Lamia Part One Revision Flashcards
AQA Paper 1 Revision
What rhythm is the poem written in?
Iambic pentameter
Where does the tale of Lamia come from?
Greek mythology
What are the references to ‘faery broods’ driving Nymph and Satyr from the woods and Oberon being linked to ‘sceptre and mantle’ intended to achieve?
They present the faerie as powerful at the very beginning of the poem.
Who is Oberon?
An intertextual reference to the king of the faeries in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
How does ‘bent warm on amorous theft’ present Hermes?
As predatory for the euphemism for rape.
How does Lamia’s introduction of a ‘mournful voice’ that ‘destroys all pain but pity’ present her?
As a source of sympathy or as a dangerous manipulator.
‘thus the ___ ____ spake’
lone voice
‘When from this _____ _____ shall I awake’
wreathed tomb
What is the effect of the syndeton in ‘And love, and pleasure, and the ruddy strife’?
It emphasise her deep longing for a physical connection.
‘Ah, ______ me!’
miserable
‘Until he found a ________ snake’
palpitating
Analyse ‘dazzling hue, vermillion spotted, golden, green and blue.’
The heavy use of colour imagery presents Lamia with a sense of vibrancy and beauty.
Analyse: ‘striped as a zebra, freckled like a pard’
The antithesis of predator versus prey like imagery present the complicated interpretation of Lamia as the villain or a sympathetic victim.
Analyse: ‘full of silver moons’
- false light could indicate the sense of deception surrounding Lamia.
- Astronomical imagery creates a sense of her being a sublime being, making her decision to give that up for human form seem unusual.
- Contextually, the moon was thought of as being a symbol for the fickle nature of women.
Analyse: ‘so rainbow sided, touched with miseries’
The juxtaposition once again brings about her struggle and suffering despite the incredible and memorable nature of her snake-like form.
‘some ______ mistress, or the _______ self’
demon’s
‘Sprinkled with stars, like Ariadne’s tiar’ is another example of what technique Keats uses when describing Lamia?
Astrological imagery
What does the link to Prosperine (Persephone) serve to achieve in the introduction of Lamia?
It links Lamia to another mythological character trapped in Hades (hell). It once more implies Lamia to be suffering in her form and create a sense of her as a sympathetic victim.
‘words she spake, came through as ______ ______’
bubbling honey
How does Lamia’s decision to allow Hermes to ‘behold’ the nymph complicate her presentation?
Whilst some might see that as a deep yearning for love, others will see this as a sacrifice for her own personal gain.
What does the description of Hermes as ‘the charmed God’ indicate?
That he has been manipulated by Lamia.
What is interesting about Lamia using the imperative ‘Stoop, Hermes’?
She is commanding a God.
What do we call places that exist between places, such as the space between dreams and reality?
Liminal
Analyse the simile: ‘like a moon in wane’
It implies the diminishing state of the nymph as she submits to Hermes, who has been betrayed by Lamia.
What technique is used in ‘Nor grew they pale, like mortal lovers do.’?
Foreshadowing - the mortal love of Lamia and Lycius will fail.
How does Keats’ use of language change when describing Lamia’s transformation?
It becomes much more violent. ‘wither’d’ ‘torture fix’d’ ‘anguish drear’ ‘hot’ ‘glaz’d’ ‘sear’.
Why does Keats change to use of violent imagery when Lamia transforms?
To indicate the damage she make come to do or the damage she is doing to herself. This message is clear that the transformation is not a good one but it is up to the reader to interpret for who.
‘Scarlet pain’ is an example of what?
Synaesthesia
‘_______ her crescents and lick’d up her _______’
crescents/stars
How does Keats return to the use of astrological imagery during Lamia’s transformation?
‘Eclips’d her crescents and and lick’d up her stars’
Why does Keats return to the use of astrological imagery ‘Eclips’d’ and ‘licked up her stars’ during Lamia’s transformation?
To show that becoming mortal has rid her of her mystical and ethereal qualities. Lamia’s magnificence has been diminished by becoming an ordinary woman.
‘she was ____ // of all sapphires, greens and amethyst’
undrest
‘Nothing but _____ and ugliness were left’
pain
What are Lamia’s first words in human form?
“Lycius! gentle Lycius”
Why does Keats use real places in the poem such as Corinth, Peraean hills and Cleone?
To ground the poem in some degree to reality, perhaps making its messages more applicable to the reader.
What technique is used here: ‘A virgin purest lipp’d, yet in the lore // Of love deep learned?
Anthithesis
‘When in the serpent ___ - ______’
Prison house
Lycius’ introduction says that he was ‘charioting’. How does this present him?
It presents him as a source of strength and masculinity.
Why does ‘her neck Regal white’ make her seem more desirable during the time of writing?
Pure white skin was considered to be a desirable quality when Keats was writing.
How does Lamia present herself when she asks Lycius if he ‘will leave her on these hills alone?’
As a vulnerable damsel in distress.
What does ‘Orpheus-like at an Eurydice’ foreshadow?
The tragedy to come. Like Orpheus losing Eurydice in the underworld, Lamia and Lycius’ love is doomed.
‘What technique is used in ‘For so delicious were the words she sung’?
Synaesthesia
When first speaking to Lycius, why does Lamia bid him ‘adieu!’ and act like she does not want him?
As a way to manipulate him and make his longing for her deeper.
What is the effect of the spider metaphor in ‘and gave afresh // the life she had so tangled in her mesh’?
It makes her seem predatory and again manipulative, as if she has played Lycius.
‘And clear his soul of doubt // For that she was a woman’ shows us what?
That Lycius had doubted that at some point but that either he has been foolish to trust her or Lamia has been powerful even to manipulate his trust.
‘Throbbing blood’ ‘self-same pains’ ‘frail-strung heart’ all present Lamia as…
vulnerable
‘and won his heart // more pleasantly by playing the ______ ____’
woman’s part
‘he knew not how // so noiseless and he ______ thought to know.’
never
How is Apollonius juxtaposed with ‘blind Lycius’?
‘sharp eyes’
Lycius’ home is described as ‘mild as a star in water’. How does that compare to the earlier description of Lamia?
It is clearly not as bright, as magical as Lamai’s snake-like form. There is a clear sense of majesty fading.
‘Of the wide doors disclos’d a place ______’
unknown
‘Shut from the busy world’ reminds us of what from La Belle Dame Sans Merci?
The elfin grot. Typical of Keats the protagonists disappear into a different, often magical realm, solitary away from the real world.
It could also imply Lamia’s predatory nature as she effectively has taken Lycius from the world.
