It seems odd to me that in an era marked in part by the resurgence of chivalry, that there be such a discrepancy on how to deal with the agency of women. The Lady of Shalot is left with the the task of weaving, using her mirror both for her work and to see the world. These things are distinctly feminine and all is well for her as long as she continues her "women's work". It is not until she leaves her work and the tower to serve her own purposes that she is is cast down and killed by the curse. Aside from whatever commentary this may have about creating art or industrialism, this acts a "lesson" for how women should behave, "If you leave your station in life this is what will happen to you".
In My Last Duchess, the women in question is held as a on the wall. The late duchess is his example of how he deals with women that won't obey or appreciate him. This is even more heavy handed because the duke directly takes the life of the duchess who leaves him. What's even more disparaging here is that the Duke is in the middle of dowry discussion, which shows that Duchess for him are easily replaced. His choice of art in the statue of Neptune taming a sea-horse simply furthers this.
The difference between the two views here on the agency of women, is that Browning's poem could be seen ostensibly as a way of bringing this negative view on female agency into light for criticism, while Tennyson seems to have simply used it as a metaphor. I don't know for certain what Tennyson's take on women's agency was, but the way he uses it here implies that he sees it as a fact of life. Even if one tries to see the Lady of Shalot as bringing the problem into light the way Duchess does it still seems just like a idea thrown in with everything else he wanted to say. Though this may just be a vented frustration of mine, to me it hardly seems to even call out chivalry's name.
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