Misogyny

John Keats’ “La Belle Dame sans Merci” may be regarded as one of the best poems of his time due to the complexity in its interpretation despite its relatively cheap language. On scrutiny, the poem appears to be misogynistic. The author in the poem seems to hold strong feelings against women and their possession of a power which can be seen throughout most parts of the poem. The author seems to be attracted to women but at the same time loathes them due to a certain fear that they might disappoint him or control him if he lets his emotions flow freely. This fear may stem from the belief that a woman should not have any power against him, but rather only he should subdue her. As the speaker starts explaining his situation, he makes it clear that he was the one that met the woman, seduced and fell in love with her not the other way around. The author here paints the controlling nature of man against woman. The night-at arms seduce the woman by making “a garland for her head and bracelets too” (Keats, IV, II). These items are adequate for him to have sex with her. He even believes that the woman implied she loved him even though he couldn’t comprehend her language. She also plays her duty of feeding the man well by fetching him manna-dew, honey wild and roots of relish. All of a sudden, the speaker becomes the victim of the woman’s machination. The speaker says that she takes him to her Elfin Grot where she starts controlling him by weeping and lulling him to sleep where he dreams about the warriors, princes, and kings before realizing that would be his last dream.

The speaker in the poem cannot own up to his mistakes but rather ends up blaming the woman and painting himself as the victim of the woman’s callousness. This is still the case with the warriors and kings in his dream who cry that the “the beautiful lady without mercy” also had him under her control yet it was their womanizing character and the desire to take advantage of the beautiful woman that had led them to the situation they had found themselves. It may then be argued that the poet makes use of the knight to put forward his negative feelings against women to warn other men against falling into the traps of their manipulation and control which makes the poem more than misogynistic.
Works cited
Keats, John. “La Belle Dame Sans Merci: A Ballad by John Keats.” Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44475/la-belle-dame-sans-merci-a-ballad%20-%20the%20poem. Accessed 27 June 2018.
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