As a Romantic, Keats maintained a tragic concern with the importance of dramatic irony – or, as noted by Schlegel, the "secret irony" in which the audience is aware of the situation of the protagonist and his own ignorance about it. In "Lamia", this notion is evident both throughout the poem as Lycus is unaware of Lamia's true form as a serpent, and in the extract where Lamia "won his heart most pleasantly by playing the part of a woman"; Keats's choice of wording here is significant as the phrase 'woman's part' creates a link to dramatic tragedies, where actors play the 'part' of a character, thus highlighting how Lamia is actively creating a mistake to being with Licio: something that will surely break and ultimately end in tragedy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay This "secret irony" is also seen in other Keat poems: for example in "La Belle Dame Sans Merci", the lady deceives the knight-at-arms into believing that she is an innocent "fairy daughter" despite is a temptress who "holds in bondage" her victims "pale as death"; this irony is important in the tragedies of Keats and other Romantics, as it shows the inevitable influence of selfish motives present in human nature, allowing the reader or audience a deeper insight into the tragedy. A biographical reading of Keats's poetry may focus on how his tragic concerns explore the tragedies of his life and experiences with Fanny Brawne; in particular, an allegorical reading of "Lamia" might follow Lycius as Keats himself and Lamia as Fanny Brawne, whom Keats desired to love deeply but without social expectations and the confines of marriage. Following this allegory, Keats's tragic concerns with forbidden love and the idea of ​​doomed lovers taking refuge in magical dream worlds to protect themselves from harsh external reality are emphasized, as we are able to infer that these ideas are representative of how Keats felt about his forbidden love. relationship with Brawne. Furthermore, the phrase "nor have they grown pale, as moral lovers do" in "Lamia" provides further evidence of Keats's belief that human, "moral" love is inferior and destined to end in death, as often the word "pale" is used. of Keats on matters of death and weakness, as with the "palely loitering" knight-at-arms in "La Belle Dame". However, it can be argued that "Lamia" is not representative of these tragic concerns to the same extent that Keats's other poems are; “The Eve of St. Agnes” shows a great juxtaposition between Madeline's chamber, surrounded by sumptuous images of the sublime that serves as a safe haven for her and Porphyro, and the “barbaric hordes” that belie them within the castle and “ storm" ' out, which successfully reflects Keats's tragic concerns about love brought about by his own love with Brawne. Also, 'Isabella; or, "The Vase of Basil" is perhaps better suited to show Keats's tragic concern for the doomed and ill-fated love of "Lamia", as due to Porphyro's social class Isabella and Porphyro "could not dwell in the same dwelling ". , and so they are destined to be kept apart only to "cry at night" over their situation, the word "cry" suggesting feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. While it is possible to see Keats's tragic concerns in "Lamia" through a biographical reading of the poem, "The Eve of St. Agnes" and "Isabella" are perhaps more representative of his tragic concerns, including setting as a means of highlighting the,.