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
Read MoreBritish 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
Read MoreEnglish 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
Read MoreFrom 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,
Read MoreSpanish 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
Read MoreLiterary 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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