LAMIA ANALYSIS :
QUOTE METHOD / theme ANALYSIS
‘’She seemed at once , some -identity -Lamia’s identity is ambiguous
penanced Lady elf , some -imagery and unresolved .
demon’s mistress , or the -individualism - Reflects the Letter to Fanny
demon self . ‘’ -repetition of demon Brawne ‘’ Ask yourself my love
whether you are not very cruel
to have so entrammelled me ,
so destroyed my freedom . ‘’
-Felton argued of the fluidity
and hybridity associated with
the female body –whose
reproductive capacities posed
both a mystery and a threat to
male social order .
-Feminity associated with
monstrosity .
-Patriarchy fearful of females >
due to females being
mysterious figure . Patriarchy
found it difficult to understand
female mystery .
-Felton’s notion was patriarchy
threatened by monstrous
individual women .
-Questions Lamia’s character :
Is she being villainised / is it
she a victim / is she a tragic
hero ?
-Initially she starts of as a
villain , then transforms into a
victim in part 2 .
-transformation allows her to
gain autonomy and sense of
identity
-Unlike , other female
characters in Keat’s , she has a
strong identity > however this
makes her prone to existing as
a villain (in Keat’s eyes )
-Critics thought Keat’s poems
gave him a feminine voice >
Lamia is reflective of Keat’s
transformation as this poem
has more masculine undertone
.
‘’Demon’s mistress , ‘’ she is
demonic but holds less
responsibility . Questions
, whether she innately evil or
subservient to evil ?
-Moral of L.B.M shows the
resilience of love , whereas
Lamia is abandoned from the
earth .Lamia is trapped in a
snake’s body > Lamia is a tragic
victim from the very
beginning .
-Reading this from a
misogynistic Christian
perspective – all women are
descendants of the wicked Eve
> highlights the fall of man .
Women have always been
blamed into the fall of man .
Notion all women are
seductresses – prototype
femme fatale ( first )
‘’Her beauty Veil'd , to keep it -loss of identity -This quotes merely regards
unaffronted , unassail’d . ‘’ the nymph and Hermes , the
nymph which Lamia
selfishlessly reveals in order to
pursue her love with Lycius .
- The Human world is excluded
from the framework story
which contrasts the immortal
world , thus serving as a
warning that though affairs
between immortal creatures
are possible , affairs between
humans / gods are not for
example Lamia and Lycius .
- The Mortal world is a place
where the pursuit of desire is
an illusion and love fades .
-Lamia is a symbol of desire –
both an illusion in herself .
Mortal world kills love .
-Lamia willing to betray fellow
female and sacrifice her to
Hermes – not wholly
admirable .
‘’ Dazzling , rainbow sided . ‘’ -symbol of fantasy -Whenever rainbows appear in
-identity ‘Lamia’ they symbolise the
mystery and magic –
everything is sublime , grand
and beyond human
comprehension .
-You can perceive it , yet never
grasp it > thus a perfect image
QUOTE METHOD / theme ANALYSIS
‘’She seemed at once , some -identity -Lamia’s identity is ambiguous
penanced Lady elf , some -imagery and unresolved .
demon’s mistress , or the -individualism - Reflects the Letter to Fanny
demon self . ‘’ -repetition of demon Brawne ‘’ Ask yourself my love
whether you are not very cruel
to have so entrammelled me ,
so destroyed my freedom . ‘’
-Felton argued of the fluidity
and hybridity associated with
the female body –whose
reproductive capacities posed
both a mystery and a threat to
male social order .
-Feminity associated with
monstrosity .
-Patriarchy fearful of females >
due to females being
mysterious figure . Patriarchy
found it difficult to understand
female mystery .
-Felton’s notion was patriarchy
threatened by monstrous
individual women .
-Questions Lamia’s character :
Is she being villainised / is it
she a victim / is she a tragic
hero ?
-Initially she starts of as a
villain , then transforms into a
victim in part 2 .
-transformation allows her to
gain autonomy and sense of
identity
-Unlike , other female
characters in Keat’s , she has a
strong identity > however this
makes her prone to existing as
a villain (in Keat’s eyes )
-Critics thought Keat’s poems
gave him a feminine voice >
Lamia is reflective of Keat’s
transformation as this poem
has more masculine undertone
.
‘’Demon’s mistress , ‘’ she is
demonic but holds less
responsibility . Questions
, whether she innately evil or
subservient to evil ?
-Moral of L.B.M shows the
resilience of love , whereas
Lamia is abandoned from the
earth .Lamia is trapped in a
snake’s body > Lamia is a tragic
victim from the very
beginning .
-Reading this from a
misogynistic Christian
perspective – all women are
descendants of the wicked Eve
> highlights the fall of man .
Women have always been
blamed into the fall of man .
Notion all women are
seductresses – prototype
femme fatale ( first )
‘’Her beauty Veil'd , to keep it -loss of identity -This quotes merely regards
unaffronted , unassail’d . ‘’ the nymph and Hermes , the
nymph which Lamia
selfishlessly reveals in order to
pursue her love with Lycius .
- The Human world is excluded
from the framework story
which contrasts the immortal
world , thus serving as a
warning that though affairs
between immortal creatures
are possible , affairs between
humans / gods are not for
example Lamia and Lycius .
- The Mortal world is a place
where the pursuit of desire is
an illusion and love fades .
-Lamia is a symbol of desire –
both an illusion in herself .
Mortal world kills love .
-Lamia willing to betray fellow
female and sacrifice her to
Hermes – not wholly
admirable .
‘’ Dazzling , rainbow sided . ‘’ -symbol of fantasy -Whenever rainbows appear in
-identity ‘Lamia’ they symbolise the
mystery and magic –
everything is sublime , grand
and beyond human
comprehension .
-You can perceive it , yet never
grasp it > thus a perfect image
