Understanding Keats’s La Belle Dame sans Merci

John Keats’s “La Belle Dame sans Merci”

John Keats: A Romantic Poet’s Life

John Keats (1795–1821) was a prominent English Romantic poet. He was one of the main figures of the second generation of Romantic poets and also part of The Cockney School, alongside Leigh Hunt. The early deaths of his father, mother, and brother gave him a premonition of his own early demise from tuberculosis. This profound awareness led to a heightened interest in literature as an escape from the realities and tragedies

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British Society Transformed: Women, Reformation, and Enlightenment

Women’s Changing Role in Post-War Britain (1945-1970s)

After the Second World War, Britain underwent a significant social and cultural transformation. The role of women changed dramatically, influenced by several factors:

  • The post-war ‘baby boom’
  • Rising divorce rates and the beginning of new sexual openness
  • Cinema sex symbols defining a ‘third war’ for women

During the 1960s, the women’s movement successfully campaigned for new rights. In 1967, the Family Planning Act made oral contraceptives available

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English Renaissance Literature: Poetry, Drama, and Prose

Renaissance Poetry: Innovators and Styles

The two greatest innovators of the new, rich style of Renaissance poetry in the last quarter of the 16th century were Sir Philip Sidney and Edmund Spenser, both humanistically educated Elizabethan courtiers.

Sidney, universally recognized as the model Renaissance nobleman, outwardly polished as well as inwardly conscientious, inaugurated the vogue of the sonnet cycle in his Astrophel and Stella (written 1582?; published 1591). In this work, in the elaborate

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From Tudors to Stuarts: England’s Shifting Power and Conflicts

Mary, Queen of Scots: A Claim to the English Throne

Mary Stuart, also known as Mary, Queen of Scots, held a significant claim to the English throne. As the granddaughter of Henry VII through her grandmother Margaret, who married a Scottish king, Mary possessed Tudor blood. This made her a potential successor to Queen Elizabeth I, especially if Elizabeth died without an heir. However, Mary’s staunch Catholicism presented a major challenge in Protestant England.

In 1568, following a military defeat,

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Spanish Literature: Generation of ’98 and Valle-Inclán

The Generation of ’98 Novel

The nineteenth century ended with the Disaster of ’98, which meant the loss of the last Spanish colonies, Cuba and the Philippines, to the United States. This event served as a harsh wake-up call, making the nation aware of its declining status.

At that time, a group of young people in their thirties reacted to the political unrest and moral crisis, sometimes taking contradictory positions, in an effort to renew Spanish consciousness. They analyzed the ills of Spain (its

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Literary Genres, Forms, and Grammatical Degrees Defined

Grammatical Degrees

Grammatical Degrees: Degrees of intensity of the grammatical expression property of adjectives, designated by qualifiers.

  • Positive Degree
  • Comparative Degree
  • Superlative Degree

Literary Forms

Literature: An artistic form of expression using the oral or written word as primary matter.

Verse: A form of composition that aims to create rhythmic sensations.

Prose: Generally lacks the rhythm that characterizes verse, as it does not use repetition of similar units in its structure, and breaks,

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