Eve Of St Agnes Flashcards
treatment of female characters
- Angela: portrayed as weak/easily manipulated by Porphyro and therefore untrustworthy. It is she who allows him access to Madeline’s bedroom.
- Perhaps Angela feared for her safety or thought he was being honest/chivalric (in which case she is a victim of patriarchy).
- Madeline: potential tragic victim. She is arrested from her dream and imprisoned within the reality of Porpyhro’s making. Porphyro views her as a “full-blown rose” as his prize in his ‘quest’ for an ‘empty dress’ or vessel for his lust.
- alt 1: Porphyro’s ‘quest’ could be seen as a true pilgrimage for Madeline’s heart. She is still not in control of her fate, she is tragically destined (ironically unlike St Agnes) to have her body defiled by a man
nature of suffering
loss of identity:
- forces her out of castle and they become phantoms (loss of self)
- Madeline’s suffering/shatters her idealised version of love/ what she sees is real. Keats exploring dangers of being immersed into idealised version of love (imagination).
- Porphyro is shut out of the castle/ the forces of nature and family/ Keats’ imagery
aspects of tragedy
Tragic hero – Porphyro – his ambition was to steal Madeline from her dream/ reality
Arouses pity and fear – the two young lovers innocence is shattered
The inevitability of their relationship due to the social constraints placed on them
Porphyro is blind to the world around him/ the world of social struggle and power conflicts
Climax to resolution – typical tragic feature
Madline’s anagnorisis?
Madline’s misjudgement of his love for her upon awaking from this dream
Catharsis at the end as the lovers leave and journey into a world of their own making, the reader will feel cathartic at the thought.
tragic setting
The Eve of St Agnes – the gothic elements surrounding the myth/ legend
The supernatural elements of the poem
The enchantment/ mystical/
Arthurian legend – the Knight rescuing his damsel in distress from her misfortunes
The whole setting seems to be make-believe/ concocted/ fantastical because of the mythical backdrop of the Eve of St Agnes
tragic language
Continuous imagery of frost/ coldness – foreshadows the bitter end
Contrasts with the warmth of the castle
Intensifies the tragedy because it intensifies the blurred boundaries (real/ dream)
The choice of verbs enhance the inevitability of the demise of the tragic hero
‘Full-blown rose’ – Keats is constantly interplaying the world of romance with the real world – questing/ undermining the ‘love’ between P and M
Contrasting language – repeated oppositions heighten the tragedy because it shows the falseness of the make-believe world with that of reality.
tragic narrative
Only one narrator/ speaker? Although there is the dream and there is reality, whilst M is being transformed by the dream – the reality still remains the same because the narrator doesn’t change.
The narrator comes into the poem twice – the first time is when he is guiding the reader through the castle and the story as if he is conscience of himself as a narrator. In the second instance the reader is aware (196-197) – as if a narrative shift occurs and the reader isn’t the audience anymore but Porphyro is the audience. The narrator has become subject to the dream (Is Keats the narrator?). Has he become lost in his own poem.
Irony – Keats becomes lost in his own dream/ imagination?
“She danced along with vague regardless eyes” - line 67 (Madeline)
theme: innocence, naivety
devices: active verb
AO2: “danced” is interesting because dancing tends to be something intricate and yet she seems very distant and unfocused. This can give the reader the idea that Madeline is open to deception, unable to focus on the present moment, she cannot diverge dreams from reality
AO3: Women were expected to stay isolated from others when they were virgins, so her isolation is typical of the period
AO4: “Vague regardless eyes” Madeline is in a dream-like state, even before she went into a trance. This is similar to the knight in ‘La Belle Dame..’ who is seen ‘loitering’ and there is a sense of vulnerability and ability to deceive.
AO5: Madeline follows the stereotype of females being passive and pure.
“Trembling in her soft and chilly nest” - line 242 (Madeline)
theme: vulnerability, delicacy, innocence
devices: bird imagery, active verb
AO2: imagery of Madeline as a nesting bird makes her seem sympathetic and motherly. Active verb “trembling” shows her as delicate and quite vulnerable.
alt 1: it can also make her seem rather dependant in the confinement of her room and under the provision of Angela.
alt 2: idea of Madeline as a ‘prey’ and Porphyro as the ‘predator’
AO3: Women at this time were expected to keep themselves pure until they fulfilled what society saw as only role they could perform - childcare and domestic duties.
AO4: tragic theme here is innocence, because there is a possibility that this could be spoilt by Porphyro.
AO5: Again, Madeline fits the stereotype of female character at this time - maternal, pure and weak
“the blisses of her dream so pure and deep” - line 310 (Madeline)
theme: virginity, purity
devices: repetition
AO2: repeating word “pure” portrays Madeline as virginal and innocent, and “blisses” implies a thoughtless state of helplessness.
AO3: repetition of idea that woman should be “pure” before marriage (held in medieval period)
AO4: tragic theme of dreams is directly referenced here. Adjective “deep” expresses dangers associated with dreams like this. Links to ‘the latest dream I ever dreamt’ in ‘La Belle Dame…’
AO5: Women were displayed as emotionally weak and perhaps more susceptive to dreams.
Porphyro
- fallen in love with Madeline, a girl from a family who hates him.
- represents idea of forbidden love, corruption, innocence
- links to tragedy: corruption of innocence, unaccepted by her family, leads Madeline to unknown fate
- passionate, deceptive, manipulative, brave/crazy, in love
“For him those chambers held barbarian hordes, Hyena foemen, and hot blooded lords” - line 89/90
theme: bravery
devices: semantic field of evil
- AO2: words “barbarian hordes” and “hot blooded Lords” suggest violence and impress Porphyro’s bravery on reader.
- AO3: Medieval romantic tales would have been full of brave heroes facing overwhelming odds, so his character keeps with archetype.
- AO4: bravery also follows tragic theme of passion and hubris, it can be argued that he is foolish to put himself in danger.
- AO5: This positive imagery of bravery seems to go against the idea that he could be a lunatic for attempting such an act
“Or I will, even in a moment’s space, awake, with horrid shout, foeman’s ears” - line 155/156
theme: manipulation
devices: e.clause, manipulative phrases
AO2: “horrid shout” designed to frighten Angela + shows his manipulative side.
- e.clause can typically show entrapment or a sense of control. Perhaps this structurally shows his manipulative side and how he is able to persuade Angela and control the outcome. Tragically his manipulative quality puts him in further danger by entering the castle and having to escape “into the storm” with Madeline.
AO3: reaction by Porphyro could be interpreted as false, but otherwise goes against typical chivalric values of medieval heroes
AO4: He shows his manipulative qualities here when he threatens to kill himself if Angela doesn’t comply
Ao5: portrays him in more negative image + adheres to theory that he is predatory and possibly a villain
“and there hide him in a closet, of such privacy that he might see her beauty unespied” -line 169-171
themes: deceit, passion
devices:
AO2: “unespied” makes Porphyro seem sneaky and negative, there is almost a criminal quality about his character. Tragically, criminals are punished in the end and he “slept among the ashes cold”
AO3: goes against archetype of romantic medieval hero because it portrays Porphyro in negative light.
AO4: highlights tragic themes of passion and deceit as Porphyro is doing this to get his own way
AO5: view of Porphyro as predatory and untrustworthy is supported in this passage.
“And win perhaps that night a peerless bride”
themes; patriarchy, womanhood and sexuality, objectification.
- verb “win” indicates Porphyro as a symbol of patriarchy, entrapping Madeline as his wife to be “won” rather than as an equal as lovers. The fact he wants “peerless” bride suggests his superficial reasoning for his admiration of Madeline based fully on her physical appearance. More interpretative point could be that “peerless” could mean that he does not want a bride who can “peer”, ergo see his evil in taking her innocence.
alt: “peer” can also reference friends and aquantainces. The danger is that Porphyro wants to isolate Madeline so he is at the centre of both her imagination and reality.
AO3: Contextually, this may link to the all-consuming nature of love that Keats thought would distract him from his art. Perhaps Keats’ similarity to Madeline being peerless, could express the idea that he is vulnerable to his own desire to love Fanny Brawne.
AO4: theme of patriarchy dwells in all 4 of the selected Keats poems from the Knight putting a ‘garland’ on the ‘Faery’ (symbolising marriage), to Lycius’ ‘eyes’ ‘scoop[ing]’ ‘her beauty up’.
