The Sublime Pleasures Of Tragedy-A Survey On The Aesthetic Dimensions Of John Keats' "Negative Capability"

As one of the greatest poets in 19th century, John Keats presented in his poetry colorful and vivid pictures of beautiful scenes, and gave expression to his own thoughts on life as well. While as the enjoyment for his readers, most of Keats' poems manifest some of the major features of Romanticism, such as the admiration of nature, the manipulation of imagination, the emphasis on emotion and artistic effect. What particularly exemplifies Keats'central aesthetic principle is his "Negative Capability" which epitomizes the sense of poetic character—no identity. It is true that it contains the modern and post-modern thoughts, and relates the feeling beyond earthly delights with poetry, however, contemporary literary critiques about "Negative Capability" has not been highlighted and explained adequately within Western and Chinese studies. What's more, "Negative Capability" not only leaves a precious legacy in the literary treasure of the world, but also exerts a far-reaching influence on the poetic composition of modern poets. This thesis focuses on the notion of "Negative Capability" and approaches Keats'poetry from pursuit of beauty, negating ego and empathy respectively.The thesis is divided into five parts. The introduction is a presentation of Keats' life and poems and the development of Keats criticism both in Western and Chinese academia. Chapter One mainly studies Keats'aesthetic ideas scattered in his letters and poetry and explore how the implications of beauty in "Negative Capability" have affected his poetry and philosophy. Chapter Two first actualizes the mental process of "Negative Capability":annihilating identity, imagination and being in uncertainties; then reveals the theoretic implications of the concept, and demonstrates its impact on Keats'poetic creation. Despite of those discords, Keats believed in that the pure beauty would unite all ugliness into harmony. Chapter Three takes three representative modern poets who have inherited Keats'poetic patterns and principles in their poetic creations respectively. Finally, the thesis concludes that "Negative Capability" not only plays an important role throughout Keats'poetic career, but endows him with sublime qualities to be a great poet. It explains the haunting and heavenly aesthetic tints in Keats'poetry.