An A* essay that received 30/30 on Keats’s presentation of emotion in ‘The Eve of St Agnes’ and 'When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be', with top A02 quotes and unique A03 context to impress examiners.
A* essay on Keats’s presentation of nature in ‘Autumn’ and 'On the Sea'
A* essay on presentation of mortality in 'When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be'
All for this textbook (6)
Written for
A/AS Level
PEARSON (PEARSON)
English Literature 2015
Unit 3 - Poetry
All documents for this subject (403)
1
review
By: annmcdonnell • 1 year ago
Seller
Follow
aliceland
Reviews received
Content preview
Explore Keats’s presentation of emotion in ‘The Eve of St Agnes’ and one
other poem you have studied. You must refer to context in your
answer. (1548 words)
Throughout the course of Keats’ short lifetime, he developed a personal
philosophy of the importance of pain in our lives to forge a soul. He believed
that experiencing sorrow and anguish was integral to character-building, and
the range and depth of emotions we feel, especially those of a negative nature,
are what in essence, give us our humanity (“a world of pains and troubles is
necessary to school an intelligence and make it a soul”). This focus on the
importance of the emotional over the rational is a core Romantic belief, and
his internal exploration of this idea is echoed throughout his work. In this
essay, I will explore how Keats presents emotion in ‘The Eve of St Agnes’ and
‘When I Have Fears’.
In the Eve of St Agnes, Keats presents the emotion of human love as powerful
and all consuming, through the characterisation of Porphyro. The first
description of Porphyro we get is through the metaphor “heart on fire”.
Porphyro’s entire personality in this poem revolves around the fact that he is in
love with Madeline, to the point where he is not concerned for his own
mortality as long as he can “speak, kneel, touch, kiss” her. Madeline and his
family are archenemies, and the “whole blood- thirsty race” that are
Madeline’s relatives will kill Porphyro if they find him here (“these stones will
be thy bier”). This action of following your heart despite the consequences that
will inevitably follow is an old Romantic concept that can first be seen in ‘The
Sorrows of Young Werther’, written by German author Goethe in 1774, and
there are also evident allusions and similarities to ‘Romeo and Juliet’, written
by Shakespeare, who Keats idolised.
Keats reinforces the depth of the emotions he introduces by linking them to
colour and temperature. Porphyro is always described with a strong, bold
colour palette and even his name is a reference to the colour purple, which has
regal and opulent connotations. Porphyro and Madeline, both as individuals
and as lovers are associated with warmth: they are passion personified.
Descriptions such as “threw warm gules on Madeline’s fair breast” and
“unclasps her warmed jewels” provide a sharp contrast to the “bitter chill” and
“frozen grass” outside. By associating only the lovers with warmth and passion,
Keats introduces this idea that they’re the only ones experiencing life fully,
whereas everyone else is living on the periphery. There is also a continuous use
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through EFT, credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying this summary from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller aliceland. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy this summary for R178,88. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
