Comparison of Ballad and Prose Fiction: English Literature Essay

This essay provides a comparative analysis of John Keats' ballad, 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci,' and James Joyce's prose fiction, 'Araby.' It explores the contrasting narrative styles and thematic elements within each work. The essay highlights the ballad's use of a stranger as the narrator, creating a dramatic and indirect approach to the story, contrasting with the first-person narrative in 'Araby,' which emphasizes the protagonist's personal experiences and unfulfilled desires. Both works are examined in terms of their treatment of unfulfilled love and the impact of societal influences on the characters' emotional states. The analysis also points out the similarities in the central characters' experiences of heartbreak and disappointment, despite the differences in genre and narrative technique. The essay concludes by emphasizing the distinct approaches to storytelling and the emotional resonance of both literary pieces.

Running head: ENGLISH LITERTURE
English Literature
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author notes

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Comparison Between the Ballad, La Belle Dame Sans Merci and the prose fiction Araby
The ballad is the verse form with a definite story and with different rhyme schemes.
The form of the ballad is immensely diverse as it can consist of a hundred types of metrical
structures1. The selected ballad for this assignment is La Belle Dame Sans Merci by John
Keats. This poem has a perfect amalgamation of pain and pleasure. Ballad poetic form is
known for its bouncy rhythm and attractive storytelling. This poem fulfils all the
characteristics of the poem. This is a fast spaced ballad that narrates the story of a man and a
beautiful woman. While comparing the form of the prose by James Joyce, Araby is more
about the unfulfilled love of the teenage boy. The basic comparison between the love stories
can be made as both of them are unfulfilled. But the stores differ in their presentation as well
as in their tone. The approach of the ballad by Keats has more intense and sensuous appeal to
the readers. On the other hand, the love of the boy in Araby is more pure and innocent. The
ballad is the description of the love relationship that comes from nowhere yet have an
immense impact in the mind of the lovers. In contrary, the prose depicts the imaginative
world of an innocent boy and how the societal influences devastated his imaginary world.
In the way of narration, there are differences between this two literary piece. The
story of Araby is narrated by the boy himself in the first-person narrative. The pain of the
narrator can be felt through his fascinating narrative. On the other hand, the ballad La Belle
Dame Sans Merci has the stranger as the narrator. the story is being narrated by the stranger
who came across the knight . The knight is deeply affected by the cruelty of his lady love,
who left him in this situation. hence there is a big difference in the narrative style along with
the form of literature. The first person narrative of the boy in the prose Araby makes the pain
more relatable. The dreams of the boy regarding his lady love and their meeting are shattered
1 McGill, Meredith L. "What is a Ballad? Reading for genre, format, and medium."
NINETEEN CENT LIT 71.2 (2016): 156-175.

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at the end of the story. The narrative technique of Joyce is more direct and picaresque2. The
narration of La Belle Dame Sans Merci depicts an indirect connection between the knight and
the audience. But this nowhere affects the intensity of pain. There is also some mysterious
elements in the poem. Some parts of the ballad have the hint that the lady is mysterious. One
cannot know if she was some evil energy who possed the knight and then left after her desires
were fulfilled. Some of the critics look at it as the revenge story as well. The lady might be
the victim in the past and how she came to take her revenge. Hence, it can be said that La
Belle Dame Sans Merci, in its approach, is more dramatic and indirect.
There are some similarities between these two literary works. In spite of being the
products of two different genres, both of them are related to the unfulfillment of desires. The
ballad is the story of betrayal. The lady love of the knight has left him and abandoned him in
the sea of emotions. The mastery of Keats is that the rhythm of the poem is exactly opposite
to the mood of the story. The narrative pace of this ballad is fast, but the story that the knight
describes is a mixture of joy and unhappiness. The first encounter of the knight with his lady
love can be compared with the joy of the boy of Araby when he first talk to his love interest
‘Mangan’s sister’. The emotions of both parties are more or less the same and genuine. After
the story goes forward towards the culmination, the heartbreak is also common in both
narratives. Both of the central characters in the literary works are facing the pain as their love
is not fulfilled. The innocent boy comes to know that his wishes cannot be fulfilled in a world
full of so many problems. The knight, on the other hand, narrates to the starg=nger how his
lady love has abandoned him.
References
2 Hartley, Daniel. "Style in Prose Fiction: A Preliminary Definition." The Politics of Style.
Brill, 2017. 75-96.

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Hartley, Daniel. "Style in Prose Fiction: A Preliminary Definition." The Politics of Style.
Brill, 2017. 75-96.
McGill, Meredith L. "What is a Ballad? Reading for genre, format, and medium."
NINETEEN CENT LIT 71.2 (2016): 156-175.