LAMIA
Denouement – lines 239-311
Eleanor Charman
SUMMARY
Lycius and Lamia are enjoying their wedding feast when
suddenly Lycius spies his old teacher sitting across the room,
despite Lamia’s pleas that he not attend. The man is staring
hard at Lamia, ‘without a twinkle or stir/Brow-beating her
fair form’ which seems to alarm Lamia. Suddenly her hand
turns from icy to hot, sending unnatural pains to Lycius’s
heart. He questions her in alarm, fearing she is ill, but she
does not answer, and his senses ‘reel’ at the sight of her.
The room goes quiet, the orchestra stops. Men feel ‘terror in
their hair’ and Lycius, in despair, shrieks ‘Begone foul dream’
at the new, wretched Lamia. He then turns his attention to
his teacher and asks him to stop staring at her, but he
refuses, calling Lycius a fool to become ‘a serpents prey’. He
turns to Lamia and utters ‘a serpent!’ Lamia vanishes from
the arms of Lycius, never to be seen again. From that night,
Lycius takes ill and eventually dies – in his marriage robes.
THEME –sight/appearance vs
reality (lost illusions)
‘lashless eyelids stretch around his demon eyes’ –to be a man of cold philosophy is be like the
devil and to have the power over heaven or damnation for people like Lamia and Lycius. The devil
is supposed to be able to see into people’s souls and determine whether they are good or bad – like
Apollonius was able to see the wickedness at Lamia’s core. The devil is also a being who takes
souls away from God, here, (Lamia being God) he takes the soul (Lycius) away from God, which is
why Lamia labels him a ‘demon’.
‘sophists eye like a sharp spear went through her’
This is one of the lines in the semantic field of ‘seeing/eyes’ throughout the poem, and
demonstrates the power needed (had only by a sorcerer) to see through the illusions of Lamia. This
could be a message to readers – that the difference between appearance vs reality is very difficult
to spot in real life. It could also show the power of truth as it is described as ‘cutting’ through
Lamia – implying it beings physical pain.
‘her weak hand/Motion’d him to be silent’ then ‘vainly so, he look’d and look’d again –
No!’
This is the final realization – where Lycius is finally able to ‘see’ the truth and is fighting against
his loss of illusions’ the emphasis of ‘No!’ made more powerful by an exclamation mark shows his
fight to keep his old illusions as the reality seems so painful. Unlike the enlightenment that the
truth in the last quote brought, this line brings pain, - perhaps a message to readers that truth is
painful as well as lies. Lamia is also fighting to keep her illusions but this time for power and not
sentimental reasons.
THEME – power
BEAUTY:
• ‘scarce saw in the room another face till checking his love trance’
‘trance’ - a half-conscious state characterized by an absence of response
to external stimuli, typically as induced by hypnosis or entered by a
medium. Trances are often brought on by either sorcery, control or mental
illness, of which all seem to apply to Lycius. They are often presented as negative
things and this is true here – it seems that Lamia has used her powers of sorcery
and seduction to distract Lycius from the outside world, and especially from the
influences of Apollonius, whom it is implied hates women. (he doesn’t see anyone
else until then even though he is sitting in ‘the chief place’ looking out on all his
friends. Apollonius threatens to take Lycius away from Lamia, and his influence
over him is shown when we are told that he is the first person Lycius sees when
out of his trance.)
• ‘arms were empty of delight as were his limbs of life’
Lycius is almost a parasite – he ‘feeds’ on Lamia for the will to live and for the
feeling of love and pleasure. When Lamia vanishes, he dies that night, implying
that he is helpless without her, and establishes him as a victim by the definition
‘a person who has come to feel helpless and passive in the face of
misfortune or ill-treatment.’ Imbalance of power between himself and Lamia
is further shown by the fact that victims are harmed by the actions of another or
an event – Lycius is harmed by Lamia seducing him.
IMAGERY:
‘unlawful magic and enticing eyes’
‘twas icy and the cold ran through his veins/grew hot.’
‘withers’
• ‘become shrunken or wrinkled from age or disease/fall into
decay’
This suggests that Lamia is literally crumpling up and dying due to the
power of Apollonius’s gaze, presenting her as less of a threat and
suggesting that she will lose her conquest of Lycius as she is so
overpowered by a devotee of her lover. This hints at a happy ending
where Lycius is freed from her influence, however, although Lamia is
defeated, Lycius remains devoted to her and dies because she has left.
POWER:
‘from every ill of life have I preserved thee to this day’
‘her weak hand/Motion’d him to be silent’ then ‘vainly so, he
look’d and look’d again – No!’
This shows the weakening power that Lamia has over Lycius’s actions as
he deliberately disobeys her here, which he would be loath to do earlier
in the poem.
SYMBOLISM:
‘the myrtle sickened in a thousand wreaths’
• Wreaths are arrangements of flowers primarily used at funerals –
foreshadowing death to come.
• MYRTLE:
‘According to ancient Greek mythology, Venus, the goddess of love visited the Isle of
Cytheraea but was ashamed to show herself because she was naked. To hide her
nakedness, Venus hid behind the myrtle tree. She later adopted the tree as her
favorite and it became known as sacred to Venus. It was thought to inspire lasting
love.’
This last line is ironic. The sickening of the plant thought to bring ‘lasting love’ dies
when Apollonius suspects Lamia’s true identity, meaning that her true self will
always deny her love. Perhaps it also suggests that the lovers could have had a long
lasting love if Apollonius or ‘cold philosophy’ had not intervened with magic and
mythology.
Myrtle also means ‘truth’ ‘innocence’ and ‘chastity’
Chastity means ‘to stay faithful’. Lamia’s are known for having many men one after
the other (after they have devoured them they move on), therefore the myrtle and
the promise of chastity must wither when her true identity is revealed. Truth is
revealed, even when the myrtle dies, keeping it’s promise and foreshadowing the
great reveal to come.
SYMBOLISM:
‘serpent’ and ‘made a serpents prey’
Snakes are widespread symbols of both good and evil – which could
relate to the poem in the sense that the character of Lamia has both
good and evil traits.
In some cultures, such as in the Americas, snakes are symbols of
fertility – referring to Lamia’s connection with Aphrodite, the goddess of
love, and her own powers of seduction.
However, due to Keats’s own knowledge and the knowledge of readers at the time, Christian and European
mythology may be more accurate. In the Bible book of Genesis, a snake is a deceptive trickster which
promotes as good what God had forbidden – eating from the Tree of Knowledge. Lamia is like the serpent in
this respect due to her lies/lies by omission to Lycius and her refusal to admit her true form.
In some sects, it is a symbol of sexual desire – just like Lamia was to the Greeks.
However, to counteract this, it is also a symbol of salvation and resurrection in the Bible. "As Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes
in Him should not perish but have eternal life". This could suggest that Lamia is capable of letting go of
her evil desires and her past and gives us hope, just as she was able to shed her snake form.
CHARACTERISATION
LAMIA:
Lamia is quite a complex character. Her sexual experience is presented as quite
negative. Examples are ‘her ‘Circean Head’, referring to Circe, a great enchantress
who would use her powers to turn men into swine – or in Lamia’s case, devoted slaves,
(as Lycius discards his teacher in favour of her – ‘turn them aside wretch!’)
Circe was the ideal of a predatory female for centuries which is backed up with Lamia
lying in wait for Lycius outside the temple of love and later being described as ‘a
serpent’ with Lycius as her ‘prey’. Seeing that she gains Lycius mostly through his
sexual desire, and because of it he is made her ‘prey’ – totally helpless to his fate, it
stands to reason that Lamia’s sexual experience is presented in a bad light.
Lines like ‘won his heart more sweetly by playing women’s part’ (knowing her goddess
form scares Lycius slightly) do act to make Lamia seem kinder, especially as she is
careful not to frighten her love, however, this could also be interpreted as clever,
predatorial thinking to lure Lycius into a false sense of security, making her again
seem a villain.
Lamia has power over many things but shrinks at the sight of Apollonius, ‘waving a
weak hand’ and visibly ‘withers’. Despite her power over men, her power is
somewhat diminished over her constant fear of her secret being found out. This
weakness is shown in her cowardly act of vanishing after her true identity is revealed,
showing that she cannot face defeat - ‘with a frightful scream’.
CHARACTERISATION
LYCIUS:
Attractive and passionate, loving but physically and mentally weak.
Lycius is the Orpheus of the story, too impatient and mentally weak to wait for happiness to
come to him. He rushes into their marriage in order to cement their happiness despite
Lamia’s reluctance and discards the teachings of a ‘sage’ man who has protected him as he
is so blinded by love. He therefore provides the moral of the poem – ‘all that seems good is
not always good but we fail to see it’. Another weakness is his inability to accept fate or
accept it calmly. He ‘sank surpine’ (surpine: lying face upward/failing to act or protest
as a result of moral weakness or indolence) after being called a ‘fool’ and realising
something is wrong. We later learn that he dies ‘empty of delight as were his limbs of
life’. Him being ‘empty’ after Lamia leaves, shows how completely his life and interests
were taken up by Lamia, and therefore the influence she had over him. He would have to be
quite pliable in order for that to be achieved.
APOLLONIUS:
Powerful but almost cruel in power.
Apollonius is a philosopher and ‘sage’ – a term for a wise man. This knowledge can make
him ruthless and even cruel, with his exclamation of ‘Fool’ to his loyal pupil at his time of
dashed hope. However, he tells us that he has ‘preserv’d’ Lycius ‘from every ill of life’ for
years so the reader knows he is not the villain in the poem. His exposure of Lamia’s true
nature saves Lycius from a entrapped life and a hinted death at the hands of Lamia,
however Lycius still dies a cruel death due to his grief at Lamia’s disappearance. Although
this points to Apollonius having a hand in his pupils death, it could equally be argued that
Lycius’s weakness of character and excessive grief led him to his grave.
Links:
https://crossref-it.info/textguide/johnkeats-selected-poems/40/2963
https://www.flowermeaning.com/myrtle
-flower/
https://www.bing.com/search?q=supine
+meaning&FORM=AWRE
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