Lamia

Lamia

1. Lamia

   • "When move in a sweet body fit for life"
   • "Ah miserable me!"
   • "palpitating snake"
   • "dazzling hue" "Vermilion-spotted" "rainbow sided"
   • "Some penanced lady elf, Some demon's mistress, or the demon's self"
   • "What could such eyes do there, but weep, and weep,that they were born so fair?"
   • "Her throat was serpent, but the words she spake, came as through bubbling honey, for Love's sake,"
   • "Smooth lipp'd serpent"
   • "Her elfin blood in madness ran"
   • "serpent prison-house"
   • Lamia plays the catalyst of all tragedy seen in the poem
     • Gives Hermes the nymph so she would be with him forever (against the will of the nymph
     • Sought out Lycius and made him fall in love with her
       • Lycius then loses happiness without Lamia - becomes consumed with her where he was happy without her before

2. Themes

   • Gods/Foreshadowing
     • "Real are the dreams of Gods"
     • "mutter'd, like tempest in the distance brew'd"
     • "Begone foul dream!"
   • Magic
     • "So delicious were the words she sung"
     • "Faery-roof"
     • "They knew the street... yet ne'er before had seen that royal porch"
   • Love
     • "murmuring of Love and pale with pain"
     • "A moment's thought is passion's passing bell"
   • Beauty
     • power and desire attached to beauty
   • Betrayal
   • Obesession
     • Beauty and 'winning'
   • Isolation

3. School of Thought

   • Feminism
     • women as evil seductresses
       • "Shall I see thee made a serpent's prey?"
     • women as victims/innocent
     • Women as passive or something to gain
       • "a prize"
     • Love as a weakness for men
       • "Fool!"
       • cause of pain for Lycius once love is introduced
         • Lycius was happy as a successful racer. only after falling in love did his tragic fall occur

4. Elements of Tragedy

   • Hamartia
     • Lamia: was a beautiful snake, wanted more for the sake of love
     • Lycius Hubris: had to show off his beautiful lover with a wedding
     • Lamia's decision to turn human as a tragic mistake rather than tragic flaw
     • Using deceit to ensnare her lover
   • Tragic Fall
     • exposed by Appollonius
       • Romantic question of logic over love - which is best?
     • Causing her own disappearance and Lycius' death
   • Catharsis
     • Pity for Lamia
       • Divisive - those who want the love to thrive and those who want Lamia to exposed
   • Fate
   • Tragic Hero
     • subverted in that she is neither human nor a man
     • ambiguity of her "goodness"
   • Villain

5. Structure and Form

   • Style of 17th Century Poetry
     • Telling of a Tale
     • Sense of balance and control, like Lamia's fate seems to be inevitable
   • Occasionally erupts into couplets or enjambment
     • reflects how abruptly Lamia's wedding is interrupted

6. Devices

   • allusions to classical mythology
   • Use of setting to reflect the beauty of Lamia
   • Lists of emotive words to incite pity
   • contrast of love/pain