Portrayal of Women in La Belle Dame Sans Merci, Lady of...

Portrayal of Women in La Belle Dame Sans Merci, Lady of Shalott, My last Duchess, and Porphyrias Lover Within the five poems we have studied, La Belle Dame Sans Merci, Lady of Shalott, My last duchess, Porphyrias lover and Marianna. Women are portrayed as weak characters with no voice. All of these poems are seen through the eyes of men, who accuse them of being self-centred and lacking in morals. However, these judgements can be placed upon the men themselves. The social/historical position of women during the nineteenth century can be identified within the poems. Brownings dramatic monologues in particular show womens lack of voice and dependency on men during the eighteen hundreds.†¦show more content†¦Keats describes her, as a faerys child and later says in language strange she said I love thee true - this implies her mythical quality which mystifies and captures the knight . The poem represents three characters the narrator, the knight and La belle dame. The story is told by the knight, but begins with opening questions from the narrator, o what can ail thee knight at arms, Alone and palely loitering? Keats portrays La belle dame in a negative light, as a character who distrusts and mistreats the knight. Perhaps this expresses keats feelings towards women, however he creates separate characters with different personalities. Although La belle dame is described as a beautiful mythical creature she uses the knight and leaves him to die. In the last three stanzas of the poem the knight describes the sight of dead men on the cold hill side who have also been enthralled by the faerys child. Her kind words and beauty tricked the knight along with the other men. The title La Belle Dame Sans Merci - the beautiful women without mercy highlights this. The knight in some ways can be seen as being portrayed negatively. Keats portrays men as being superficial human beings who fall for the beauty of woman. The knight is fooled by the faerys child exterior failing to see her deceitful character. Women are