‘La Belle Dame’ is the tragic villain of Keats’ poem. To what
extent do you agree?
The characterisation of a tragic villain strongly differs to the
characterisation of any other type of antagonistic figure in fiction, as it
relies on the convention of the genre rather than any variations decided
upon by the author. There is a unique sense of grandiosity to a tragic
villain’s actions, considering that tragic fiction specifically centres around
the themes of fate and futility. The translated of title of this poem, ‘The
Beautiful Lady without Mercy’, is overt in its message of the titular
character’s callousness and status as the tragic villain of the poem.
Along with these established themes of destiny, tragic fiction also centres
heightened characters, for example, a tragic villain often has little depth
outside of their villainy and is not given the grace that is awarded to other
characters in the text to be able to develop into multifaceted beings.
Considering this, La Belle Dame is certainly the tragic villain of the poem,
with a slight caveat. The poem is only told from the knight’s perspective,
not hers.
There is a suggestion of her villainy early in the poem in the way she is
described on a physical level, even before she begins to act cruelly
towards the knight. Her beauty borders on supernatural, with her
appearance resembling that of a ‘faery’s child’, with ‘wild’ eyes that don’t
resemble those of a mortal woman. This again reinforces the concept of
tragic villains having little humanity, admittedly at an extreme. She is
depicted as not being human at all. The knight also shares that there were
issues in communicating with La Belle Dame, with him interpreting her
looking at him as her looking at him with love, as he was unable to
understand the ‘language strange’ in which she spoke to him. Considering
both of these aspects of her character, it is clear that La Belle Dame is
intended to be a villainous, otherworldly temptress rather than a beautiful
human woman who holds no ill intent towards men. The ambiguity of her
motivations, however, cement her as a tragic villain rather than a general
antagonist.
Along with these previous descriptions of her supernatural actions, La
Belle Dame is also depicted as engaging in other odd behaviour. She
drags the knight to her ‘elfin grot’, a fairy grotto, and sings him a lullaby
that makes him fall heavily asleep almost in an instant. The dream is
frightening and hallucinatory, with ‘pale kings and princes’ warning the
knight of her evil intentions. ‘Pale’ is repeated multiple times throughout
this stanza in a way akin to a stark chant, drawing further attention
toward the withering effects of La Belle Dame’s charms, holding many
men in ‘thrall’. Alongside this, there is also a pained urgency to the
warning of the pale men, with their mouths ‘gaped wide’ in ‘horrid
warning’, again contributing to the image of La Belle Dame’s unabashed
villainy.
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extent do you agree?
The characterisation of a tragic villain strongly differs to the
characterisation of any other type of antagonistic figure in fiction, as it
relies on the convention of the genre rather than any variations decided
upon by the author. There is a unique sense of grandiosity to a tragic
villain’s actions, considering that tragic fiction specifically centres around
the themes of fate and futility. The translated of title of this poem, ‘The
Beautiful Lady without Mercy’, is overt in its message of the titular
character’s callousness and status as the tragic villain of the poem.
Along with these established themes of destiny, tragic fiction also centres
heightened characters, for example, a tragic villain often has little depth
outside of their villainy and is not given the grace that is awarded to other
characters in the text to be able to develop into multifaceted beings.
Considering this, La Belle Dame is certainly the tragic villain of the poem,
with a slight caveat. The poem is only told from the knight’s perspective,
not hers.
There is a suggestion of her villainy early in the poem in the way she is
described on a physical level, even before she begins to act cruelly
towards the knight. Her beauty borders on supernatural, with her
appearance resembling that of a ‘faery’s child’, with ‘wild’ eyes that don’t
resemble those of a mortal woman. This again reinforces the concept of
tragic villains having little humanity, admittedly at an extreme. She is
depicted as not being human at all. The knight also shares that there were
issues in communicating with La Belle Dame, with him interpreting her
looking at him as her looking at him with love, as he was unable to
understand the ‘language strange’ in which she spoke to him. Considering
both of these aspects of her character, it is clear that La Belle Dame is
intended to be a villainous, otherworldly temptress rather than a beautiful
human woman who holds no ill intent towards men. The ambiguity of her
motivations, however, cement her as a tragic villain rather than a general
antagonist.
Along with these previous descriptions of her supernatural actions, La
Belle Dame is also depicted as engaging in other odd behaviour. She
drags the knight to her ‘elfin grot’, a fairy grotto, and sings him a lullaby
that makes him fall heavily asleep almost in an instant. The dream is
frightening and hallucinatory, with ‘pale kings and princes’ warning the
knight of her evil intentions. ‘Pale’ is repeated multiple times throughout
this stanza in a way akin to a stark chant, drawing further attention
toward the withering effects of La Belle Dame’s charms, holding many
men in ‘thrall’. Alongside this, there is also a pained urgency to the
warning of the pale men, with their mouths ‘gaped wide’ in ‘horrid
warning’, again contributing to the image of La Belle Dame’s unabashed
villainy.
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