“OH, CRUELTY, TO STEAL MY BASIL-POT AWAY FROM ME!”: THE REFLECTION OF BEREAVEMENT IN JOHN KEATS' ISABELLA, OR THE POT OF BASIL

This paper analyses John Keats' Isabella, or the Pot of Basil through the theories of bereavement and attachment as a poetic refiection of these processes with regard to Isabella's grief after the unanticipated death of her lover Lorenzo and her (in)ability to cope with and how she maintains an unhealthy process of bereavement. Attachment styles, which begin with a human's first relationship with the mother, represent the type and nature of the emotional bond with the signicant other. Losing the attachment figure is associated with different reactions during bereavement. In this respect, it will be discussed that Isabella does not experience a healthy bereavement process as a result of her anxious attachment style and she cannot make sense and cope with her lover's death. Therefore, she continues her bond with Lorenzo in a delirious manner, that is, through cutting his head and putting it into a pot in which she grows the basil. The poem has been examined in terms of Isabella's insecure attachment style, emotions, reactions, and continuing bonds, along with a traumatic and sudden loss.

“AH ZALİMLİK BU, FESLEĞEN SAKSIMI BENDEN ALMAK!”: YAS SÜRECİNİN JOHN KEATS'IN “ISABELLA, YA DA FESLEĞEN SAKSISI”NDAKİ YANSIMASI

Bu çalışma John Keats'in Isabella, ya da Fesleğen Saksısı şiirini yas ve bağlanma kuramları kullanarak incelemeyi amaçlamıştır. Şiir, Isabella'nın sevgilisi Lorenzo'nun beklenmeyen kaybı ile baş edememesi ve sürdürdüğü sağlıksız yas sürecinin bir yansıması olarak ele alınmıştır. İnsanların anneleri ile kurdukları ilk ilişki ile başlayan bağlanma stilleri, insanların hayatlarındaki önemli kişilerle kurdukları duygusal bağın türünü ve yapısını temsil eder. Bağlanma gürünü kaybetmek yas sürecinde gösterilen farklı tepkilerle ilişkilidir. Isabella, sahip olduğu kaygılı bağlanma stili nedeniyle sevgilisinin ölümünü anlamlandıramaz ve bu durumla baş edemez. Bu bağlamda, sağlıklı bir yas süreci yaşamadığı söylenebilir. Sonuçta Lorenzo ile kurduğu bağı hezeyanlarla sürdürür: Onun kafasını kesip bir saksıya koyarak üzerinde fesleğen yetiştirir. Bu eserde, Isabella'nın yaşadığı ani ve travmatik kayıp; güvensiz bağlanma stili, duygular, tepkiler ve sürdürülen bağlar açılarından incelenmiştir.

___

Ainsworth, Mary D. S., Mary C. Blehar, Everett Waters, and Sally Wall. Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1978.

Bowlby, John. Attachment and Loss. Vol. 1, Attachment. London: Hogarth P, 1969.

Bowlby, John. Attachment and Loss. Vol. 2, Separation: Anxiety and Anger. London: Hogarth P, 1973.

Bowlby, John. Attachment and Loss. Vol. 3, Loss: Sadness and Depression. London: Hogarth P, 1980.

Bowlby, John. A Secure Base: Parent-child Attachment and Healthy Human Development. New York: Basic, 1988.

“Basil.” Web. 21.12.2017.

Caserta, Michael, et al. “Stress-related Growth Among the Recently Bereaved.” Aging and Mental Health 13 (2009). 463–476.

Field, Nigel P. “Whether to Relinquish or Maintain a Bond with The Deceased.” Handbook of Bereavement Research and Practice: Advances in Theory and Intervention. Eds. Margaret Stroebe, Robert O. Hansson, Henk Schut, & Wolfgang Stroebe. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association P, 2008. 113–132.

Field, Nigel P., Beryl Gao, and Lisa Paderna. “Continuing Bonds in Bereavement: An Attachment Theory Based Perspective.” Death Studies 29 (2005). 277-299.

Field, Nigel P., et al. “The Relation of Continuing Attachment to Adjustment in Conjugal Bereavement.” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 67 (1999). 212-218. 1999.

Hazan, Cindy and Philip R. Shaver. “Romantic Love Conceptualized as an Attachment Process.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 52 (1987). 511-524.

Izard, Caroll E., and Silvan. S. Tomkins. “Affect and Behavior: Anxiety as a Negative Affect.” Anxiety and Behavior .Ed. Charles D. Spielberger. New York: Academic P, 1966. 81-125.

Keats, John. “Isabella or the Pot of Basil.” The Poems of John Keats. Ed. Miriam Allott. London and New York: Longman, 1970.

Kübler -Ross, Elisabeth. On Death and Dying. New York: Macmillan, 1969.

Mikulincer, Mario, Philip R. Shaver, & Dana Pereg. “Attachment Theory and Affect Regulation: The Dynamics, Development, and Cognitive Consequences of Attachment-related Strategies.” Motivation and Emotion 27 (2003): 77-103.

Neimeyer, Robert A., Holly G. Prigerson, and Betty Davies. “Mourning and Meaning.” American Behavioral Scientist 6 (2002). 235-251.

Shuchter, Stephen R., and Sidney Zisook. “The Course of Normal Grief.” Handbook of Bereavement: Theory, Research and Implications. Eds. Margaret

S. Stroebe, Wolfgang Stroebe & Robert O. Hansson. 23-43. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1993.

Stroebe, Margaret S. “Paving the Way: From Early Attachment Theory to Contemporary Bereavement Research.” Mortality 7. 2 (2002). 127-138.

Stroebe, Margaret S., et al. “Continuing Bonds in Adjustment to Bereavement: Impact of Abrupt Versus Gradual Separation.” Personal Relationships 19 (2012). 255-266.