I will be drawing the similarities and differences between ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’ by John Keats and ‘My Last Duchess’ by Robert Browning and how these similarities and differences affect the portrayal of relationships in the poems.
There is a lot of history utilised in both poems. At the time Robert Browning wrote ‘My Last Duchess’, there was a large influence in Italy mainly over possessions and status. The story of the Borgias family, who paid people to kill those that they didn’t like or were not on good terms with, also influenced him. John Keats was heavily influenced by the thoughts and beliefs of people in 1795-1821. This was the time in which legends such as witches (beldams) were at the centre of everyone’s minds. It was the idea of witches that I believe most definitely gave Keats the name of his poem. In the Georgian era, the word for witch was ‘Beldam’ and this sounds identical to ‘Belle Dame’ and I strongly believe that Keats purposely used this as this truly reflects the context of the times as the language used is typical of the Georgian era. This is now considered archaic; nevertheless, the word in those times probably would’ve been used universally by all people, rich and poor and, hence, it was used to communicate a message …show more content…
Her deceitful nature is shown by the way ‘she said-‘I love thee true.’’ The fact that ‘La Belle Dame’ (she) said it emphasises how it was her that confessed love for the knight. The deceit is evident as she left him during the night after using him for her own purposes. Witches are usually perceived to be very cunning and deceitful and not scrupulous unlike ‘My Last Duchess’, who was only alleged to be a deceitful, unfaithful and status-degrading strumpet by the
There is a lot of history utilised in both poems. At the time Robert Browning wrote ‘My Last Duchess’, there was a large influence in Italy mainly over possessions and status. The story of the Borgias family, who paid people to kill those that they didn’t like or were not on good terms with, also influenced him. John Keats was heavily influenced by the thoughts and beliefs of people in 1795-1821. This was the time in which legends such as witches (beldams) were at the centre of everyone’s minds. It was the idea of witches that I believe most definitely gave Keats the name of his poem. In the Georgian era, the word for witch was ‘Beldam’ and this sounds identical to ‘Belle Dame’ and I strongly believe that Keats purposely used this as this truly reflects the context of the times as the language used is typical of the Georgian era. This is now considered archaic; nevertheless, the word in those times probably would’ve been used universally by all people, rich and poor and, hence, it was used to communicate a message …show more content…
Her deceitful nature is shown by the way ‘she said-‘I love thee true.’’ The fact that ‘La Belle Dame’ (she) said it emphasises how it was her that confessed love for the knight. The deceit is evident as she left him during the night after using him for her own purposes. Witches are usually perceived to be very cunning and deceitful and not scrupulous unlike ‘My Last Duchess’, who was only alleged to be a deceitful, unfaithful and status-degrading strumpet by the