Isabella Or The Pot Of Basil Flashcards
“Young ________ in ______ eye!”
Palmer
Loves
• in the exposition of the play readers are greeted with an allusion to shakespeares romantic tragedy, ‘Romeo and Juliet’. The parallel of this tragedy and Isabella’s enforces her and lorenzos fate, setting the tone that they will be seperated through the difference in political and social structure - just as Keats and Fanny brawne. Recognising the allusion to Romeo and Juliet invites readers to feel a sense of responsibility for lorenzo and Isabella’s death as though the tone has been set for what is about to happen, readers cannot intervene. Adding to the depth of an inevitable fate being unstoppable.
“Fair _______, poor ________ Isabel!”
Isabel
Simple
• the very exposition of the poem sets the tone for the tragedy which Isabella will endure. The contradiction of “fair” and “poor” highlights Isabella’s helplessness, heightening the tragedy. Isabella and lorenzos love simply cannot be accepted due to the social atmosphere they breathe in and reject, leaving them in an inescapable ending of death. Furtherly, the opening suggests a deeper connection between the narrator and Isabella. The narrator begins the story as if they know the ending which is an allusion to Keats love life and how him and Fanny’s marriage was unattainable due to the societal constructs around them. IOTPOB, as well as DOAS, is a tragedy of the common man as in both pieces the tragic protagonists enemy is societal constructs.
“Sweet Isabella’s ________ cheek, fell sick within the _______ domain”.
Untouched
Roses
• within this stanza there is a lot to pick out, readers can truly emphasis Isabella’s hopelessness through the narrators dominating suggestion of her inevitable ending, through the metaphorical rose. The rose acts as a symbol of love in romantic literature as, according to mythology, aphrodites beauty sprung roses from wherever she walked. Though a rose acts as a symbol of beauty and love, it also acts as a reminder that love inflicts pain, whether that be physical or mental, due to the thorns on roses. This enforces how when you love, you must also endure pain. Furtherly, the rose associates the idea of inevitably as roses will not live forever, just as Isabella or lorenzo do and neither their love can last forever due to the societal expectations. Paralleling the “rose” and falling “sick” links back to Keats idea of lovesickness and how love can wrought both physical and emotional pain.
“I may ____ ______”
Not speak
• small fragment taken from the 5th stanza to subtly suggest their forbidden love due to the difference in social and economical status. Another minor reflection of Keats and Fanny’s relationship as he couldn’t marry her due to his lack of financial stability - which he repented. Keats repenting this out of fashion value tells readers his inner emotional conflict as we can see a dominant reflection of Isabella and Lorenzo to his own relationship.
“But still the ______ tide, stifled his ______”
Ruddy
Voice
• in this passage we see Lorenzo losing his bravery, a key trait which medevil culture valued in men to be worthy of having a partner. Though, Lorenzo does not have this trait which hints towards the inevitable death Lorenzo and Isabella or about to endure. They have defied the societal expectations of the limitations of their love and must now pay the consequences for thinking they are above a godly concept (the great chain of being). Keats included this ideal to make their fate even more clear to readers that this is a tragedy of the common man, just as death of a salesman is. He repented medieval values and believed that telling a story with an underlying depth of sympathy would have allowed readers to understand how this value was so unfair.
“Love and ______”
My _____ is to it’s ______”
“Grief”
Misery
Soul doom
• throughout the poem there is a persistent intertwining of love and grief to emphasis the pain which is wrought upon through the love. However, it is also intertwined to highlight the harrowing fate that both Lorenzo and Isabella will endure. Keats is constantly reminding us as readers that love comes with pain; just as his and Fanny’s relationship was. These societal constructs are a threat to true love as the majority of romantic literature enforces.
“Grew like a lusty _______ in Junes caress”
Flower
• flowers are symbolic to the inevitable ending.
“Were they ________ then? Too much tears…. Too many ______…..too much of a ______ after they are dead…. Too many”
Unhappy
Sighs
Pity
• the rhetorical at the beginning of the stanza is used to infer the sadness that is about to be put upon both Lorenzo and Isabella. The narrator repetitively states “too many”, “too much” to remind readers that love should always be enjoyed in the moment as one’s ending is inevitable. Foreshadowing his death enforces this point within readers.
“Even _____, the little almsmen of ______ bowers know there is the _________ of juice in poison _______”
Bees
Spring
Richest
Flowers
• Keats makes another parallel to Isabella’s and lorenzos love through the symbolic nature of flowers. The analogy of bees suggests that even they can be poisoned by tempting nectar. This is a direct reflection of Isabella’s and lorenzos relationship as due to their social status indifference, they cannot defy, therefore creating their inevitable death. They understand that their love is pure and upmost genuine however they also acknowledge the sub-sequential consequences that will follow.
“Twin ______”
Roses
• Isabella and Lorenzo have both been made parallel to the symbol of a rose. As mentioned a rose is a symbol of beauty due to the mythology of Aphrodite whom apparently walked and roses sprung up from the ground wherever she walked, due to her beauty. Again, as throughout the entire poem, the narrator is reinforcing their love. As well as reminding readers that love comes with pain. The narrator is also suggesting that they are fit for each other and their love is honest and pure. However, due to the desperity in wealth and societal status infers they aren’t fit.
“So ______ Isabel, by gradual _______ from _______ fell”
Sweet
Decay
Beauty
• this passage emphasis the misery and heartbreak that Isabella has had to endure due to the harsh societal constructions. The narrator states that Isabella’s beauty has now “fell” inferring that her identity is lost without her other half Lorenzo.
“Love never _____, but ______, immortal lord”
Dies
Love
• the narrator infers here that true love never dies no matter the pain or suffering the couple endure. This is a direct reflection of Isabella’s love for Lorenzo and vice versa. Though Lorenzo is dead, Isabella’s love for him will not. Keats is reminding readers that young love cannot and will not die, preserved and cherished for a lifetime “immortal love don’t need mortal promises”.
“For Isabella, ______ Isabel, will die; die a death to _______ and incomplete, now they have taken her _______ sweet”
Sweet
Lone
Basil
• the narrator reinforces Isabel’s “sweet” and innocent nature here; allowing readers to sympathise for our tragic protagonist as her love for Lorenzo cannot be fulfilled while she is still living. Thus one might see the pot of basil as a symbol of immortal love being achieved while a mortal being. Isabella’s pot of basil infers that her basil pot is the love that Lorenzo still had for herself, and without the pot of basil it comes to represent death as Isabella cannot live without their love and “will die” a death “incomplete”.
“O _______ to steal my Basil pot ______ from me”
Cruelty
Away
• the capitalisation of “Basil” personifies the plant to symbolise the idea that the basil actually represents Lorenzo and the love they share.
