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Modes and Genres in the Poetry and Letters of John Keats: an Analysis from the Standpoint of Deconstructive Phenomenology and Feminist Discourse

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Modes and Genres in the Poetry and Letters of John Keats: an Analysis from the Standpoint of Deconstructive Phenomenology and Feminist Discourse MODES AND GENRES IN THE POETRY AND LETTERS OF JOHN KEATS: AN ANALYSIS FROM THE STANDPOINT OF DECONSTRUCTIVE PHENOMENOLOGY AND FEMINIST DISCOURSE ABSTRACT THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF ©octoi of ^ijilosopijp V, : -•• - 'fan IN ENGLISH ^i- ft' I ? *^ BY NAHIDAKHTAR \rt-^\.'^/ u.. WIS" !••'• UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF Dr. SEEMIN HASAN DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY ALIGARH (INDIA) 2008 ABSTRACT In Keats'S- poetry there is an abundance of women. They are an mtegral part of his poetry and letters. They enter into all aspects of his writing and cannot be contained in a single definition. This thesis examines the changing determinations of women in Keats's creative processes. Keats presents them in individual as well as universal identities. Keats conceives the poetic muse as feminine. In the poems of 1817, the feminine entity is an inseparable part of nature. Nature and natural objects are visualized as feminine. The present work also conducts an intensive study of the feminine power and energy acknowledged by Keats throughout the odes. In each ode, the woman presents the central metaphor. In the 'Ode to Psyche', Psyche is represented as the goddess by the poet whose status has been marginal for a long time. The poet restores the lost status of Psyche. She is the ideal beauty that inspires the poet to create. The nightingale, in the 'Ode to a Nightingale', is a bird that fascinates the poet through its voice. In 'Ode on a Grecian Urn', the urn assimilates the qualities of serenity and maternity. She is a friend and companion to mankind. Melancholy in 'Ode on Melancholy' is 'veiled melancholy' ruling majestically in the 'temple of Delight'. To the poet, indolence is desirable because it is full of creativity. Autumn in 'To Autumn' is personified as a female figure who continues to hold her power throughout the poem. Keats's focus on women is a product of his subconscious. The obscuring patriarchal values dismissed references to women as sub literary. In Keats's poetry women are symbols of beauty and creativity. However, they also represent the anxiety that the poet experiences in association with them. The patriarchy condemned women as threats to creativity and imagination. This thesis explores Keats's poetry and letters fi'om the standpoint of deconstructive phenomenology. Deconstruction in literacy criticism denotes a practice of reading which dismantles the establishment of any boundary, unity and fixity of meaning. The present thesis deals with deconstructive phenomenology combining both deconstruction and phenomenology. Deconstruction is a kind of strategy which departs from traditional scholarship. It challenges and attacks the old and established views. Phenomenology considers a text as an embodiment of the author's consciousness. All of its stylistic and semantic aspects are grasped as organic parts of a complex totality of which the unifying essence is the author's mind. When we apply deconstructive phenomenology the unity or totality of the text are dismantled. In the 1817 volume, Poems, we find women everywhere. Keats can not write without them. Women represent sources of beauty, energy and inspiration. Sometimes he seems contemptuous toward them and sometimes he is overwhelmed by their physical beauty, charm and humility. The presence of women is evident throughout the early poems. They possess a significant place and role in his work. He cannot write without them. Women have been shown object of beauty as well as of reverence. 'Fill for me a brimming bowl' discusses women in a strong role. Keats's feminist attitude is evident in most of his poems, but in some of his poems his chauvinism is visible e.g. in 'Ah, who can e'er forget so fair a being'. This 'undecidability' according to Derrida is an 'oscillation between possibilities'. Endymion, composed between April - November 1817, is saturated in a feminine mood. Keats's hero is pitted against nature, beauty and sexuality. According to conventional western thought, passivity is associated with the feminine. Endymion is acted upon by the Moon- Goddess. He is thus feminized in order to be made receptive and creative. Led by Cynthia, Endymion is caught in a whirl of ardent pursuits, entanglements and self-destroying enthrallments. Traditional male power structures are discarded in favor of the pale, melancholy, tearful hero. Hyperion opens with a tabloid of defeated patriarchy. Saturn sits in absolute quietness like a statue. An overwhelmed Naiad presses 'her cold finger closer to her lips' and participates in his sorrow. His large foot prints trace his enormous stature. He has lost his ruling position and reduced to this pitiable condition, he turns to his mother for comfort and kneels before her. She is Mother Earth symbolic of nurturing maternity. The Fall of Hyperion is a reworking oi Hyperion. It has been recast in the form of a vision in which the defeat of the Titans is narrated by a priestess Moneta through the dream mechanism. Keats thus endows Moneta with oracular and prophetic properties. In the odes Keats's projection of femininity is at its height. To a certain extent, Keats's ambiguity toward the feminine persona, which dominates his earlier poetry, is resolved in this part. Their power and energy is acknowledged by Keats throughout the odes. Each one of Keats's ballads projects a central female character. Each ballad narrates a love theme. The woman's role in love relationship has been analyzed from different perspectives by the poet. The Fanny poems represent Keats's own experiences regarding his love. The most important aspect to his attitude toward women is to be found in his attitude to Fanny Brawne. Her role is very important in his life. His poems are the expression of his overwhelming love. In these poems, Keats talks about her beauty which fascinates and overwhelms him. He is unable to resist her beauty and charm. Her thoughts imprison him and he feels helpless before her like his male characters of poems. In his poems and letters to Fanny Brawne, the fear of desertion keeps recurring in Keats's mind. Uncertainty looms around him. He desires Fanny to be stable, single minded and constant. He is possessive about her and requests her to be true and loyal to him. Thus Keats's feelings are profound regarding Fanny Brawne. She is not a hindrance in Keats's artistic creation as she was once believed to be. When seen from the feminist perspective she seems to provide strength to Keats. Keats's letters show his ambivalent attitude about women. He sometimes seems to be under social pressure to adopt the norms of masculinity. But at other times, he accepts that his attitude toward women has changed with maturity. Keats's letters are considered as a pretext to his poetry. They are an inseparable part of his work because they reveal his philosophy, his views on life as well as his attitude toward women. But Keats's views regarding women keep fluctuating. Sometimes he calls them 'a set of Devils' but at other times, he rejects the egotistical sublime of Wordsworth over the 'negative capability' of Shakespeare. This shows his inclination from his masculine to the feminine self. Keats's thoughts are not fixed on any particular woman in the 1817 letters. He gives his general opinion about women. MODES AND GENRES IN THE POETRY AND LETTERS OF JOHN KEATS: AN ANALYSIS FROM THE STANDPOINT OF DECONSTRUCTIVE PHENOMENOLOGY AND FEMINIST DISCOURSE THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF Doctor of Bi)ilosop!jji> IN ENGLISH ^ ^ BY ^ / i^si^ c NAHIDAKHTAR ./ -V / ;- >^." ^ UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF Dr. SEEMIN HASAN DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY ALIGARH (INDIA) 2008 ,...'^ ^'\^ ^«^ lllilllliiiiiiiii T7088 Phones Off. : 0571-2700920-22 [ Extn. : 1425, 1426 DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY, ALIGARH - 202002 (INDIA) Ref. No. Dated..Mf.9.l.08.. This is to certify that Ms. Nahid Akhtar has completed her thesis entitled Modes and Genres in the Poetry and Letters of John Keats: An Analysis from the Standpoint of Deconstructive Phenomenology and Feminist Discourse under my supervision. To the best of my knowledge this is her original work. (Dr. Seemirl Hasan) Supervisor dedicated Thorny (parents CONTENTS Page No. Acknowledgement i-ii Chapter-I An Exploration of Memory, Perception and 1-17 Identity Chapter-II Memory, Magic and Melancholy 18-83 Chapter-Ill Dream, Mystery and Enchantment 84-144 Chapter-IV Fancy, Femme Fatales and Fanny Brawne 145-211 Chapter-V The Realms of Gold 212-225 Bibliography 226-234 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I bow in reverence to the Almighty Allah Whose blessings provided me required devotion for the completion of this work. I would like to express my deep sense of gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Seemin Hasan, Department of English, AMU, Aligarh for her constant guidance and valuable suggestions. It would not have been possible to submit the thesis without her continuous encouragement and cooperation. I express my heartfelt gratitude to Professor Sohail Ahsan, Chairman, Department of English, AMU, Aligarh and other teachers for their inspiration. I acknowledge my thanks to the staff of the Department of English, especially the Seminar Librarian Mr. Parvez for his assistance in providing the books. Thanks are also due to various libraries, Maulana Azad Library, AMU, Aligarh, Centre for Women's Studies Library, AMU, Aligarh, Sahitya Academy Library, New Delhi, Central Secretariat Library, New Delhi, Delhi University Library and British Council Library, New Delhi, for access to relevant material. I would like to send very special thanks to my husband Dr. Shakil Ahmad for his consistent cooperation, encouragement and invaluable support. My son Ahmad Shayan is also worthy to be admired whose patience and lovely smile gave me the energy to complete my work.
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