La Belle Dame Sans Merci - John Keats - Context and Critical Views - Revision Sheet-A Level English

A revision sheet introducing A-Level students to the context of Keats’ ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’. This resource is designed to give students a grounding of the poem’s context prior to study. It explains the poem’s derivation from Chartier’s medieval original, explains the original plot and how it differs from Keats’ version, gives an introduction to the ballad as a form, contextual information on ‘Circe’ and the Greek myth being alluded to, the conventions of the ‘Femme Fatale’ archetype, contextual details on Keats’ views on the imagination, and a limited number of direct quotations from notable critics. Given the WJEC’s weighting of context in the A-Level English Literature exam, I use this sheet as a starting point for students to conduct wider contextual study. I have produced a revision sheet/introduction to each of the WJEC prescribed list of Keats’ poems and you may find it useful to download these too.