The relation between the real and the ideal in the odes of John Keats
Author(s)
Advisor
Date
1994Publisher
Bilkent University
Language
English
Type
ThesisItem Usage Stats
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Abstract
The great odes--"Ode to Psyche, " "Ode to a Nightingale, " "Ode on a
Grecian Urn, " "Ode on Melancholy, " and "To Autumn"--were written in the
year 1819, when Keats was approaching his imminent death from
tuberculosis. In the odes, the poet presents conflicts, paradoxes,
oxymorons, and dualities, the resolution of which is essential in approaching
and understanding one of the main themes of the odes, the relation
between the real and the Ideal. Once the conflicts are resolved, the reader
would be able to understand the main ideas and views presented in each
ode and would be able to trace Keats's development as a poet.
Keats's early experiences play an important role in his choice of
themes, and it is reasonable to associate the main themes--the
transitoriness of life and beauty, the inevitability of change and death, and
the relation between the physical and the spiritual--with the different
events of the poet's childhood and adulthood. To cite an instance, the
death of his parents, and later that of his brother, as well as his love
relation with Fanny Brawne, influenced him deeply. To Keats, life is a series
of complementary contradictions which are functions of each other; thus,
he never overlooks the real in order to reach the ideal. In the earlier odes-
"Ode to Psyche, " "Ode to a Nightingale, " and "Ode on a Grecian Urn"--the
poet tries to combine the real and the ideal realms because one has
liveliness and the other permanence. In the later odes--"Ode on Melancholy" and "To Autumn"--he accepts life and its process of change, and he
presents death as a natural phenomenon.
Keats's development as a poet can be traced when we consider the
differences among the odes, but they are similar in spirit and quality. They
all examine the real and the ideal through presenting striking images and
sound effects, which are coupled with the rich tones of the ode form.
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