Consuming Keats

This page intentionally left blank

Consuming KeatsNineteenth-Century Representations in Art and Literature

Sarah Wootton

© Sarah Wootton 2006

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission.

No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmittedsave with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of theCopyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licencepermitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP.

Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publicationmay be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published 2006 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world

PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries.

This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wootton, Sarah.

Consuming Keats : nineteenth-century representations in art and literature / Sarah Wootton.

p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.

1. Keats, John, 1795–1821—Criticism and interpretation—History—19th century. 2. Keats, John, 1795–1821—Appreciation—Great Britain.3. Keats, John, 1795–1821—In literature. 4. Keats, John, 1795–1821—Illustrations. 5. Keats, John, 1795–1821— Influence. 6. Keats, John, 1795–1821—In art. I. Title.PR4837.W66 2006821′.7—dc22 2005044665

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06

ISBN 978-1-349-51447-2 ISBN 978-0-230-59849-2 (eBook)

DOI 10.1057/9780230598492

Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2006 978-1-4039-1913-7

‘Sweets to the sweet’ For Marez

This page intentionally left blank

vii

Contents

List of Plates viii

Acknowledgements x

Introduction 1

1 Keats’s Posthumous Life of Elegy 12

2 Pre-Raphaelite Visions of Keats’s Poetry 42

3 Rossetti’s Influence on Keats’s Posthumous Reputation 78

4 Keats’s Belle Dame as Femme Fatale 107

Appendix 1: Thomas Hall Caine, ‘John Keats’ 146

Appendix 2: Robert Browning, ‘Popularity’ 147

Appendix 3: Christina Rossetti, ‘On Keats’ 150

Appendix 4: Alice Meynell, ‘On Keats’s Grave’ 151

Appendix 5: A. C. Swinburne, ‘In Sepulcretis’ 153

Appendix 6: Dante Gabriel Rossetti, ‘John Keats’ 155

Appendix 7: Oscar Wilde, ‘The Grave of Keats’, ‘Endymion’ and ‘The Garden of Eros’ 156

Appendix 8: Thomas Hardy, ‘At the Pyramid of Cestius Near the Graves of Shelley and Keats’ 164

Appendix 9: Thomas Hall Caine, ‘To OMB’ 165

Appendix 10: Ella Wheeler Wilcox, ‘The King and the Siren’ 166

Appendix 11: Tony Harrison, ‘A Kumquat for John Keats’ 168

Notes 171

Bibliography 199

Index 211

viii

List of Plates

1 Joseph Severn, Keats Reading at Wentworth Place. 1821. National Portrait Gallery, London 4

2 William Holman Hunt, The Eve of St Agnes. 1848. National Museums Liverpool (The Walker) 47

3 John Everett Millais, Isabella and Lorenzo. 1849. National Museums Liverpool (The Walker) 50

4 William Holman Hunt, Lorenzo at his Desk in the Warehouse. 1848–50. Photo RMN/© Gérard Blot 56

5 William Holman Hunt, Isabella and the Pot of Basil. 1867. Laing Art Gallery (Tyne and Wear Museums) 60

6 John Melhuish Strudwick, Isabella. 1879. © Christie’s Images Ltd (2006) 64

7 Daniel Maclise, Madeline After Prayer. 1868. National Museums Liverpool (The Walker) 66

8 John Everett Millais, The Eve of St Agnes. 1863. The Royal Collection © 2006, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 67

9 Jessie Marion King, Isabella. 1907. Reproduced by courtesy of Dumfries and Galloway Council and the National Trust for Scotland as copyright holders in the work of Jessie M. King. By permission of the British Library 73

10 John William Waterhouse, Isabella. 1907. 75

11 Thomas Hall Caine. Manx National Heritage 83

12 Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Mnemosyne. 1881. Delaware Art Museum, Samuel and Mary R. Bancroft Memorial Collection 91

List of Plates ix

13 Dante Gabriel Rossetti, La Belle Dame sans Merci. c.1855. The British Museum 94

14 John William Waterhouse, La Belle Dame sans Merci. 1893. Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt 119

15 Frank Dicksee, La Belle Dame sans Merci. 1902. The Bridgeman Art Library, London 121

16 William Russell Flint, La Belle Dame sans Merci. 1908. National Museums Liverpool (The Walker) 123

17 Jessie Marion King, La Belle Dame sans Merci. c.1902. Reproduced by courtesy of Dumfries and Galloway Council and the National Trust for Scotland as copyright holders in the work of Jessie M. King. By permission of the British Library 128

18 Jessie Marion King, La Belle Dame sans Merci. c.1907. Reproduced by courtesy of Dumfries and Galloway Council and the National Trust for Scotland as copyright holders in the work of Jessie M. King. By permission of the British Library 129

19 Jessie Marion King, La Belle Dame sans Merci. c.1908. Reproduced by courtesy of Dumfries and Galloway Council and the National Trust for Scotland as copyright holders in the work of Jessie M. King. By permission of the British Library 130

20 Frank Cadogan Cowper, La Belle Dame sans Merci. 1926. The Bridgeman Art Library, London 132

x

Acknowledgements

This book would not have been written without the invaluableadvice of Professor Jacqueline Labbe. I am indebted to the staff of theEnglish Studies Department at Durham University, especially mymentor Dr Pam Knights. Many thanks to Professor Michael O’Neillfor his generosity and continued belief in me as a teacher and aresearcher. Thanks are due to the staff of the English LiteratureDepartment at the University of Sheffield: in particular, the lateDr Ian Mackillop, for encouraging my interdisciplinary interests, andProfessor Sally Shuttleworth, for her assistance in securing fundingfor my postgraduate studies. Thanks, also, to my external examiner,Professor Leonée Ormond, and the Keats-Shelley Memorial Association,particularly Duncan Wu and Angus Graham-Campbell, for theirrecognition of my early research on this topic. This book would nothave been feasible without the studentships and grants awarded byThe British Academy.

I am most indebted to my family and friends for their help andencouragement. Sincere thanks to my parents and grandparents fortheir unfailing support. My sister, Victoria Dowd, first awakened myinterest in art and literature, and this book is a tribute to her intelligenceand unconditional love. I cannot give thanks enough for the timesspent with her and Kev. The selflessness and invaluable technicalassistance of my partner, Toby Watson, sustained me through thecompletion of this book – ‘I know what it is to live entirely for andwith what I love best on earth.’

Revised sections of Chapter 2 have been published in ‘GhastlyVisualities: Keats and Victorian Art’, in The Influence and Anxiety ofthe British Romantics: Spectres of Romanticism, edited by SharonRuston, and in ‘Keats in Early Pre-Raphaelite Art’, Keats-ShelleyReview, 12. Permission has been granted by The Edwin Mellen Pressand Keats-Shelley Review to reprint relevant material.

Tony Harrison’s poem ‘A Kumquat for John Keats’ is reproducedwith the kind permission of the author © Tony Harrison (Selected

Acknowledgements xi

Poems, Penguin, 1987). I am also grateful for permission to reproduceimages in this book. Thanks to: The Bridgeman Art Library;The British Library; The British Museum; Christie’s Images Ltd;Delaware Art Museum, Samuel and Mary R. Bancroft MemorialCollection; Dumfries and Galloway Council and the National Trustfor Scotland; Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt; Laing ArtGallery (Tyne and Wear Museums); Manx National Heritage;National Museums Liverpool (The Walker); National Portrait Gallery,London; Photo RMN/© Gérard Blot; The Royal Collection © 2006,Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Every effort has been made to locatecopyright holders. If any have inadvertently been overlooked, thepublishers will be pleased to make appropriate arrangements at thefirst opportunity.