Eve of St.Agnes Flashcards
Who is St.Agnes?
a patron saint of young virgins who vowed that her body would be consecrated to Christ and rejected all suitors.
Who is the ageing nurse?
Angela
Porphyro plays her lute and arouses her from her dreams of him into a state between sleeping and walking in which she confesses her love; at this point “_________________________.”
Into her dreams he melted
What is the poem primarily notable for?
its elaborate pictorial and musical effects
Its wealth of description mean that,like ‘Isabella,’ the poem became a favourite with the Pre-_________ artists of the 19th century?
Raphelite
Keats use of the Spenserian stanza formally encourages the tendency towards..?
towards descriptiveness
What style of Stanza formally encourages a tendency towards descriptiveness?
Spenserian
The Spenserian stanza, containing 8 lines of iambic pentameter and a final alexandrine, does not require the kind of compression associated with the ______ _______ Keats used in Isabella. Nevertheless as a self contained unit, it encourages the creation of tableaux. (motionless story)
ottava rima
The Spenserian stanza, containing 8 lines of iambic pentameter and a final alexandrine, does not require the kind of compression associated with the ottava rima Keats used in Isabella. Nevertheless as a self contained unit, it encourages the creation of tableaux, how?
through its wealth of description and its notable pictorial and musical effects
As well as the poems notable eleborate pictorial and musical effects, what is the poem also notable for?
its varied and sensual imagery and synaesthetic richness
Many images in the poem function to suggest opposition and to set up boundaries:the cold outside for example is set against the warmth within, the noise and revelry of the feasters in the castle against the calm and quiet of Madelines room, and the snarling trumpets against what?
the tender chords of the lute
The poem has also been much admired for its dramatic immediacy. How is this partly achieved?
by the way the tense fluctuates between past and present, which also acts as another opposition set up
In what stanza is there a movement from past to present when the narrator, reflecting a sense of rising excitement, turns straight from description to address the concealed Porhphyro, atelier him to the arrival of Madeline?
stanza 22
Why is there a sense of haste and urgency when the young lovers escape?
as the narrator returns to the present tense
Why does the narrator use the present tense to build up the sensual immediacy of Porphyro and Madeline?
as this has the effect of the present and ever lasting love between the two young lovers that exists in the fluidity of the dream state
What might be the reason for the last stanza?
to puncture the world of make believe which is heightened by the narrators scepticism of the love between the young lovers throughout.
Thematically the poem can be seen as structured around a series of oppositions and one of the most central to these is this opposition between dream and reality.What quote is an example of how they are living in a dream world?
as in this world a rose may shut and “be a bud again”
Thematically the poem can be seen as structured around a series of oppositions and one of the most central to these is this opposition between dream and reality, a world where a rose may shut and “be a bud again.” However we are reminded throughout that they actually live in a word where roses can wither and die. If their love is to be validated, what must they do?
they must leave the protection of the warm and magical dream room and go out to face the storm.
How is there a great deal of evidence to suggest that the association of Porphyro with dreams is problematic from the start?
as Madeline desires a vision of her lover and a dream of consummation whereas Porphyro desires to gaze upon the actual form of Madeline and perhaps even to experience a physical consummation .
How can the poem be seen as an ironic critique of idealistic young love?
as Porphyro’s intentions are debatebl; does he wish to seduce her or love her?
What quote suggests Porphyro wants to just seduce Madeline?
as a thought comes to him “like a full-blown rose”
no longer a bud
IN an influential say entitled “The ____________ ___ ___________” Strillinger argues that Porphyro gains Madelines bed only by a stratagem.
Hoodwinking of Madeline
IN an influential essay entitled “The Hoodwinking of Madeline” who argues that Porphyro gains Madelines bed only by a stratagem?
Strillinger
If Porphyro is bent on seduciton from the start that Porphyro is a villain as much as hero; while Madeline is what?
the deluded victim
Such a reading of the poem as Porphyro being a billion emphasises the latent ironies and presents is as a sceptical ___________>
anti-romance
What is it possible to suggest is Porphyro’s intentions (pure)?
that he only intended to awaken her in order to ensure, in accordance with the legend, that he will become her husband; and thus melts “into her dream” as Keats delicately describes
If he only intended to awaken her in order to ensure, in accordance with the legend, that he will become her husband; and thus melts “into her dream” as Keats delicately describes what can be affirmed?
the powers of romance and imagination
