The two works "The Lady of Shalott" by Alfred Lord Tennyson and " Angela Carter's "The Bloody Chamber" involves female artists as main characters - The Lady of Shalott weaves artful, colorful webs and the narrator of "The Bloody Chamber" is a talented pianist - making them prime candidates for the comparison. In Tennyson's poem, communication breaks down between reality and art, as evidenced by the mediation of the Lady's mirror. In Carter's story, there seems to be a more exclusive relationship between reality and art, as evidenced by the blind piano tuner who ultimately becomes the narrator's savior. The change in art's relationship with reality, from communication failure to communication success, in these two works reflects the different attitudes of Victorian and postmodernist writers toward language and communication. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get the original essay In Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott," the Lady knows she is cursed and must not "despise Camelot" ( 41), but “she does not know what the curse could be” (42). That is, the Lady is unsure of what exactly the curse entails and therefore witnesses the events of the city through a mediated source - a mirror - and is never fully able to witness the reality. The Lady abides by the curse's vague regulations, avoids looking directly at the scene beneath her window, and weaves her webs while watching the scenes unfold through the mirror. Communication is broken here between the Lady of Shalott and reality; his work only represents “shadows” of reality (48). The mirror through which the Lady views life and reality robs the events and people she sees of their authenticity and tangibility, leaving the Lady with mere silhouettes, fabrications of the real world. This form of pseudo-reality leaves the Lady discontented and unsatisfied, to the point where she says, "'I'm half sick of shadows'" (71). The Lady of Shalott realizes this breakdown in communication and grows weary of her false reality, longing for the real picture of life that opens outside her window. The Lady is the ultimate Victorian figure, sequestered in her solitary tower, completely inaccessible and tragically cursed never to fully glimpse the life that thrives around her. She is the embodiment of the Victorian woman, and her works, which require a breakdown in communication, are the embodiment of Victorian art. If the Lady is meant to represent the artist, we see how mediated reality affects works of art. The “web” that the Lady “weaves” (64-5-65) is the result of her work, but does not constitute the totality of her art. The mirror plays a particularly important role in the relay from object to subject, from reality to art. In other words, the mirror – an inherent source of communication breakdown – is an integral part of an artist's work. For the Victorian artist, this break in communication is necessary to allow the presence of the public or the spectator. The very nature of art is the mediation of reality; that is, art is art because it is not reality, but rather a representation of it. Art is the subject, not the object. There is room and even requirement for interpretation. The audience becomes the most important aspect of a work of art because it reconciles this breakdown in communication. When we examine a work of art, something is repaired: the work of art acquires its essence because the viewer projects meaning or significance.To say that the work of art is intrinsically meaningful negates the position of the viewer. That is, art requires the viewer to reconcile the breakdown in communication that occurs between reality and representation, because it cannot do so in itself. Victorian art raises the question: if a tree falls in the middle of the woods with no one around, will it make a sound? Based on the Lady's work and the case of a communication breakdown which, in turn, requires a spectator, the answer to the above question would be no. This relationship between art and its audience then leads us to reconsider the relationship of the Lady of Shalott with her own work of art - her paintings. - and what role the breakdown in communication plays in her destiny, as well as that of the Victorian artist. The Lady is its only audience, making the cycle of reality, mediation, art and audience internal and self-sufficient. There is no room for interpretation because the only audience for the work of art is its creator himself. In this sense, the work of the Lady of Shalott fails because it fails to alleviate the necessary breakdown in communication on which art relies; that is, the audience has no agency because the only audience for the work of art, in this case, is the artist herself. Once the Lady of Shalott breaks the rule of mediation, however, the curse of mortality falls upon her and she eventually dies, although only then does her work leave the unyielding loom, freed from predetermination and eligible to be fully interpreted through the previously absent breakdown of communication. As the Lady of Shalott sees Lancelot moving through her mirror, she leaves the web and the loom behind to look out the window and glimpse reality. In doing so, the Lady disrupts her loom and her work of art: “the canvas flew away and floated far away; / the mirror cracked from one side to the other” (114-115). By disobeying the mandates of her curse and the constraints of her work, the Lady unconsciously releases her art, letting it “fly” and “float wide”. Furthermore, the mirror, the source of mediation, cracks and is destroyed because such mediation is no longer necessary. The Lady is no longer linked to her art and her paintings are free to interpret; they are no longer objects but subjects and have transformed into true art because, finally, they allow the breakdown of communication to facilitate subjectivity and interpretation. It was only when the paintings were freed from their creator—until they were subjected to a breakdown in communication—that they could fully realize their true potential as art. The utility and status of communication in "The Bloody Room" is very different from the breakdown in communication that occurs in "The Lady of Shalott", although he maintains the same kind of strident adherence to the statuses of his genre – postmodern. In Carter's short story, the art of the narrator, a talented pianist, communicates clearly and effectively to her future lover, a blind piano tuner. While the piano tuner's disability should limit the power and action of art, making communication nearly impossible and, therefore, leading to a breakdown in communication, the narrator's power of art makes the communication possible, even unstoppable. In her new husband's house, the naive narrator of "The Bloody Chamber" sits down to play her own piano and discovers that "only a series of subtle discords flowed beneath [her] fingers" (16). The narrator goes on to say that the piano is “only a little out of tune,” but that she was “lucky enough to have a perfect pitch and could no longer bear to play” (16). While the Lady ofShalott works hard in her tower, limited and obedient to the curse that restricts both her and her art and, therefore, adapting her art to reality, Carter's narrator adapts reality to her art, thus making possible a successful communication. By hiring a piano tuner, even though "sea breezes are bad for pianos" (16), the narrator adapts reality to her art and, as a result, meets her future lover, the piano tuner, who eventually serving as an example of how successful communication through art can be. After hearing the narrator play, Jean-Yves, the blind piano tuner, falls in love with her art and with her. We know that Carter's narrator is a naive young virgin and that her heart is playful, but pure. His art successfully communicates its virtue to the piano tuner, and there is no breakdown in communication that occurs, but rather a direct transfer of meaning from the artist to the audience. The breakdown in communication in “The Lady of Shalott” was necessary because of the artistic medium – canvases or weavings – and the ideals of Victorian literature: unattainable goals and external inspirations. The successful communication in “The Bloody Chamber” is partly due to this art form – music – but also to the ideals of postmodernist literature: that, taken literally, art is perhaps the only true form of communication because it defies everything. laws of traditional values. After Carter's narrator witnesses the brutality of her new husband, she returns to her place of solace – her piano room – where Jean-Yves listens to her playing. He tells the narrator of his love for her art, flattering her : “When I heard you play this afternoon, I thought I had never heard such a touch. Such a technique. A treat for me, to hear a virtuoso! (32). He knows that she is distraught after finding the room bloody and "a certain intuition [tells him that the narrator] could not sleep and could perhaps spend sleepless hours at [his] piano" (31). In a time of confusion and turmoil, Jean-Yves assumes that the narrator will resort to the clarity and effectiveness of her art because the certainty and security it provides are attractive. Narrator art clearly and fluently communicates the artist's intentions and attitudes. It is not a simple reflection of reality, as is the case in the paintings of “The Lady of Shalott”, but rather a creation of reality. Art has much more agency and effectiveness in communication in postmodernist literature, as seen in “The Bloody Chamber,” than in Victorian literature. In both texts, however, the art and resulting forms of communication, or lack thereof, are not intended for a specific audience. Both Shalott's Lady and Carter's narrator perform their artistic tasks for themselves, but Carter's narrator's artwork manages to successfully, albeit unintentionally, communicate to his audience—his true love. As her murderous husband prepares to decapitate her, Jean-Yves stands by the narrator, knowing he can do nothing to save her, but willing to risk his life for her. Their connection is the serious and successful communication that developed from the narrator's works. The success of communication is clearly manifested in the fate of both women. The Lady of Shalott, whose work suffers from a cycle of interrupted and incomplete communication, dies in a boat that slowly floats toward the man she loves. The narrator of “The Bloody Chamber,” however, survives her murderous husband thanks to the successful nature of her communication. Unknowingly, but effectively, she uses her work of art – her music – to connect with Jean-Yves, who..