The presentation of pain and suffering in John Keats Poetry.
Explore how Keats presents pain and suffering in 'On Sitting Down to Read King Lear Once Again' and one other poem. La Belle Dame Sans Merci
Unit 3 poetry. John Keats. Pearson A Level English Literature
Explore how Keats presents pain and suffering in 'On Sitting Down to Read King Lear Once Again' and
one other poem.
Keats, like most Romantic poets, approaches pain and suffering in an imaginative, melancholy and
subjective way, whilst still maintaining the premise of experiencing tragedy wholeheartedly and in
the confines of realism. The belief that one should experience pain and suffering faithfully. Having
experienced suffering himself, Keats appreciates the growth that has come from his pain. And he
goes about expressing that in his own individual way.
For instance, Keats has a philosophical belief that experiencing pain and suffering is a necessary part
of the growth of the human soul. Keats references the Phoenix, the mythological creature that
regenerates after death. A Phoenix obtains new life by arising from the ashes, in other words, Keats
could be saying that people grow (breathe new life) by learning from pain and suffering (the ashes).
Thus, people rise and learn from their mistakes and their pain. This reinforces Keats' belief that pain
is a necessary part of the growth of a human. This firm belief stems from his brother Tom who is
'spitting' up blood at the time the poem was written, suffering from tuberculous. The pain he felt for
his brother fuelled his need for more intellectual stimulation which reading King Lear could provide.
Keats sought out a tragedy that didn’t sugar coat the pain and suffering in the world, which he had
seen in Tom, and instead, expressed the raw and real anguish of pain in everyday life.
For Keats, mythology is an essential source of pain and suffering to be inspired by. Keats uses the
image of the 'Syren' to hint at the enticement of pain and suffering. Traditionally, Sirens in Greek
mythology were beautiful, but dangerous, sea nymphs who lured sailors to their deaths through
their irresistibly beautiful song. Their beauty disguises their evil intent and the eventual pain that the
sailors will endure. This idea of a disguise or a mask mimics what Keats believes of Romance: that
Romantic tales hide the extreme pain in the world. As a consequence, Keats rejects this and all
Romantic tales and instead seeks the tragedy of King Lear, which offers more intellectual
engagement. In a letter to his family, Keats says that he longed for more depth in a story and that he
had 'been addicted to passiveness', which is a reference to Romantic literature. Keats didn’t want to
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