Keats - La Belle Dame Sans Merci

Question 1

summary

Answer 1

• poem tells story of a knight which has been seduced/abandoned by a mysterious and supernatural woman. begins with a speaker addressing the knight, appears pale sickly and alone
• the knight recounts his experience with the ‘farey’s child’ describing her beauty and their time together. she spends time feeding him and takes him to her ‘elfin grot’ and expresses love for him
• however, while asleep the knight has a terrifying vision of pale, ghostly kings and warriors which warn him he has been enslaved by la belle dame sans mare (beautiful lady without mercy). when he awakens, he is alone and abandoned trapped with a cycle of suffering.
• the poem ends with how it started; the knight wandering lifelessly, doomed by his tragic love affair

Question 2

context

Answer 2

• written in 1819 by Keats; one of the leading figures of the romanticism movement
• Keats was terminally ill with tuberculosis with influenced themes of death, beauty and happiness

Question 3

romanticism

Answer 3

nature + emotion -> the knights emotional state is reflected within the barren landscape
the supernatural + mystery -> the woman is described as a ‘farery’s child’, blurring reality and fantasy
tragic love + death -> Keats was fascinated with ephemeral love and its inevitable plan

Question 4

structure + form

Answer 4

ballard form -> traditional folk ballard structure (tells a tragic story)
12 quatrains -> each stanza has four lines with ABCB rhyme scheme
cynical structure -> poem starts and ends with the knights suffering, which showcases his entrapment
short, abrupt final lines -> enhances the haunting, unresolved feelings of this poem

Question 5

theme - love and destruction

Answer 5

• love is presented as intrinsicating but deadly. the knight falls in love with the woman, but instead of romantic fulfilment, he suffers from abandonment and despair
• the woman may be a metaphor for death

Question 6

theme - illusion vs reality

Answer 6

• the knight believes that the woman loves him, but her actions suggest deception.
• his dream vision suggests that he is one of many victims.
• the knights romantic idealism is shattered - his perception of love was false, which suggests that love is not always pure or reciprocated

Question 7

theme - the femme fetal

Answer 7

• the woman is born beautiful but deadly - a ‘farerys child’ with ‘wild eyes’.
• the woman ensnares men, leaving them pale but lifeless. the woman represents female power, but also male fear of loosing control
  tragedy: the woman is dangerous yet seductive, the knights views her as an object, but ultimately she holds the power

Question 8

theme - the power of nature

Answer 8

• the landscape reflects the knights inner turmoil. within the start and end, the setting is lifeless, barren and cold
• natures cycle contrasts with the knights stagnation - he is trapped in suffering

Question 9

quote: opening question -> creates mystery
‘palely’ suggests sickness/death, emotional decay
‘alone’ represents total isolation, the knight has been abandoned

Answer 9

“O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms/Alone and palely loitering”

Question 10

quote:
‘wild’ suggests unpredictable/dangerous
- suggests she is beyonds the knights understanding - she is an idealialsied woman

Answer 10

“Her wild eyes were shut”

Question 11

quote:
ghostly imagery -> suggest she has claimed many men before
‘pale’ repetition - symbolises death, suffering and loss of vitality

Answer 11

“I saw pale kings and princes too/Pale warriors, death-pale were they all”

Question 12

quote:
repetition from first stanza -> cyclical entrapment
symbol of death and lifelessness, he has lost all joy

Answer 12

“And no birds sing’”