isabella Flashcards
Enriched from ancestral merchandise
the brothers first introduction in the poem there is a pivot, a dramatic tone introduced
they have generational wealth
brothers are characterised by their greed and cruelty, wealth is the driving force for their actions (the reason they kill Lorenzo because he is not of a high enough class for them and won’t have any benefit to them materialistically)
Keats doesn’t characterise them as individuals, he characterises them through ideology ‘they are industrialists and this is what happens when industrialists are in charge’ –> message against industrialists, written near the industrial revolution so contextually relevant
servant
this is how the brothers see Lorenzo
only in terms of his wealth/class
there was Lorenzo slain and buried in
Lorenzo’s murder is said in one line despite the whole poem being about him
example of narratological vision; the deliberate leaving out of detail so that we don’t get an idea of the suffering Lorenzo went to or gain an attachment to him
it is meant to serve as an act of pity rather than an act of horror
instead the murder acts as a catalyst for the emotional suffering of the forlorn Isabella
pale shadow, a vision, moaned a ghostly under-song
the way Lorenzo’s appearance is described reflects the tragic nature of his death, contrasts to how he was described at the beginning of the poem
in an entirely different realm to Isabella but they are still emotionally connected
Lorenzo’s afterlife is described more than his death, he is an unsettled spirit
perhaps relevant to how there is no resolution for the poor; it is a never ending cycle in which people are trapped in
semantic field of gothic imagery, perhaps to represent the horrors of love? The psychological distress that Isabella experiences is also a gothic motive
a brother’s bloody knife
powerful alliteration that emphasises the realisation that Isabella comes to when she finds that her own blood has betrayed her
anagnorisis; the principle character discovers another characters true nature/identity
this is the turning point for isbella, it represents a pivot from sadness into utter depression and insanity
sweet Isabel, will die
Keats addresses the reader and emphasises the need for pity here for Isabel, but prevents her death coming as a shock to us in the final stanza
Isabella is initially a story for the common people in reality, but her decline and eventual reduction of identity, permit Isabella to becoming a tragic hero through her blindness and succumbing to love
Isabel had to go through Lorenzo dying twice, has to go through the pain of her brothers actions twice
symbolises how people will pursue their own greed even if it causes immense amounts of suffering
Keats saying that love is a problem- it can ultimately consume us and become our entire identity (same with La Belle dame sans Merci)
why were they proud?
anaphora- repetition of the question four times for a specific effect - so that we really understand that there is no justifiable answer
the first few times Keats himself answers the question (hypophora)
the answers he gives are purely materialistic
money has overwhelmed the world art, poetry, song
they have an excessive pride which makes them sinful
the final time he asks the question we don’t a response - the reason we don’t get a satisfactory response is because their proudness shouldn’t be glorified, Keats is trying to prove how their greed is unjustifiable –> they are being villainised
were they unhappy then? - it cannot be -
authorial intrusion from Keat- he addresses the audience and the original author of the poem (Boccaccio’s Decameron, in which he aimed to alleviate the suffering of housewives by relating tales of escapism)
the caesura prevents the readers becoming too attached to Lorenzo and Isabella’s love, as it will so quickly be taken away
is Keats trying to separate his story from Boccaccio’s? perhaps he is to show that it is less a story of love than it is a story of the horrors of industrialism
narrative intrusion interjects the story and alerts the readers
with every morn their love grew tenderer
there’s a build up for a tragic downfall, and a sense that the idea of order is going to be disrupted (dramatic irony)
tragic because otherwise their love could have blossomed into something so powerful and emotive
language is used to heighten the sense of tragedy by describing how much they depend on one another
anaphora (repetition on the next line) shows how their love is growing each day
the stanza gives the reader the experience of synaesthasia, sensory experience of love itself through Keats imagery –> all indicate the consuming nature and overwhelming power of the love they have for each other
this foreshadows what makes the poem so tragic –> how love turns to obsession, also introduced when Isabel is told to have “fell sick” which shows her dependency on Lorenzo
as well as this the poem is set in the months of summer which indicates winter and darker days to come
young mother
infant
Isabella is compared to a young mother whilst Lorenzo is compared to an infant
Lorenzo contemplates his lovers superior social status
Lorenzo and Isabella are presented to us in the same manner as Keats other tabooed lovers
the male is in an inferior and infantilised position towards a higher status woman
at the time the poem was set, a medieval law was in place that meant that people could only marry from their social class
Lorenzo is aware of his lower social class which is why the lovers behaved clandestinely (secretly)
Lorenzo is aware of the barriers to marrying her because of her high social status and beauty
simple Isabel
an essential feature of the poem
Isabel is unexperienced and innocent, not meaning she is unintelligent
Keats himself said there was too much inexperience of life in the poem
but perhaps there is something to be said about this –> being nieve and in love is a state of blissful ignorance –> ignorance of the horrors to come
