Analysis Of La Belle Dame Sans Merci
‘La Belle Dame sans Merci’ is a ballad written by English poet John Keats in the year 1819, where the artistic, literary and intellectual movement romanticism was at its peak. Set in the medieval period, it is speculated that Keats aims to use the setting of the poem to juxtapose the different thoughts and perspective of people, originating from different times, had towards the theme of love and the roles of men and women within a relationship. Through the relationship of the knight and woman as well as the setting of ‘La Belle Dame sans Merci’; Keats was able to reflect upon the faithful and truthful expression of love in the medieval times as well as the freedom of individual expression and imagination in the romantic period.
In the beginning
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After ending the description of his lamentful feelings towards the loneliness he is experiencing to wait for the woman, he begins to describe her as “a faery’s child”. The noun “faery” is an allusion of holy beings, by metaphoring the woman to a “faery” immediately elevates her status, thus proving how extraordinary she is in the knight’s heart. The fact that “faery” is written in archaic form reflects upon the medieval setting of the poem as well as the romantic period, when the poem was written. It signifies that Ketas is trying to embrace the directness and truthfulness of the knight’s emotions and feelings towards the woman. The beauty of the woman is not the only features which caught the knight’s eyes, “Her hair was long, her foot was light, And her eyes were wild.” These physical traits of the woman led the knight fall into every aspect of her. Figurative illustrations is used in this quotation in order to slow down the pace of the poem, allowing readers to scent, to feel the different aspects of the woman that caught the knight’s eyes. The independent clause, “her foot was light” depicts the traditional perspective of femininity, where women are stereotypically viewed to have soft voices and footsteps, moreover they are often dependent on the man. In the poem the woman’s eyes were described as “wild”, the postmodifier demonstrates the animalistic nature of the knight, he desires for her to an extent where he would animalize her looks, thus pleasuring himself. Therefore through Keats’ portrayal of the knight’s sensual and passionate feelings for the woman, “La Belle Dame sans Merci” can be seen illustrating love in a positive
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