The Miraculous, the Occult and the Phantasmal

"Part of us never grows up and part of our minds loves to ponder on things that are imaginary, unbelievable and magical!" The book analyses the similarities and differences in the use of the supernatural by John Keats and William Shakespeare, focusing on Keats's La Belle Dame Sans Merci and Lamia, and Shakespeare's Macbeth. While Shakespeare employs witches, fairies and apparitions in his works, Keats makes use of fairy-like seductive women who behave like witches. The internal evil is manifested in the appearance of the supernatural elements in Macbeth. However, in Keats's works, the maliciousness of the "fatal women" is not manifested in their external looks. The commonality, however, lies in the process of Anagnorisis (self-realisation) of the protagonists. The book answers a basic question: what is the purpose of introducing the supernatural in a work of literature? The answer is sought by resorting to other works involving supernaturalism like Walter de la Mare's Listeners, Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" and Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights".

Autorentext

Ms.Manisha Mishra works as the Assistant Professor of English at the National Law University,Orissa. She is an alumni of Manorama School of Communication and the University of Hyderabad. She was a features contributor for The Times of India and The New indian Express,Bhubaneswar and has written on culture, health, lifestyle, society and youth.