Gray is a color that surrounds us. It is a color that overrides our moments of beautifully, mesmerizing auroras that appear with each moment of jollity. It is the color of the burden we bear, the duty that humanity is called to fulfill. In his poem“ The Lady of Shalott,” Lord Tennyson takes this belief and crafts it into a philosophy that states each person is born onto this earth gifted or cursed with this gray we recognize as duty to fulfill. When, however, brilliant shots of vibrancy pass through the gloom, one must decide whether this duty is worth the price of one’ s happiness which stands out with myriads of color. He then poses this question- if it is, then at what risk is a person willing to chase these streaks of tincture? Lord Tennyson utilizes the main character as an example of this theory. Just as we are born into the gray, the Lady is first described as being surrounded by four gray walls, never to leave. She is bound to her duty, spinning and fashioning the magical web she sits in front of, much like we are coerced to play roles in life, fulfilling the plans Fate has prearranged. With the ever repeating phrase of Camelot, a reader learns her desire to be seen, to be heard, to be a part of the color that she is barred from, much like how humanity’ s own desires are heard through calls of peace and cries of war. As Sir Lancelot, the knight she desires, passes, she comes to a decision. Although she does not know what lies ahead of her or at what cost abandoning her duty may bring, she leaves the prison of gray she is surrounded by, chasing after the opportunity that is pulsing with