Each of us lives partly in a world of make-believe, much of it inherited from our families and our cultures. What happens when it is challenged or we choose to discard it? Reflect on this question in light of Tennyson's poem "The Lady of Shalott." Your answer should be at least 250 words.

There is a Lady of Shalott in most of us. From the moment we start understanding our parents we believe they will always protect us, be there for us, be our heroes in moments of pain. In most families the parents provide the children with food, clothes, a place to live comfortably and also give love and affection.

The thing is that we grow up and see the world with our own eyes, not with the eyes of our mum and dad. We simply begin to question their life lessons and want to live our own experiences without the halo of this past protection we were so sure of.

Remembering nothing that we were taught we try to face the world with our conceptions, our rebelions and our creations. Out of defiance againt the adult and may be the old world, we search for something new and in most cases we get hurt. Becoming adults, we find someone to love and raise our own families. That is the moment we truly understand our parents.

In the poem The Lady of Shalott leads a solitary life, unchallenged, weaving her magic web. The moment she stops, she gazes down at the real existing world, she is doomed.

The make believe world our parents, culture or traditions provide is meant to act as a shield, yes, but also to give us someone or something to turn to when we are in moments of pain. That way we have an opportunity not to end up as The lady of Shalott.