To be perfectly honest, this is the first time in a very long time that I've studied John Keats. I know we studied him while I was in college. Whether I remember it or not is not the issue. I took a whole class on British authors of the Romantic Period; there's no way I could have (would have) gone through a class like that without studying Keats. Sadly, I don't remember one word of it. I've thought about looking up my notes from that class (yes, I still have ALL my notes, tests, essays, etc. from college--even 20+ years later!), but I just don't feel like it! LOL!
Anyway, what I was getting at is how surprising it to study him [again] and actually enjoy studying Keats! I find his life absolutely fascinating! Of course, it's very interesting to note that he was a very short man--barely above 5 ft.! Why does that matter? It doesn't. I'm short; I like talking about others who are short. The end.
But what really surprised me about Keats is the love story. I honestly had no idea (don't remember it) that it was so tragic. We definitely live in a world--a society--where love is the basis for our relationships. We are apalled when we hear of someone being forced into a marriage he/she doesn't want. We just don't know what to do with information like that. There are still cultures in the 21st Century where arranged marriages are the norm, but it's difficult for most of us to fathom that. So reading Keats' love story with Fanny is just so sad. I find myself rooting for the two of them--I want them to overcome the obstacles (his lack of money as well as his illness, consumption--or tuberculosis--for those of you who missed what it's called) and find a way to BE together. A love like that deserved a chance.
While we were watching the modern movie in class (Bright Star, I do believe it's called--based on the poem of the same title--poem titles are in quotation marks, btw!), you heard me mention the line from Steal Magnolias where Julia Roberts' character tells Sally Field's character (the mom) that she's rather have a minute of happiness than a lifetime of nothing--they'd been discussing Shelby (Julia Robert's character's name) not being able to have children, but getting pregnant anyway. (Shelby is a diabetic and sick a lot. Her doctor had told her before she ever got married that having children would kill her, so she was told not to have any.) Anyway, that line about desiring even a moment in time of having her heart's desire is a theme that so many of us can identify with. We will fight tooth and nail in order to be with the one we love--even if it's only for one moment.
I remember when I was in college and dating my [current] husband. I would have a TON of homework to do; I would have told him that I couldn't see him--that he couldn't come see me--because of all my homework. Then, I'd turn right around as soon as my last class was over for the day and drive the hour or so to his house just so I could see him for a little while! We'd eat supper together, swap some spit (I'm trying not to be too gross), and I'd jump back in my car to race back to my house so I could work on the mountain of homework waiting for me. It didn't matter that I lost sleep because I'd done that. It didn't matter that sometimes I made mistakes on my work. All that mattered was that we had those few stolen moments TOGETHER.
In watching Bright Star, I see that it seems possibly to have been that way for Keats and Fanny. They were willing to take what they could get TOGETHER. Of course, they had other forces to contend with (her mother, his friends, his ailing health, etc.), but yet they lived for those stolen MOMENTS together.
It's so very romantic.
But so very unrealistic.
It's definitely what we love to see as far as the romance department goes, but reality is another ball game. I guess over the years of being married (it will be 19 this August), I've lost a lot of my romantic notions. Sure, I love my husband. But the realities of life are: jobs, school, our son, our church (he's a pastor), odd hours, and the list goes on. These things crowd in and take away any and all romance. It IS sad when a couple has to schedule time to BE together, but it is more a reality in marriages than not.
So what I'm saying is that Keats' love story is beautiful, tragic, and interesting, but more real than most of the love stories we're used to. I guess that's what makes Nicholas Sparks' stories so popular, too, though. They're beautiful, tragic, interesting, yet realistic. I hate the endings of Sparks' stories, but at the same time, I prefer his endings than those of the Twilight series. Reality--as we all know since we love reality shows so much--is much more interesting. Come on....we can't make most of this stuff up!!!!! Yet, Sparks does a great job of really creating beautiful love stories with great characters who we care about and want to see end up together. Yet, like Keats, death or some other tragedy keeps the lovers apart.
Ahhhh......love stories....ain't they grand?!
Bright Star. Screenplay by Jane Campion. Dir. Jane Campion. 2009. Pathe Renn Productions, 2010. DVD.
Keats, John. "Bright Star." Norton Anthology of British Literature. 8th ed. Eds. Jack Stillinger and Deidre Shauna Lynch. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2006. 898. Print.
Anyway, what I was getting at is how surprising it to study him [again] and actually enjoy studying Keats! I find his life absolutely fascinating! Of course, it's very interesting to note that he was a very short man--barely above 5 ft.! Why does that matter? It doesn't. I'm short; I like talking about others who are short. The end.
But what really surprised me about Keats is the love story. I honestly had no idea (don't remember it) that it was so tragic. We definitely live in a world--a society--where love is the basis for our relationships. We are apalled when we hear of someone being forced into a marriage he/she doesn't want. We just don't know what to do with information like that. There are still cultures in the 21st Century where arranged marriages are the norm, but it's difficult for most of us to fathom that. So reading Keats' love story with Fanny is just so sad. I find myself rooting for the two of them--I want them to overcome the obstacles (his lack of money as well as his illness, consumption--or tuberculosis--for those of you who missed what it's called) and find a way to BE together. A love like that deserved a chance.
While we were watching the modern movie in class (Bright Star, I do believe it's called--based on the poem of the same title--poem titles are in quotation marks, btw!), you heard me mention the line from Steal Magnolias where Julia Roberts' character tells Sally Field's character (the mom) that she's rather have a minute of happiness than a lifetime of nothing--they'd been discussing Shelby (Julia Robert's character's name) not being able to have children, but getting pregnant anyway. (Shelby is a diabetic and sick a lot. Her doctor had told her before she ever got married that having children would kill her, so she was told not to have any.) Anyway, that line about desiring even a moment in time of having her heart's desire is a theme that so many of us can identify with. We will fight tooth and nail in order to be with the one we love--even if it's only for one moment.
I remember when I was in college and dating my [current] husband. I would have a TON of homework to do; I would have told him that I couldn't see him--that he couldn't come see me--because of all my homework. Then, I'd turn right around as soon as my last class was over for the day and drive the hour or so to his house just so I could see him for a little while! We'd eat supper together, swap some spit (I'm trying not to be too gross), and I'd jump back in my car to race back to my house so I could work on the mountain of homework waiting for me. It didn't matter that I lost sleep because I'd done that. It didn't matter that sometimes I made mistakes on my work. All that mattered was that we had those few stolen moments TOGETHER.
In watching Bright Star, I see that it seems possibly to have been that way for Keats and Fanny. They were willing to take what they could get TOGETHER. Of course, they had other forces to contend with (her mother, his friends, his ailing health, etc.), but yet they lived for those stolen MOMENTS together.
It's so very romantic.
But so very unrealistic.
It's definitely what we love to see as far as the romance department goes, but reality is another ball game. I guess over the years of being married (it will be 19 this August), I've lost a lot of my romantic notions. Sure, I love my husband. But the realities of life are: jobs, school, our son, our church (he's a pastor), odd hours, and the list goes on. These things crowd in and take away any and all romance. It IS sad when a couple has to schedule time to BE together, but it is more a reality in marriages than not.
So what I'm saying is that Keats' love story is beautiful, tragic, and interesting, but more real than most of the love stories we're used to. I guess that's what makes Nicholas Sparks' stories so popular, too, though. They're beautiful, tragic, interesting, yet realistic. I hate the endings of Sparks' stories, but at the same time, I prefer his endings than those of the Twilight series. Reality--as we all know since we love reality shows so much--is much more interesting. Come on....we can't make most of this stuff up!!!!! Yet, Sparks does a great job of really creating beautiful love stories with great characters who we care about and want to see end up together. Yet, like Keats, death or some other tragedy keeps the lovers apart.
Ahhhh......love stories....ain't they grand?!
Bibliography
Bright Star. Screenplay by Jane Campion. Dir. Jane Campion. 2009. Pathe Renn Productions, 2010. DVD.
Keats, John. "Bright Star." Norton Anthology of British Literature. 8th ed. Eds. Jack Stillinger and Deidre Shauna Lynch. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2006. 898. Print.
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