Lamia Quotes

Question 1

“His eyes had drunk her beauty up”

Answer 1

Fatal flaw, blindness, death

• metaphor - “drunk her beauty up” - Lycius’ fatal flaw of lust - he was so attracted to the appearance of Lamia’s “woman’s form”, that he was blind to her manipulation as a “smooth-lipped serpent” - allows her to continue concealing her serpent form
  - “her throat was serpent, but the words… came, as through bubbling honey” - duplicity
  - she is presented as a femme fatale through a male narrative, capitalizing on Lycius’ existing naivety and lust
  - “there as he stood, he heard a mournful voice” - her introduction is through sound - shows her power over him - capitalizing naivety - infantilizes Lycius - “blinded” by lust - can’t even see her yet - femme fatale
• “his foolish heart from its mad pompousness”
  - commentary from Keats - ridiculing Lycius about his hubris that allowed him to get blinded by lust (
• his death - “by blinded Lycius”
  - “Lycius’ arms were empty of delight” mirrors “from amaze into delight he fell” - his lust for Lamia was his demise
  • “painful blindness” - near end - his fatal flaw leads to death

Question 2

“Your soul in mine, and labyrinth you there”

Answer 2

Women, power, suffering, order, fate

• Lycius’ desire to violently assert control over Lamia and rob her of her agency - Lamia mistreated - tragic victim
• metaphor of “labyrinth” symbolizes a lifestyle where Lamia is hidden and under patriarchal control of Lycius
• the absence of Lamia’s voice, which was once her power over Lycius (“there as he stood, he heard a mournful voice”) following this suggests he has succeeded in robbing her of her agency
  - “with pain beseeching him” - her suffering under his control
• shows how she had more agency/power in her “serpent” form than her “woman’s form” - there’s only so much power women can have in a patriarchal society
• patriarchal order is restored through Lycius gaining control in their relationship/becoming the more dominant one
• “Luxurious in her sorrows, soft and new”
  - once Lamia gained her “woman’s form”, she gave up her power over Lycius and instead devoted herself to her human form
  - this human form force herself to conform to the patriarchal standard of the “soft”, subdue woman
  • readers witness her agency being taken away from her - she had more agency in her animal form than human form
  • lack of power women have in patriarchal society

Question 3

“The wide-spreader night above her towers”

Answer 3

Setting, deception, love, fatal flaw

• “wide-spreader” - “lewd” dream state (sexual) is so grand - get lost in - shows them too immersed in their love despite it’s inevitable tragic fate due to Lamia’s lies and deception
  - Lycius is too blinded by lust to see past Lamia’s deception
  
  • setting change emphasizes their love progressing, making their downfall higher
• “night” - darkness hangs over the city - mystery - symbolizes Lamia’s facade - it is built off of Lamia’s lies and deception