17.094647"Flashing into the crystal mirror" : the recurrence of the mirror motif in three Arthurian worksLara Rallo, Carmen When constructing “The Lady of Shalott”, Tennyson resorts to the medieval atmosphere of King Arthur’s court to set a poem in which the development of the action is dictated by the pervasive force of a mirror. This object, which controls the Lady’s fate, is the one that rules the sense of duality existing in the “The Lady of Shalott”. Indeed, the duplications and contrasts on which the poem is based emerge from the encounter of symmetrical and opposing forces face to face, precisely the type of encounter which lies at the heart of the process of refraction in a mirror. In this sense, the mirror in Tennyson’s poem could be seen not simply as a physical object, but above all as the expression of a motif characterised by the phenomenon of optical repetition and all the processes literally or metaphorically emerging from it. In conflating the Arthurian theme and the exploration of this motif, Tennyson is reviving a pattern which underlies, on different levels, two significant works of the medieval English Arthurian body: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Le Morte Darthur. While in Sir Gawain the mirror is the source of the symmetrical structure of the poem, the influence of the mirror motif in Le Morte appears under the form of a multi-shaped duality. The aim of this paper is to investigate the way in which the mirror motif recurs in these three Arthurian works.https://raei.ua.es/article/view/2004-n17-flashing-into-the-crystal-mirror-the-recurrence-of-the-mirror-motif-in-three-arthurian-works
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Lara Rallo, Carmen
spellingShingle Lara Rallo, Carmen
"Flashing into the crystal mirror" : the recurrence of the mirror motif in three Arthurian works
Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses
author_facet Lara Rallo, Carmen
author_sort Lara Rallo, Carmen
title "Flashing into the crystal mirror" : the recurrence of the mirror motif in three Arthurian works
title_short "Flashing into the crystal mirror" : the recurrence of the mirror motif in three Arthurian works
title_full "Flashing into the crystal mirror" : the recurrence of the mirror motif in three Arthurian works
title_fullStr "Flashing into the crystal mirror" : the recurrence of the mirror motif in three Arthurian works
title_full_unstemmed "Flashing into the crystal mirror" : the recurrence of the mirror motif in three Arthurian works
title_sort "flashing into the crystal mirror" : the recurrence of the mirror motif in three arthurian works
publisher Universidad de Alicante
series Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses
issn 0214-4808
2171-861X
publishDate 2004-11-01
description When constructing “The Lady of Shalott”, Tennyson resorts to the medieval atmosphere of King Arthur’s court to set a poem in which the development of the action is dictated by the pervasive force of a mirror. This object, which controls the Lady’s fate, is the one that rules the sense of duality existing in the “The Lady of Shalott”. Indeed, the duplications and contrasts on which the poem is based emerge from the encounter of symmetrical and opposing forces face to face, precisely the type of encounter which lies at the heart of the process of refraction in a mirror. In this sense, the mirror in Tennyson’s poem could be seen not simply as a physical object, but above all as the expression of a motif characterised by the phenomenon of optical repetition and all the processes literally or metaphorically emerging from it. In conflating the Arthurian theme and the exploration of this motif, Tennyson is reviving a pattern which underlies, on different levels, two significant works of the medieval English Arthurian body: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Le Morte Darthur. While in Sir Gawain the mirror is the source of the symmetrical structure of the poem, the influence of the mirror motif in Le Morte appears under the form of a multi-shaped duality. The aim of this paper is to investigate the way in which the mirror motif recurs in these three Arthurian works.
url https://raei.ua.es/article/view/2004-n17-flashing-into-the-crystal-mirror-the-recurrence-of-the-mirror-motif-in-three-arthurian-works
work_keys_str_mv AT lararallocarmen flashingintothecrystalmirrortherecurrenceofthemirrormotifinthreearthurianworks
_version_ 1724472323564634112