A comparative essay between John Keats' poems Isabella; or, The Pot of Basil and La Belle Dame sans Merci from the perspective of discussion separation and connection.
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Separation and connection
Isabella; or, the Pot of Basil:
“Because her face was turned to the same skies.” - Lorenzo is aware that his love for Isabella is
forbidden, however although he cannot love her closely, he is able to appreciate the elements of nature
which connect them to each other. Keats characterises Isabella’s brothers as being personifications of
capitalism as they are quoted as profiting off of the workers which they both exploit and treat
barberically with their “stinging whip” and “hollow eyes.” For Keat’s to establish the poem’s villains
as personifications of capitalism, this enables the reader to understand that it is society which
separates the couple due to the expectation of classes to not intermix. Contextually, it can be
understood that Isabella is a narrative poem in which Keats uses the story of Lorenzo and Isabella’s
forbidden love to reflect on his own inability to marry his love Fanny Brawne as a result of the
influence of class. This idea is evident when considering Keats recurring narrative interruption in
quotations such as “ah! Better had it been for ever so, than idle ears should pleasure in their
woe”, where he seemingly mocks the two protagonists with a wise and condescending tone by
reminding the reader that this poem is a tragedy despite its romance.
La Belle Dame sans Merci:
“I awoke and found me here, on the cold hill’s side. And this is why I sojourn here alone and
palely loitering.” - In La Belle Dame sans Merci, Keats introduces the reader to a world which is
characterised by the belief that love is intertwined with pain through the representation of connection
and later separation. Keats establishes the Knight as being characterised by a sense of isolation as he
is introduced as an “alone and palely loitering” character who is physically unwell, something which
is evident when considering the symbolism of birds in romantic poetry as being a sign of life, however
in this setting “no birds sing” suggesting that there is lack of life. Although Keats characterises the
Knight as a weak and vulnerable character with the poem’s introduction, upon the entrance of La
Belle, the poem witnesses an emotional shift from darkness and pain to vibrancy and life. It can be
suggested that similarly to the character of Isabella, La Bella is a symbolism of purity as “her hair
was long” (something which represents wildness and freedom) and she is “a faery’s child” a
quotation which suggests that she is so beautiful that she simply must be a creature of the
supernatural. Keats characterises La Belle, an individual whose wildness suggests she is a
personification of nature, as enabling the poem's setting to be installed with a liveliness which foils
the character of the Knight. Through the couple’s connection, the narrative isolates any mention of the
Knight’s previous deterioration, however upon his awakening “on the cold hill’s side”, Keats uses the
characters isolation from La Belle to reestablish the physical pain of the Knight and furthermore
introduce a new emotional pain as a result of their separation. Similarly to the character of Isabella
who is described as being “a native lily of the dell”, without La Belle’s love, the Knight has a “lily
on thy brow” (the flower most commonly used at funerals) however with her love, he is overcomed
with a new sensation of meaning before the cruelty of reality only once again removes his pleasure
and replaces it with pain.
For both poems, Keats uses the connection of love as symbolising ‘good health’, however upon
separation, the character’s health only deteriorates with Isabella dying and the suggestion that
following the closure of the narrative, the Knight also succumbs to his poor health (which based upon
his profession, was most likely encouraged from some form of injury.)
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