The Eve of Saint Agnes and Medieval Romances Notes

Medieval Romances

• The word "romance" originally referred to a Romance language.
• The Old French word "Roman" referred to a story translated into French, particularly courtly stories of:
  • King Arthur
  • Charlemagne
  • Classical heroes
• Originating in the 12th century, the most notable romances were those written in France by Cretien de Troyes.
• These stories typically:
  • Tell the story of a knight (often from Arthurian legend).
  • The knight is separated from the court and exposed to various adventures, often involving the supernatural.
  • The knight makes a triumphant return to court.
  • The knight achieves happiness and prosperity.
  • Characters are often rewarded with marriage to the women they have worshipped.
• The romance tradition was courtly in tone and concerned with the rules of chivalry, affecting behavior and manners in all aspects of social life, love, and battle.
• Keats was drawn to the heroism, adventure, myth, and magic of medieval romances because imagination was important concept for him.
• Tales of medieval literature were full of moral teachings, presenting human behavior against the backdrop of Christian teachings and the strict rules governing the behavior of the nightly class, their target audience
• Keats was also strongly attracted to the chivalric tales of the Middle Ages for their intermingling of reality with the marvelous.
• They presented a world which is instantly recognizable but transformed by elements of:
  • The supernatural
  • The exotic
  • The ideal
  • All qualities which nourish the imagination.

Medieval References in The Eve of Saint Agnes

• The poem is based upon a medieval superstition according to which a maiden, by observing certain rules on Saint Agnes' Eve, could win the sight of her would-be husband in a dream.
• In addition to medieval superstition, serving as the basis of the poem and the medieval chivalry serving as its motive, the medieval atmosphere is built by many other touches, such as:
  • The beadsman telling his rosary and saying his prayer.
  • The revelry in the hall with plume, tiara, and trumpets recalls medieval art.
  • The reference to the medieval story of Merlin's death by treachery.
  • The witch and the demon reflect the Middle Ages as a time before people distinguished between magic and scientific rationalism.
  • The thousand heraldries, dim emblazonings, and the shielded scutcheon, flushing with the blood of queens and kings.
  • The baron who dreamt that night of witch and demon and many a woe.

Pilgrimage

• A characteristic of the medieval era in which the poem is set is the practice of pilgrimage.
• Pilgrimage process:
  • The pilgrim would have to pass the gatekeeper who allowed or withheld access to the holy site (as does Angela).
  • Then either ascend or sometimes descend to the shrine itself.
  • This would frequently include an effigy of the saint being revered, shielded by ornate and colorful stone canopy above and/or around it.
  • The whole edifice was built around a relic, often desiccated physical remains, of the saint, believed by medieval Catholics to have miraculous powers.

Madeline as a Saint or Angel

• In stanza 25, she prays, the light catching her jeweled cross.
• Her purity is emphasized as if she were the Virgin Mary herself, who is regarded as free from mortal taint or original sin.
• She is associated with heaven rather than earth, with white blanched linen and cool moonlight, so Porphyro's ravishment of her is all the more dramatic.
• When he sees the figure of the sleepy Madeline on her bed, like a carved statue on a plinth, Porphyro consciously uses the imagery of religious worship.
• In stanza 38, Porphyro declares, "Our Silver Shrine, here will I take my rest, after so many hours of toil and quest, a famished pilgrim saved by miracle."
• Yet although he kneels by her figure like a pilgrim paying homage, Porphyro's passion impels him to do the unthinkable and rob the shrine of its precious contents.
• He seizes the relic which has been incarcerated and revives it into a living, breathing being who will now accompany him on his journey.
• Keats also describes Madeline framed in the window in her room, presenting her as an angelic figure:
  • "For in this casement shone the wintry moon, and the warm gules on Madeline's fair breast."
  • "As down she knelt for heaven's grace and boon; rose-bloom fell on her hands, together pressed; and on her silver cross soft amethyst, and on her hair a glory like a saint; she seemed a splendid angel, newly dressed save wings, for heaven: - Porphyro grew faint: She knelt, so pure a thing, so free from mortal taint."