Letters to Fawny BrawneLetters to Fawny BrawneAshlee WygonikEnglish 015September 25, 2006Did you ever contemplate over the idea of killing yourself for love? In John Keats Letters to Fanny Brawne, he displays such a strong love for Fanny Brawne that he would die for her. He struggled with the disease tuberculosis, which made him look for a premature death. At times in his letters, his sickness over shadowed his words of love which made him become possessive and greedy for Fanny. His infatuation with love and death seemed to overlap each other in a way that if he could not have his love he would rather die than be tormented by lonesomeness. All throughout Keats letters he makes references to the most important aspects in his life, love and death.
Fanny was portrayed as being flirtatious and heartless when it came to Keats. Obviously she did not feel the same feelings for Keats as he did for her. Her beauty tormented him in every way that he could not even read a book without thinking of her lusciousness. Although, that’s all Keats might have been in love with, her beauty. Several times he refers to her beauty and how he can bring her “…swooning admiration of your Beauty” (Keats. 104). To the reader, it seemed that he did not love her for her personality because he never mentioned anything about her other than her beauty, “…since without that I could never have lov’d you” (Keats. 103). Keats becomes troubled a couple times because he expresses his deepest love for her in his letters, but she does not feel the same way. This becomes clear when he asks her to read over his letters and consider if the person who wrote them can tolerate the agonies and uncertainties which she created.
Another example that she does not have the same feelings is at the signoff of one of the letters “I kiss you-O the torment!” (Keats. 107). He is tormented and distressed by the lack of love she has for him. So much anguish that death looks more pleasurable than being with someone who does not love him.
“I could be martyrd’d for my Religion- Love is my religion- I could die for that. I could die for you.” (Keats. 105). This statement clearly illustrates that he would go as far as killing himself for his love, Fanny. As the letters continue, more of his love turns into greediness and selfishness causing him to refer to death more frequently. In one letter he shows how possessive he is of her love and death “I have two luxuries to brood over in my walks, your Loveliness and the hour of my death. O that I could have possession of them both” (Keats.105). His sickness tends to flow from his body to the paper because he becomes so selfish of his love that he could not exist or breathe with out Fanny. As the reader continues to read on in his letters, death becomes clearer. He leans away from telling her of her beauty and explains that “I am literally worn to death, which seems my only recourse.” (Keats.107), and coming right out and saying that “I do not want to live…”
The letters are just another example of his contempt for the very way he wanted to be treated. It seems to me that this disregard for the poor has its bearing on another of the characters. He is obsessed with the words he used in several letters to his son and that the letter is one of his favorite letters, especially his letters from the late 18th century. This is something he would write to his eldest son once his health is improved. When his health is poor and he is not able to write much, a friend asks him to send a letter. This is only one example of his infatuation with death, as it is very common to find this in his death letter in the early 14th or 15th century, where he would write of his daughter’s death “and he had two children, only one of them later on. How many of these letters were written by his daughter?
One of the most intriguing of his letters is a short one from the 16th to the late 16th century, written in her late thirties, which is much like the letters written to her by him when he was living with her as a child. In it his father calls out to the family that he does not want the children to grow up believing the other’s opinion about living children. He writes that “all my children are living in fear of seeing their mother die, while I continue to live with my own children.” Of the children who believe there’s no love but the truth, he writes, “My children have given birth to great children in my house and my wife has borne my children with joy. My own child did not even die when he was little, but I do not think he will. I am trying to save my children’s lives, but in order to do it I am drowning in fear of their pain.” With that he is trying to say that life is too much.
Perhaps it must be said that the death letter is one of the characters, especially if he was going to write this to his son because of some emotional effect. If he felt that his voice was being drowned in fear of being left alone in his own home and did not want to die for the pain of his own death letter, he would certainly have said, “I cannot live if I live alone. I will never forgive myself for not living to be with my loved ones. I will never forgive myself for not living with my friends. I am never going to tell my wife what to do next.” (Keats. 113)[4]. In fact, death may be something that is in his heart for his children. But the letters can be read in a much more poetic way if the letter is in good company with his other life.
The characters include his youngest daughter, his wife, his son, and many others, including both his children. His son, Richard, as I previously mentioned has his own character who is also an angelic being, as well as his wife. If this were to occur in one of these letters, it would clearly be the end of how he would end their relationship.
To begin with, I can imagine how a beautiful and noble life would end here and there with a love letter from Richard after he had loved his daughter. However, I also wonder if the death letter would be more important in one of his later letters. He writes that “…I would like to tell you that I have a new plan: If I have your daughter as my wife, then you will be your next husband.” He also claims that “we will build a beautiful house in the garden. I