What is Keats's attitude towards Love and Philosophy?

University Degree Linguistics, Classics and related subjects

Claire Gittoes

What is Keats’s attitude towards Love and Philosophy?

From studying Keats poems it is apparent that Keats’s has a number of different Philosophies. These philosophies can be defined as his beliefs and assessments on life. As poet this meant that these values and attitudes were conveyed in his writing. However, Keats being a human being his views and opinions about life were constantly changing in tune with his feelings. After all he was young and did not want to be defined by a system and certainly did not want to be tied down by a woman. Ultimately Keats wanted to be free, hence his idea about negative capability.

Occasionally, Keats’s work does agree with his recorded philosophies and these clashing seems to match Keats's own conflicted views on life and death. One may argue that Keats is somewhat hypocritical in not having the ability to strictly adhere to his theories on poetry, but when you consider Keats's view of poetry to be a larger metaphor for life and mortality, the deviations are justifiable. Keats's poetic philosophy, as explained in his letters and poetry, contains contradictions that are difficult to explain, he has quite strong views and attitudes, which can be seen in his poetry.

Nevertheless, “Of all the Romantic poets Keats is in some ways the most amenable to being read for his ‘philosophy.’” It could be argued that this is because there are a few times in his poetry that Keats preaches to us. More often he asks his audience to consider ideas rather than insisting on their acceptance. This contrasts to Keats’ contemporaries or those poets of the egotistical sublime’ who often try to force their own philosophy upon us, the ‘reader.’ A clearer understanding of Keats’s personal philosophy is captured in that which he defines as the ‘egotistical sublime’ and the ‘camelion poet,’ the concept of the ‘camelion poet’ being based on the assumption that poetry should emerge from ‘disinterested, amoral, selfless contemplation.’ This is links to the idea of the poet and the nature of poetry.

Keats's attitudes to philosophy can never be isolated from his more generally moral and religious searching. Critical attention has focused on Keats's philosophy, which involves not abstract thought but rather absolute receptivity to experience. This attitude is indicated in his celebrated term ‘negative capability’ which Keats’s describes as being “when man is capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts without any irritable reaching after fact and reason." It is an imperative for his achievement in literature, but it is also a possibly attractive human stance. It implies scepticism, "nothing in this world is provable" and a morally ‘disinterested deliberation of the energies of life,’ often used as a definitive statement of Keats’s poetics and the ‘idea at the heart of his own achievements.’

However, it may be argued that this was in fact not Keats’s view and just a concept, which he explored whilst trying to establish his own poetic development. Keats’s early work would confirm this argument, ‘On the Sea’ seems exhilarated by the freedom of doubts and mystery but the later ‘The Fall of Hyperion’, appears to have a desire for assurance and comfort. The yearning for imaginative transcendence has been replaced by a desire to focus on the truth of human suffering. As Glennis Byron states, “The poet like the physician, is seen to have a duty to ...

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Closely related to the idea of ‘Negative Capability’ is the ability to discover the ideal through the real; ‘the world of senses.’ Keats, in his letter, shaped this idea: "Do you not see how necessary a World of Pains and troubles is to school an Intelligence and make it a Soul?" Keats' life was stricken with despair for some time and this worsened with his Love of Fanny Brawne that, because he was unfit for husbandry at the time, did nothing more than torment him. So, with this ‘new world-view,’ he could accept all the 'World of Pains and troubles' as necessary for his spiritual growth as an individual.

In Keats’s early poetry such as, ‘Endymion’ he deals with the idea of beauty being the ‘sensuous and temporal manifestation of some ultimate transcendent truth, which gives meaning to the world of experience.’ Keats’s poetry emphasises a constant awareness of the evil and suffering in the world. Beauty and truth are dealt with many times through many of Keats’s poems, nevertheless the link is not always apparent and at times truth seems to be replaced by knowledge.

An understanding of the miseries of the world is seen as an essential part of becoming a ‘true’ poet, this is given clarity through, ‘The Fall of Hyperion’ and ‘Sleep and Poetry,’ where Keats’s anticipates his ‘nobler’ existence as a poet aware of the reality of human suffering, “’And can I bid these joys farewell? Yes, I must pass them for a nobler life, where I may find the agonies, the strife of human hearts.”

This need for knowledge and understanding gradually grew into a desire for a stable identity formed and regulated by experience. Keats’s elaborated into ‘Chamber Maiden-Thought.’ ‘In this chamber we are first intoxicated with pleasant wonders, but as the vision gradually sharpness there is a fall into self-consciousness.’ We then begin to realise the ‘World is full of Misery and Heartbreak, Pain, Sickness and oppression’ and this chamber’ becomes gradually darken’d.’ Many doors are open, but all lead to dark passages: ‘we see no the balance of good and evil.’ The third chamber is ‘stored with the wine of love.’ This whole concept symbolizes Keats’s progression from ‘a life of sensations’ into a need for ‘extensive knowledge.’

Keats often attempts to express a philosophy and need for knowledge through classical legend. There are numerous times in his early poetry that he refers to classical gods and philosophers, possibly in attempt to communicate his own developing philosophy. For instance, in his poem, ‘Dear Reynolds, as last night I lay in bed,’ Keats refers to Voltaire, a French philosopher, who was regarded as a great figure in French literature, he was described by Larson as ‘Bequeathing a lesson to humanity, which has lost nothing of its value. He taught men to think clearly; his was a mind at once precise and generous. “He is the necessary philosopher.”’ By referring to figures such as Voltaire this gives us an indication of the type of influence that Keats’s wanted his poetry to have. In addition, Keats also refers to other philosophers in his work such as, Platonic and Apollonius.

Keats’s expresses another of his philosophies in, ‘On seeing the Elgin Marbles.’ Here he explores the idea that humans die yet art does not, this is possibly Keats’s expressing his more complex conception of poetry and the weakness and limitation of human life. Keats’s conveys his respect for the brilliancy and magnitude for art, juxtaposed with the weakness and inadequacy of the human spirit. This is understandably something that Keats’s is preoccupied with, for example in ‘Eve of St. Agnes’ death and coldness is used to frame the story of Porphro and Madeline; the preoccupation and philosophies based around death are justifiably due to the fact that he suffered so many tragedies in his short life.

Keats's poetic philosophy contains contradictions that are difficult to explain. In one poem he expresses his longing for poetry of "sensations" rather than "thoughts," yet in a letter he admires Wordsworth's ability to "explore those dark passages" of "mystery" philosophically. Because of the obvious contradiction, it is apparent that his philosophical assessment of poetry was not fixed. Keats refined his poetic philosophy in maturity. To accommodate his growing interest in philosophy and self-identity. In short, his attitude to towards philosophy was an every changing one. Just as the need for mutability becomes an essential part of Keats’s eventual belief in purposeful growth, as does his attitude towards philosophy.

Keats view on love is very much like his attitude towards philosophy in its ambivalence and it is this uncertainty that is often the subject of many of his poems. Keats frequently uses an encounter with a female figure to represent visionary experience, however, his deepest anxieties are also revealed through his conflict with power signified by the female form. The way in which Keats chooses to describe the female figures in his poetry would suggest both attraction and apprehension, he uses words such as ‘enthrall’ and ‘ensnare.’

Often Keats’s imagination focuses on erotic encounters with a sensuous goddess or nymph. However, in the ‘The Fall of Hyperion’ the goddess becomes a desexualised and cruel creature. This confuses us ‘the reader’ as to what view Keats’s has about love, is it then love or just simply physical attraction. It may be argued that Keats’s is simple putting forward the typical chauvinistic view of the time after all Keats’s is quoted to have said that he did not want ladies to read his poetry, he wrote for men.

Love plays a variety of different roles in Keats’s poetry, for example in ‘La Belle Dame sans Merci,’ love is seen as harmful. The story, a seductive tale where treacherous women who tempt men away from the real world and then leave them, their dreams unfulfilled and their lives blighted. Alternative interpretations have suggested that it is about the wasting power of sexual love. In most interpretations, love is seen as destructive, so, is this Keats’s view? His latter poems would suggest so.

This view is reinforced in his poem, ‘On sitting down to Read King Lear once again,’ he describes the ‘fair plumed Syren.’ Whilst Keats finds her attractive and seductive, he also recognises her dangers and limitations. Here romance and love has been feminised, which would suggest that it is women that he fears rather than love itself.

In his poem, ‘On sitting down to Read King Lear once again,’ Keats seems to be turning way from romance and love; favouring tragedy, despite having written ‘Endymion’ a poetic romance, only a year earlier. Therefore, one could argue that Keats felt that the only way to further his career and be known for his art was to write about tragedy and the ‘miseries of the world,’ which include the possible harm and destruction that can come from love. However, this was not necessarily his attitude towards love.

The ambivalence of his attitude towards love, is demonstrated in his poem ‘Lamia.’ One could argue that the dynamics of this poem symbolizes Keats general view of love. The story begins with love and ends with tragedy possibly signifying Keats’ journey of exploration of love. The poem begins by describing the excitement of love, ‘the words she spake came, as through bubbling honey,’ suggesting the exhilaration and power that love can provide. However, this love transforms into fatal love causing pain, ‘pale with pain, the cruel lady.’ The ‘lady’ who caused excitement and thrill at the beginning of the poem is now seen as cruel and seductive, ‘and as he from one trance was wakening into another, she begin to sing.’ Here the nature of love is constantly changing, possibly in tune with the meaning of love Keats chooses to hold.

Keats attitude to both love and philosophy are ambivalent. Love in particular is open to the reader’s own interpretation and understanding of the poems. One could argue that Keats remains sceptical about love but never rules it out all together. However, it may also be argued that Keats becomes an ‘anti-romantic’ and has a very negative attitude towards love. Keats's poetic philosophy contains many contradictions and ambiguities just as his view on love. It is apparent from reading his poetry that both his philosophical assessment of poetry and attitude towards love were constantly undergoing change, so it is impossible to generalise his constantly changing to attitude into simple terms.

Bibliography

John Keats Selected Poems: York Notes

Britannica Encyclopaedia