Summary:
Analysing and comparing two poems: Shakespeare's 'Shall I compare thee to a Summer's Day' and John Keat's 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci' shows two poets' conflicting views on love. People often fall in love with an illusion created by the media, in which beauty is the key asset needed for love to succeed. Consequently, true love is often confused with physical attraction. Keats takes a negative approach whereas Shakespeare takes a positive one, both using metaphors of nature to make their perception of love tangible to the reader.
In today's world of superficiality and materialism, people are made to idolise those who are physically beautiful. As a result of this, their perception of love can become tainted, so much so that they can no longer differentiate between physical attraction and true love. As a result, the term 'love' is abused in today's society, and people are often made to fall in love with an illusion created by the media, in which beauty is the key asset needed for love to succeed. Consequently, true love is often confused with physical attraction. From the two poems I am going to analyse, it is clear that both poets are expressing their personal views on love. Put simply, Keats takes a negative approach whereas Shakespeare takes a positive one, both using metaphors of nature to make their perception.....
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