Does anyone have any info on how the lady of shalott could have been a maiden/virgin?

Question

Does anyone have any info on how the lady of shalott could have been a maiden/virgin?

Answer 1

I've just had a look at the poem and the word "maiden" isn't mentioned at all.  As Tennyson created this poem himself and it is mysterious as to why this lady is doomed and the nature of the curse, I see no reason why this should not be the tale, for example, of a widow who has been locked away from the world to do penance.  This would, indeed, make her far more the traditional courtly lady who was inaccessible to her knight, as was Guinevere, by being the wife of another.

Answer 2

Given that she was mad, perhaps no one wanted her??? Check Cliff's notes for Mad woman of Chaillot.

Answer 3

When my ancestor, Gwangly first Earl of Peaseanham, went off to the Crusades he was accompanied by the Thane of Shallot, brother to the Lady. From their conversations it appears that the virtuous Lady always wore a chastity belt from the age of 8.

Answer 4

I always thought of her as not quite human.  She seemed to be a beautiful creature cursed with a terrible fate & in love with a human.