How far do you agree with the claim that The Eve of St Agnes is a celebration of sensual pleasure?
Post your comments for and against this claim.
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You can read my posts;
Enter your own responses to questions that are displayed;
Ask questions of other bloggers and me;
Look at links and articles;
Upload your own thoghts, comments and posts;
Use the blog as a revision tool.
I think that this blog has huge potential, but it will only be of any use if there are regular contributors. Get blogging!
Mr. Denchfield
Which text do you need to do most revision on?
If the Keats question in Section A was difficult, would you choose Mariner or push on with Keats?
Which three characters from 'Great Expectations' would be the best to write about in Section B?
Which of these would you write about as 'key events' in Enduring Love (you can choose three)
Which is the most effective setting in Great Expectations?
A sprinkling of critical thoughts.
ReplyDelete'An unsurpassable study in pure colour and clear melody', Algernon Charles Swinburne
''The Eve of St Agnes' is par excellence the poem of 'glamour'', William Michael Rosetti
'Keats felt a conviction that this heaven of immortal passion (as seen in the union of Madeline and Porphyro) can be entered only through an intensity of experience in this life ... a life of sensations provides us with experiences of beauty that we shall later enjoy under those immortal conditions that Keats called 'truth'; it foreshadows in the transitory, the 'reality' to come. Therefore, if we could, by a supernal power, rise to perceive the empyreal reflection of what our merely human imaginations create for us, we would be perceiving the spiritual repetition of our human intensities, and hence our future immortal existence.' Earl Wasserman
Also, you should have summaries of two essays written by Earl Wasserman and Jack Stillinger, in your folders, which offer two contrasting opinions of the poem. These will be very useful for you in this debate.
ReplyDeleteWhen considering to what extent ‘The Eve of St. Agnes’ is a celebration of sensual pleasure, it is arguable that this is dependent on whether the reader condemns or admires Porphyro. Keats characterises Porphyro with descriptions that emphasize the vibrancy and passion of his senses, and his desire for sensual fulfillment. Therefore, this could be depicted as a hunger/desire to consume, or Porphro’s will to enrich his senses. I have picked out a few quotes to demonstrate:
ReplyDelete‘Sudden a thought came to him like a full blown rose/ Flushing his brow, and in his pained heart/ Made purple riot’.
Enchanted by the sight of Madeline: ‘Stolen to this paradise, and so entranced/ Porphyro gazed upon her empty dress’.
The feast that Porphyro prepares demonstrates his will to be satisfied by the diverse and exotic tastes. It could be argued, however, that the lavish extravagance indicates his sexual greed: ‘While he from the closet brought a heap/ Of candied apple, quince, and plum, and gourd’.
He attempts to seduce Madeline with music, perhaps drawing a parallel between Porphyro and the decadent, brash guests: ‘Tumultuous, and, in chords that tenderest be/ He played an ancient ditty.’
‘Into her dream he melted, as the rose/ Blendeth its odour with the violet/ Solution sweet.’ Their sexual union is described as a fusion of smells, and Keats suggests the compatibility of Madeline and Porphyro, by the ‘Solution sweet’.
The Character Porphyro embodies the antithesis of the Beadsman, who shuns away sensual fulfillment. ‘Music’s golden tongue’ demonstrates the corrupting nature of sensual delight, and music is even depicted as aggressive by this focalized description of the ‘Silver snarling trumpets’. Thus the Beadsman’s fate is sealed by the union of Madeline and Porphyro, as he ‘slept among the ashes cold’. Is Porphyro, therefore, one of the ‘sinners’ for who’s sake the Beadsman suffers and the corrupter of Madeline’s purity, or is the Beadsman’s death a condemnation of his lack of sensual appreciation?
I would say that in “The Eve of St Agnes” there are strong hints that show that Keats did believe in a celebration of sensual pleasure. This could be exemplified by the contrast between Porphyro, whose very name, meaning “purple”, seems to suggest vibrancy and vitality, and the Beadsman whose numbness to sensation (his fingers were “numb”) is emphasised by Keats in the opening of the poem and possibly criticised. By drawing attention to the Beadsman's inability to feel even his rosary, Keats could be suggesting that his existence is futile and his quest pointless even from the beginning. Therefore, if we were to interpret it this way, we could assume that Keats is suggesting anyone lacking the ability or effort to be sensually fulfilled is leading a pointless life, and a life not worth celebrating.
ReplyDeleteThis is contrasted with the union between Madeline and Porphyro. Whilst Madeline inhabits a luxurious yet delicate chamber, “All garlanded with carven imag'ries/ Of fruits, and flowers, and bunches of knot-grass” which seems to appeal to all the senses, Porphyro certainly also strives to achieve sensual fulfilment as demonstrated by the exotic feast of “lucent syrops, tinct with cinnamon”. In the climax of the poem, Keats also suggests that Madeline is awake and open to physical and spiritual sensations as “Her blue affrayed eyes wide open shone”. However, in the case of Porhyro, as Sara said, it is not entirely clear whether Porphyro's sexual desire is to be celebrated or condemned.
On the other hand, Keats also at times seems to celebrate the dreamlike tranquillity of Madeline, for example, in stanza 27 when Madeline “lay,/ Until the poppied warmth of sleep opress'd/ Her soothed limbs, and soul fatigued away”. This seems to suggests a sort of drug induced state which Keats craves to be in, where Madeline is deadened from sensation. This would go against the view that the Eve of St Agnes is about “a celebration of sensual pleasure”. However, there does seem to be a distinction between the numbness that the Beadsman feels at the beginning of the poem which seems to be judged by Keats to be negative, and Madeline's state of numb tranquillity which is perhaps celebrated.. Perhaps Keats is suggesting that Madeline is able to transcend into another realm through this state of tranquillity and achieve sensual intensities.
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ReplyDeleteWhen considering the extent to which ‘The Eve of St Agnes’ is a celebration of sensual pleasure, it is important to explore Madeline’s disillusion on awaking to discover the mortal Porphyro. I think it is important to make a distinction between the concept physical or human sensation vs. the intensity of an ethereal experience.
ReplyDeleteIt can be strongly argued that Madeline’s dismay at Porphyro’s physical presence suggests that the spiritual and imaginative experience is more synaesthetically pleasurable and intense than the sensations one is able to encounter in the human condition: ‘how chang’d thou art! How pallid, chill and drear’ implies that this Porphyro does not permeate the same fervency and vibrancy as the immortal Porphyro of Madeline’s dream. Madeline seems to be disappointed with Porphyro’s simplicity when she awakes from her dream, which indicates that her illusion allowed her senses to appreciate delicate and exquisite elements of Porphyro’s character, such as his voice: ‘thy voice was at sweet tremble in mine ear, made tunable with every sweetest vow’ could be seen to suggest that one’s sensual reception is enhanced and refined by spiritual rituals. Furthermore, although the infusion of hues and odours relating to the lovers’ sexual union in Stanza 36 could be interpreted as a sign of the lovers’ compatibility as Sara suggests, one could interpret the description as a demonstration of the blandness of human sensation: ‘into her dream he melted, rose/ Blendeth its odour with violet, - solution sweet’ seems to indicate this the amalgamation of odours has a mild sensual potency.
Throughout the poem Keats conveys his philosophy that ‘earthly sensations’ are illuminated and intensified in the afterlife. The quote ‘As though a rose should be shut and be a bud again’ seems to perfectly encapsulate the notion the sensations of a spiritual nature are eternal; whereas human experiences are only ephemeral.
Excellent comments so far. If anyone would like to write a response that is just a question or a simple statement, that can be helpful too. Whilst the longer answers like these are highly insightful, it would be very helpful just to get a general sense of people's feelings about Keats presentation of 'a life of sensations'.
ReplyDeleteFor example, one of my UVI Formers suggested that Keats doesn't just celebrate rich, lavish sensations sensations, he also celebrates the cold, stark, deathly aspects of sensation. The skill in which he evokes the aching cold and silence in the chapel suggests that he is in awe of its sensual beauty.
Just a simple comment then, it seems that Keats criticises everyone in the poem: the Beadsman, "numb" from sensation, the "argent" guest with "snarling" trumpets, too aware of sensual pleasure that it becomes excessive and grotesque. Then there is Madeline, who is also unaware of sensations, yet in herself is erotic, shown through her quickened breath and highlighted breast. Porphyro, as mentioned above, is also criticised. Keats seems to suggest that there is no perfect balance of Sensation and thought, and the ambiguous nature of his poetry illustrates that.
ReplyDeletePerhaps Keats is saying that nothing is just sensation or just thought that one needs both to appreciate life and beauty.
I don’t know if that is right?
I would say that this is a perfectly justified comment, Zoe. However, we could argue the opposite.
ReplyDelete