"The greatest social difficulty in England today is the relationship between men and women" (NAEL, 1719). These words express awareness and the beginning of a change in the Victorian period. The role of the woman began its change throughout this period. Such changes seemed to only take place in the middle class. These changes caused many to question the role of the woman in society, thus the "woman question" evolved. The woman became less and less involved with the every day drudgeries and had more and more time on her hands. How women actually felt about this change is questionable, many took a middle ground that Walter Hougton said was "entirely characteristic of the time in its mediation between conservative and radical thinking" (349). This is where we find Tennyson. In "The Lady of Shalott" there are times where traditional womanly characteristics are present, and at the same time we see very liberal ideas expressed. Remember that the middle class woman's role is the one going through this transformation, and the primary focus of this "Woman Question". As a result of this new role we see a clash between traditional and radical thought, along with feelings of isolation, and questions of sexuality.
             The "traditional" roles of the woman as a wife and mother became increasingly more popular through the Victorian period, predominately in the middle class. Although this wasn't the only perception of women at the time the role of woman as "the submissive wife" (Hougton, 348) whose sole purpose was to please her lord and master is the best known. Coventry Patmore's poem "The Angel in the House" (NAEL, 1722) is a poem that focuses predominately on such traditional woman's duties. He feels that he gives woman a role in the home as a wife and mother, by "sing(ing) her worth as Maid and Wife"(NAEL, 1724). These two roles were usu...