Lamia Notes
Lamia transforms from a half woman/half serpent into a woman. Metamorpheses. This is slick and crafty, showing that she cannot be trusted. It's an allegorical poem- it has deeper meanings. It is also ambiguous, which is how Keats always refers to women, as ambiguous.
Lamia was written in 1819, and published in 1820, after going to Rome and learning about his illness. Just before he wrote Lamia, he had a brain haemorage, so he knew he was dying. His brother had also just died, and his brother George was in financial difficulty. George stole from his mother and went gambling much of the time. When George asked John for money, John had Lamia published to provide the money.
The Greek myth behind the poem is that Lamia had an affair with Zues (one of the Gods). Zues' wife, Hera was outraged when she found out, and punished Lamia by condemning her to a life of sleeplessness. Hera also killed Lamia's children, according to some versions of the myth. Lamia hunted for children to replace the ones she lost, and Zues gave her the ability to take out her own eyes so she could sleep.
In the Victorian era, people thought that Lamia actually hunted for men, not children, which emphasised the shockingness of her promiscuousness.
However, Lamia is also a woman who has emotions and needs- she is not just a repulsive creature.
Keats believed the poem to be a masterpiece, hoping it would "start a fire in people and give them either an unpleasant or pleasant sensation". (in a letter he wrote). This means that he just wanted people to experience the poem, whether they had a good or a bad time reading it.