Eve of St Anges

A detailed Summary of Eve of St Anges

Someone once said that true love is only an illusion and can never be achieved. This is evidently shown through many elements of the poem by John Keats, "The Eve of St. Agnes." Much of this poem is about the imagination and how it can blind people and make them oblivious to the true events that are occurring. We the readers can see this very easily through the portrayal of one of the main characters Madeline. The second main character Porphyro tries to authenticate her quest for a dream experience however ends up taking advantage of her while she thinks she is still dreaming. The poem does endorse how the power of Madeline's visionary imagination can influence her and the others around her, but also that happenings outside of the dream can cause the person in the dream to be taken advantage of with out the dreamers knowledge. The truth is that Porphyro knows exactly what he is doing and instead of doing things in a honorable way, he decides to proceed in a dishonorable way and totally violates her visionary imagination.

The night that is being spoken of in this poem is a night of dreams and imagination. It is supposed to be a mystical night in which young women have dreams of their one true love. Madeline takes this to

Thoughout the poem Porphyro tries to authenticate her dreaming experience however in the process he totally violates her dreaming experience and he knows exactly what he is doing. Angela whom he uses to get into her bedroom chamber also seemed to succumb to the mystical power of the night. This cannot happened because she doesn't believe in the mystical powers of the night. However what does affect her is that Madeline believes in the night and is power and just that belief in that power has influenced someone that doesn't believe in the night, Angela. It doesn't help that the people who were supposed to watch out for her and protect her didn't do their job and to me they seem senile, Angela especially. When Angela sees that Porphyro is there and has asked her to tell him where Madeline is, she promptly replies, "Get Hence! Get Hence! ... Flit like a ghost away."(100-105) She basically tell him to leave right now because it is not right that he is there and he could get into big trouble if he is there. Porphyro continues to stay there and talk to Angela. She eventually tells Porphyro that Madeline is "...By the holy loom / Which none but secret sisterhood may see, / When they St. Agnes' wool are weaving piously."(115-117) This defies logic because why does Angela tell Porphyro where Madeline is when he is not even supposed to be there. This starts to show the effects of how powerful ones visionary imagination, Madeline's, can affect a non believer, Angela

Keats, John. "The Eve of St. Agnes." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Vol II, Ed. MH Abrams, et al. New York; Norton 2000. Pg 834-844.

Upon hearing this Porphyro comes up to at least what he thinks is a brilliant plan. He tries to talk Angela to lead him to Madeline's chamber to which he is not supposed to go, so "That he might see her beauty unespied, / and win perhaps that night a peerless bride," (166-167) A young gentleman should not be asking such a question. He is not acting noble. Angela knows this but yet with very little convincing she decides to lead him to Madeline's chamber and hide him in a closet. Jack Stillinger points out that "Then Angela asserts a kind of orthodox middle-class morality: 'Ah! Thou must need the lady wed' (179)" (p. 75) This shows to me that she knows that it is wrong to do so, and thinks that everyone needs a wife. Yet I think that because of the night and its mystical powers is why she unknowingly succumbs to his pressure with very little trouble on the part of Porphyro. Angela has fallen under the spell of the mystical night

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1729
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English