John Keats
John Keats's poems, La Belle Dame sans Merci and, The Eve of St. Agnes, can be interpreted as having an evil and/or a good slant. Further, both poems have characters that are can be portrayed as the victim. Even though La Belle Dame sans Merci is easy to interpret as a love story gone wrong, the poem is also vague enough that the knight can be seen as the victim of the lady he is in love with. Due to the significant lack of content in The Eve of St. Agnes, Madeline can be seen as the victim of Porphyro. She is also the victim of her beliefs that she will really see her husband if she does everything according to superstition on the Eve. of St. Agnes. Each poem has fairytale imagery and they each have a victim of love or at least the hopeful thought of love. In Stanza V of The Eve of St. Agnes, Keats creates a dreamy atmosphere before we are even introduced to Madeline. He uses descriptive words such as, "With plume, tiara, and all rich array, Numerous as shadows haunting faerily". This is one reference that tells the reader that there are haunting shadows, which is a reference to a dreamy and unrealistic scene. Madeline is told that if she performs the ceremony and goes to bed without looking behind her, she will see her f
Keats describes her as anxiously awaiting and her "breathing quick and short" as if she believes beyond a shadow of a doubt that she will see her husband. Later, in Stanza XIV Angela states, "good angels her deceive!" The clues in the poem tell us that Madeline has no idea what's happening and therefore can be seen as the victim. When the lady takes him to her "elfin grot", she "lulled" him asleep and the knight drifts into a dream. However, further in the dream Keats describes the lady as singing a "faery's song", which alludes to the lack of reality. Due to her believing that this is really going to happen, Madeline follows through with the ritual. The knight is tricked into believing that the lady is genuine and she loves him back, yet all of the warning signs show that she may have tricked him. "Perhaps speak, kneel, touch, kiss-in sooth, such things have been?". Keats's brilliant descriptions reveal warning signs of the unrealistic scenery in both poems and therefore are seen as fairytales. In conclusion, both Madeline and the knight are victims of the thought of love. In Stanza IX Porphyro is seen as "Buttressed from moonlight, stands he, and implores". Her dreamy state can be seen as unrealistic and therefore make her susceptible to Porphyro who enters the room to see her dreaming on the bed.
Common topics in this essay:
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Stanzas VI,
Bella Dame,
St Agnes,
Agnes Keats,
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IX Porphyro,
XIV Angela,
XI Angela,
Madeline Madeline,
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dame sans merci,
lady love,
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warning signs,
belle dame sans,
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Acceptance Essays
