John Keats and his Life of Conceit

John Keats cracks me up. I probably enjoyed reading more about his life than I did his poetry. Don't get me wrong, it's tragic that he died at 25 years of age, but the details held within that time are entertaining. First of all, the book mentions that Keats's mother's "committment to her children was as erratic as it was doting, and her presence at home was inconstant. Keats was deeply attached to her and was devastated when she disappeared for four years, leaving them all with his grandmother.(p. 421)" I began wondering why his mother had left them, and decided to look on Wikipedia for some more information. They have an entirely different story. They claim that Keats's mother, after remarrying, left her husband and moved her and her children to live with their grandmother. It then says she later died of tuberculosis. It also points out that his brother soon died from tuberculosis as well. This is also stated on the John-Keats.com website, however they claim that his mother died of consumption (I have no clue what that is). I find this irritating, as this misleads the reader to believe that events in his life were more tragic than they already were.

Now, getting back to why I find his life entertaining, I found it hilarious that Keats was actually writing for fame. Don't get me wrong, he was incredibly talented. However, when we learn that his writings were laced with vanity, it takes away from their meaning. In my honest opinion, the very fact that this is even mentioned should eliminate him from being a Romantic. If true Romantics were writing about their feelings, whether they be politically or emotionally charged, then Keats was far away from the pack. He was writing for glory, which in my opinion, is about as far from feelings as one can get. A good comparison would be a musician who creates music just for the money. Keats said it himself when he said to his brother, "I think I shall be among the English Poets after my death."