Current Volume 8
Abstract
This article offers a feminist reassessment of John Keats’ portrayal of women in his poetry and personal letters, focusing on the complex interplay between beauty, power, and gender dynamics. Keats frequently depicts female figures as embodiments of beauty, often idealized as muses or cast as dangerous femme fatales. Through close readings of La Belle Dame sans Merci, Endymion, and Ode on a Grecian Urn, the study explores whether Keats’ works celebrate or objectify women and how his aesthetic ideals contribute to traditional patriarchal narratives. Keats’ personal letters to Fanny Brawne reveal similar tensions between admiration and possessiveness, further highlighting his struggle to reconcile idealized femininity with real female autonomy. While his poetry elevates beauty to a near-divine status, this elevation often reduces women to passive symbols of inspiration. This duality reflects broader Romantic anxieties about gender roles, with women portrayed as both desirable ideals and disruptive threats to male stability. By applying a feminist lens, this article argues that Keats’ works, while deeply lyrical and emotionally rich, perpetuate limiting gender constructs. The study invites readers to reconsider Romantic literature’s treatment of women and the implications for understanding literary portrayals of gender.
Keywords
Feminism; John Keats; Femme Fatale; Romantic Poetry; Gender Dynamics
Citations
IRE Journals:
Pritish Biswas
"Beauty, Power, and the Feminine in John Keats: A Feminist Reassessment" Iconic Research And Engineering Journals Volume 4 Issue 5 2020 Page 111-115
IEEE:
Pritish Biswas
"Beauty, Power, and the Feminine in John Keats: A Feminist Reassessment" Iconic Research And Engineering Journals, 4(5)
About IRE Journals
IRE Journals is an open access online journals established with an aim to publish high quality of research work in various diciplines. We have more than 6 years in publications. Over 2500+ papers already published.
Important Links
For Authors
Volume 7:
Issue 1, Issue 2, Issue 3, Issue 4, Issue 5, Issue 6, Issue 7, Issue 8, Issue 9, Issue 10, Issue 11, Issue 12Volume 6:
Issue 1, Issue 2, Issue 3, Issue 4, Issue 5, Issue 6, Issue 7, Issue 8, Issue 9, Issue 10, Issue 11, Issue 12Volume 5:
Issue 1, Issue 2, Issue 3, Issue 4, Issue 5, Issue 6, Issue 7, Issue 8, Issue 9, Issue 10, Issue 11, Issue 12Volume 4:
Issue 1, Issue 2, Issue 3, Issue 4, Issue 5, Issue 6, Issue 7, Issue 8, Issue 9, Issue 10, Issue 11, Issue 12Volume 3:
Issue 1, Issue 2, Issue 3, Issue 4, Issue 5, Issue 6, Issue 7, Issue 8, Issue 9, Issue 10, Issue 11, Issue 12