Great Regulars: For decades, the poem has been the target

of boring, moralizing censure from academics, who claim that The Lady of Shalott merely illustrates a Victorian hatred of women. Yet the poem cannot be dismissed so easily. Its central theme is the conflict between freedom and fate; a theme we find in literature as early as Greek and Roman tragedy, and which erupts in Shakespearean drama. "The Lady of Shalott" is a worthy successor to Oedipus and to Hamlet, a figure of endless fascination who expresses a universal, unresolvable, human dilemma.

from Christopher Nield: The Epoch Times: The Antidote--Classic Poetry for Modern Life: A Reading from 'The Lady of Shalott' by Tennyson

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