Walter Crane’s painting “The Lady of Shalott” depicts a scene from the 19th-century English poet Lord Alfred Tennyson’s 1832 lyrical ballad of the same title, which was inspired by the 13th-century Italian short prose text La Damigella di Scalot, which tells the story of Elaine of Astolat, the woman who is lying on the boat, dead but appearing as if in a peaceful slumber.
In Arthurian legend, Elaine dies of heartbreak in ten days after being rejected by Sir Lancelot. After Elaine’s death, her family follows her will, which she left in a letter. In her letter, Elaine requested her family to dress her in white and place her body in a boat, as portrayed in the painting, with a lily (hence why Elaine is also sometimes referred to as the Lily Maid), a flower commonly associated with death in Anglo culture, but also a symbol of purity and innocence along with the colour white, and a letter declaring her love for Sir Lancelot. The boat floats down the Thames to Camelot to King Arthur’s court. Upon discovering Elaine’s unrequited love for him as declared in the letter, Sir Lancelot expresses his regret and pays for a lavish burial for her.
The painting depicts Elaine laying on a boat, supposedly after her death, afloat on the river of Camelot; a request she had asked for from her family. In her hand stays a singular white lily, associated with death and purity, and a love letter to sir Lancelot, professing her unrequited love for him.
