Someone once said that true love is only an illusion and can never be achieved. This is evidently shown through many elements of the poem by John Keats, “The Eve of St. Agnes.” Much of this poem is about the imagination and how it can blind people and make them oblivious to the true events that are occurring. We the readers can see this very easily through the portrayal of one of the main characters Madeline. The second main character Porphyro tries to authenticate her quest for a dream experience however ends up taking advantage of her while she thinks she is still dreaming. The poem does endorse how the power of Madeline’s visionary imagination can influence her and the others around her, but also that happenings outside of the …show more content…
It is supposed to be a mystical night in which young women have dreams of their one true love. Madeline takes this to a totally different level in that she totally succumbs to the mystical ability of the night and totally loses her mind. In that she doesn’t even know if she is still dreaming or if she is wake. Some interpretations of the poem say that she is wake and know what she is doing. However, I believe the contrary that she doesn’t know what she is doing. “Hoodwink’d with faery fancy.” (70) Most of what she does is due to the mystical feeling the night causes. A mind can play may tricks and the mind can make it so that it has no concept of time or whether it is wake or still dreaming. One of the few times in the book that she sort of knows that she is wake is when Porphyro enter her room and tries to wake her as gently as possible in that she never truly wakes up and remains in a dream like state. He awakes her very softly, “He play’d an ancient ditty, long since mute, /In Provence call’d ‘La belle dame sans mercy.’”(291-292) I find this to be quite odd because this poem is about hoodwinking. Why would he do this to wake her sleeping? If you are hoodwinking someone you are trying to dupe, trick or fool them and the only way that Porphyro can do this is to keep her in a dream like state. This very softly and sweetly awakens her and now “Her eyes were open, but she still beheld, …show more content…
What does come across is that the dream world can be spoiled by one very determined, conniving man, who will stop at nothing to try and get what he wants. That is a sexual experience with that he would probably nor normally have any chance at during normal times. So he has to trick her into doing something on a night to which she seem to have no control over, on one of the most mystical night of them all. The only reason that I can think of that she goes away with him at the end is not because she truly love him, but that she is starting to realize what she did. Now the only honorable thing to do is go away with him so that she doesn’t dishonor anyone. This is kind of ironic because it was the dishonor of Porphyro, which caused all this, and yet she is doing the honorable
Her "certain and low indefinite sounds which came, through thunderstorm"(320).Madeline is desperately crying for help. She longs for the only company she has ever had. Yet " she remained trembling and reeling to and fro upon the threshhold- then with a low moaning" (324). Once she leaves her completely vacant room it is apparent she fears dying alone. The effects of vacancy are now visible through her actions. She reflects the poem Roderick was being read in the way she can "Laugh - smile no more" (318). She has lost most of her human emotions. She is mostly apathetic, excluding the fright of dying by herself. Her mostly desolate life to her completely deserted wife was her cause of
Every action made in A Midsummer Night’s Dream revolves around the idea of love. It is a concept which few people can understand because of the extremity a person can go through to go after their love. “Lovers and madmen have such seething brains, such shaping fantasies that apprehend more than cool reason ever comprehends.” Lovers see the world in a way which everyday people cannot comprehend. The idea of love leads to them making irrational choices which may seem
Readers of Keats’ poetry have long spoken of the enchanting power of his language, and in one of his most famous works, “The Eve of St. Agnes”; the reader is positively enchanted by the protagonist, Madeline. She’s pure, virginal, positively otherworldly, and “seem’d a splendid angel, newly drest” (Keats 77). Madeline also displays trappings of religious symbols throughout the work. She is called a “Mission’d spirit and a “seraph fair” (Keats 72-3). The reader could scarcely read the poem without immediately associating Madeline with the most divine cherubs in Heaven. Her virginity is repeatedly mentioned and referenced; even her room, or the maiden’s chamber, is “silken, hush’d, and chaste” (Keats 76). Young Porphyro with “heart on fire” for Madeline simply couldn’t resist this angel (Keats 71). One might connect that, similarly, young John Keats could not resist his own angel, Fanny Brawne. At the time of the composition of “The Eve of St. Agnes” Keats was heavy in the thralls of his engagement to Fanny. In her book, John Keats: The Making of a Poet, Aileen Ward proclaims “The Eve of St. Agnes” to be "the first confident flush of [Keats's] love for Fanny Brawne" (Ward 310). However, if Madeline is meant to be a manifestation of Fanny Brawne, Keats must not think of his fiancé as merely an angel, but something more.
The tales were rediscovered around 1880 inspiring the Irish literary revival in romantic fiction by writers such as Lady Augusta Gregory and the poetry and dramatic works of W.B. Yeats. These works wer...
Love is a powerful emotion, capable of turning reasonable people into fools. Out of love, ridiculous emotions arise, like jealousy and desperation. Love can shield us from the truth, narrowing a perspective to solely what the lover wants to see. Though beautiful and inspiring when requited, a love unreturned can be devastating and maddening. In his play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare comically explores the flaws and suffering of lovers. Four young Athenians: Demetrius, Lysander, Hermia, and Helena, are confronted by love’s challenge, one that becomes increasingly difficult with the interference of the fairy world. Through specific word choice and word order, a struggle between lovers is revealed throughout the play. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare uses descriptive diction to emphasize the impact love has on reality and one’s own rationality, and how society’s desperate pursuit to find love can turn even strong individuals into fools.
In "A Midsummer Night's Dream," William Shakespeare explains the difficulties of the nature of love. Both false love and true love prevail in the end, leading the reader to come to the conclusion that all types of love can triumph. Hermia and Lysander represent the existence of a "true love", while Helena and Demertrius represent the opposite extreme. Shakespeare presents the idea that love is unpredictable and can cause great confusion. Love is something that cannot be explained, it can only be experienced. Shakespeare challenges us to develop our own idea of what love truly is.
Love plays a very significant role in this Shakespearian comedy, as it is the driving force of the play: Hermia and Lysander’s forbidden love and their choice to flee Athens is what sets the plot into motion. Love is also what drives many of the characters, and through readers’ perspectives, their actions may seem strange, even comical to us: from Helena pursuing Demetrius and risking her reputation, to fairy queen Titania falling in love with Bottom. However, all these things are done out of love. In conclusion, A Midsummer Night’s Dream displays the blindness of love and how it greatly contradicts with reason.
There does not appear to be the real life idea that love is tremendously demanding and that you may have to endure multiple hardships that you may or may not overcome. For a majority of Marie’s lais, the characters seem oblivious to the problems that surround them. In addition, with magic being prevalent, the story loses the factual connection the reader may have with real life. While the magic makes the story interesting, it is hard for a reader to be connected to the stories because they are not relatable in love or ordinary life. Marie is truly a romantic and misses the knowledge that real and true relationships take work. Since magic is not present to assist when difficulties emerge, I believe that in Marie’s lais, she creates more of a fairytale, or a picturesque love. I reason that by highlighting the ideas of love the plots in The Lais of Marie de France, I have shown that while Marie’s lais endure complications in love and overcomes them to live a happily ever after, the whole idea of Marie’s love plots seem unlikely and not relatable to the real life impression of
While true love is treasured when achieved, its rarity can be attributed to the multitude of obstacles lovers must face. Couples often have trouble expressing their love for one another or may face challenges within the marriages. Whether it be disagreements, affection of surroundings, friendships lost, or jealousy, the quest for true love has its consequences. This concept is expressed several times in A Midsummer’s Night Dream, in the cases of many of the lovers. However, it can be argued that although complications ensue, true love is worth a life of trouble.
Keats, John. “The Eve of St. Agnes”. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Romantic
In Perrault’s “The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods”, love is a general theme. With a prince finding his princess, the two of them are bound to the lies that come with the choice of their young love. However, this love grows a prince into a king and a princess into a queen. Love sometimes also involves parental involvement. Love is so big sometimes that is seconds as blinders. Being a different type of mother, the former queen has always been seen as a normal person. But, she loses sight of the love she has for her son until a tragic and horrific scene reminds her of what love really is. Through Perrault’s idealistic view, he reminds his audience that love conquers all things.
“Keats, John - La belle dame sans merci - a ballad” 2001, April 1st 2011
In a Midsummer Night’s Dream, many different views of love are portrayed in the play. Characters fight, quarrel and are caught in the midst of arguments. Hermia, an adamant and rebellious girl is in love with Ly...
Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1998. Reidhead, Julia, ed., pp. 113-117. Norton Anthology of English Literature, vol. 7, 2nd ed.
This poem that I am going to be focusing on is titled "Ode to Autumn",