Write a paragraph discussing the methods Keats uses in his characterisation of Angela in 'The Eve of St. Agnes' with particular reference to stanzas XI - XX.
You should consider:
- the descriptions of her physical appearance;
- how she speaks;
- how she acts;
- what you think her motives are for helping Porphyro.
ALLUSION TO MERLIN (XIX)
Merlin was the great magician of the King Arthur legend. He was the son of a demon; father said to be an evil spirit.
Commentators feel that the ‘monstrous debt’ is Merlin’s debt to his demon-father for his own life, and that he paid it by committing evil deeds, specifically by effecting his own imprisonment and death by the misworking of a spell.
HOWEVER:
Whichever we explain it, it strengthens rather than dispels our suspicion, like Angela’s, that Porphyro is up to no good: and with the earlier images of ‘legion’d fairies,’ and ‘pale enchantment’, it brings further associations of fairy lore and scocery to bear on his actions.
Nightingale Allusion (XXIII)
The nightingale allusion at the end of stanza XXIII refers to a story in Ovid's Metamorphosis; Tereus raped Philomel, his sister- in-law, and cut out her tongue so she couldn't tell anyone. However, she told the story in a tapestry she was weaving. Understanding the tapestry, her outraged sister murdered Tereus's son and served him to Tereus for dinner. When he learned the truth, Tereus moved to kill the sisters, but the gods turned them into birds; Philomel became a nightingale. While the metaphor describes Madeline's inability to talk, it also carries a hint of sexual violence or outrage.
No comments:
Post a Comment