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A Gordian complication: The essential role of femininity in Keats’ pursuit of poetical creativity, through desire and fear
Ortega, Viviane Angélique
Ortega, Viviane Angélique
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Abstract
Femininity is omnipresent in Keats’ poetical work. Whether it is included through the many female figures portrayed in his best-known verse, or through the qualities that make up his poetical character and poetical style of writing, femininity never fails to be at the center of Keats’ poetical creativity. However, Keats’ relation to femininity is not a linear one. Both in his personal life and in his poems, a strong ambivalence of feeling towards women and femininity surfaces. That ambivalence is characterized by an intense desire for the feminine and an irresistible attraction to it, but also by a fear of it and an anxiety generated from the union with it. This anxiety comes from the poet’s fear of annihilation when confronted with femininity. The female figures encountered in the poems selected all possess qualities of the typical femme fatale: tempting, seduction, destructive. They have the power to lead men to self-destruction, annihilation and endanger their masculine identity. Nevertheless, while the male heroes seem to be aware of that danger, they still decide to pursue their union with the feminine. This wish for self-destruction can thus be explained by an ultimately positive outcome to the poet’s annihilation. That destruction of the self by femininity is indeed proven to be beneficial to his quest for poetical creativity and his achievement of poetical character.
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Thesis (B.A. in English Literature, Minor in Psychology, Creative Writing, Art and Design)--John Cabot University, Fall 2022.
Date
2022
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John Keats, 1795-1821, Women and literature
Citation
Ortega, Viviane Angélique. "A Gordian complication: The essential role of femininity in Keats’ pursuit of poetical creativity, through desire and fear". BA Thesis, John Cabot University, Rome, Italy. 2022.