Heideggerian Authenticity toward Peace: The Lady of Shalott’s Unfortunate Death as an Example for Maintaining Peace in the Contemporary Society

Heideggerian Authenticity toward Peace: The Lady of Shalott’s Unfortunate Death as an Example for Maintaining Peace in the Contemporary Society That the suppression of individuality is an inevitable result of the modern society is undeniable. The complicated world of modernity necessitates ideological manipulation of the individuals so as to maintain the stability of the communities. While the maintenance of the socio-political system of the societies is closely related to the deliberate handling of each social member, the authentic selves of individuals are doomed to be sacrificed for the sake of communal integration. As an apt philosophical theory attributed to the mentioned existential crisis, Heideggerian existentialist notion of authenticity corroborates the social manifestation of the individual’s authentic self amidst cultural inculcations. The enchanting poem of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s The Lady of Shalott illustrates the prevalence of Heideggerian inauthenticity within an imaginary medieval context; while the lady’s vivid projection of Heideggerian authenticity results in her annihilation, this study hopes to bestow the possibility of harmony between the authentic self of the female figures and the inauthentic social impositions; through the critical analysis of the poem, one can create a peaceful connection between the nature of the self and the culture of the society. By considering both the values of femininity and the essentiality of cultural codes, this article aims to establish peace despite socio-political pressure.