Moneta: The Abject Mother in Keats’ 'The Fall of Hyperion'

Authors : Gökhan Albayrak

Pages : 424-438

Doi:10.32600/huefd.1190158

View : 52 | Download : 102

Publication Date : 2023-12-27

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :In July 1819, Keats began to compose The Fall of Hyperion, an allegorical poem about the Titans vanquished by the Olympian deities, concentrating upon the fall of Hyperion. Yet, Keats grew frustrated with the poem’s progress and left it incomplete in September 1819. In this fragment, the poet-narrator encounters Moneta, the goddess of memory, who guides him to draw a boundary between genuine poets and pseudo-poets. The poet-narator’s confrontation with Moneta lies at the centre of this unfinished poem. Therefore, this article explores the poet-narrator’s relationship with Moneta by employing the Kristevan theory of abjection. Moneta is a pivotal character around whom the discussion of the abject coheres since she simultaneously incorporates the abject and that which expels the abject. Moneta represents the attempt to expel the abject because she as a mentor guides the poet-narrator to maintain boundaries between poets and dreamers. Nevertheless, she also emerges as a smothering maternal figure for the poet-narrator. The poet-narrator journeys into Moneta’s "globed” mind that "enwombs” the tragedy of the Titans to recount their story (Fall I.245, 276-7). This journey is regarded as a venture into the realm of the abject maternal body. During this journey, the death-bearing visage of the maternal muse appears. Thus, the poet-narrator confronts the abject as he descends into the pre-linguistic realm where the abject emerges through the sickening collapse of borders. This paper argues that the poetic voice is choked and the poem remains incomplete owing to this confrontation with the abject mother that swamps the symbolic.
Keywords : Keats, The Fall of Hyperion, Kristeva, zelil anne