Death and Loss

• In what year did John Keats write La Belle Dame sans Merci?

  1819
• How old was John Keats when he died?

  25
• Who was John Keats engaged to before his death?

  Fanny Brawne
• Why was Keats unable to marry Fanny Brawne?

  Due to his poverty
• What does it suggest about Keats's feelings regarding love and life?

  He was more prepared to lose his life than lose his love
• What film was inspired by Keats's relationship with Fanny Brawne?

  Bright Star
• What was Keats's awareness regarding his health?

  He was well aware of his ill-health and the danger of his disease
• What disease caused the deaths of Keats's mother and brother?

  Tuberculosis
• How might the descriptions of the knight in La Belle Dame sans Merci relate to Keats's life?

  They may have been influenced by his weakened and feverish state due to illness
• What themes did Keats dwell on in his writing?

  Death and mortality
• What might the knight’s intense love in the poem represent?

  Keats's short yet passionate love for Fanny Brawne
• What does the poem suggest about love at the moment of death?

  It suggests that love can bring comfort at the moment of death