Logged out
Access All our Essays in an Instant
Swap your work for FREE access, or pay £4.99 for instant access
A Comparison of the Presentation of Women in the Poems
Member rating: No Rating | Words: | Submitted: Wed Aug 20 2003
Page Preview
On the left is an image preview of every page of this document, and below are the first 150 words with formatting removed:
A Comparison of the Presentation of Women in the Poems "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" by Keats and "Mariana" by Tennyson Though both poems have the common theme of unrequited love, Keats and Tennyson assign very different characteristics to the women in their poems. In "Mariana", the woman is submissive and a victim of cruelty, whereas La Belle Dame in "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" is the more powerful of the man and woman in the poem, and the one inflicting the cruelty. In both poems, the landscapes mirror these characteristics, and even the feelings of these two women. The landscape is also symbolic of Mariana, as she is mortal and will eventually die as plants die, and seasons change. She is therefore more naturalistic than the mysterious Belle Dame is. Her mystery is further enhanced by the Arthurian flavour which Keats associates with her, just as Tennyson writes of...
To see the full version of this document, and 143,615 others
