Paper 1 Section C: Miller + Keats

Question 1

Tragic Heroes or Tragic Victims

Answer 1

• In ‘Lamia’ and ‘Isabella’, the tragic heroes and victims are very much up for debate. As Keats names his poems after his female characters, both suffer tragic fates
• ‘Lamia’ who seems magical at first, looses her power and divine appearance. Leading her to succumb back to reality
• Isabella looses the love that makes her “tread upon the air”.

Question 2

Loss of Identity

Answer 2

• Keats intention is quite clear: In loving Lamia with all her “brilliance feminine” and supernatural ability, Lycius is rejecting the guide that can take him into the rational and masculine world of Corith. Lycius is also falling for an individual who is false
• Isabella is also removed from the dominance of her family’s structures by her obsessions with the basil pot, which leads her to face ultimate grief
  -Madeline’s fantasies can be seen to remove her from the safety of her family and leaves her exposed to Porphyro’s advances

Question 3

Resolution

Answer 3

• In most dramatic tragedies the resolution is brought about the deaths of many major characters.
• Keats contrives to create partial social order in ‘Lamia’ and ‘Isabella”, but in ‘La Bella Dame’, the despair is ABSOLUTE; “and no birds sing”. Similarly, the conclusion in ‘The Eve of St Agnes’ can be seen as equally bleek as the poems circle structure returns us to the opening of “frosted breath” and “frozen grass”

Question 4

Setting

Answer 4

• In “Isabella,” the Italian Renaissance setting contrasts the corrupt cityscape, representing greed and materialism, with the natural world of Isabella and Lorenzo’s love, epitomized by the pot of basil—a macabre yet tender symbol of love and death.

-Similarly, in “Lamia,” the mythological Grecian backdrop of Corinth juxtaposes the enchanted, otherworldly realms of Lamia’s serpent form, reflecting the tension between idealized beauty and harsh reality.

-“The Eve of St. Agnes” uses a Medieval, Gothic castle to create a sensuous and dreamlike atmosphere, where Madeline’s innocence contrasts with the cold, foreboding setting and the societal constraints that threaten her love for Porphyro.

-Finally, the desolate, liminal landscapes of “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” echo the knight’s despondency, with the bleak, barren setting embodying themes of entrapment, seduction, and loss. Across these poems, Keats uses setting not merely as a backdrop but as a dynamic element that deepens the interplay of love, death, and transcendence.