In the nineteenth century we have seen the emergence of dominant female characters in literature across the world. Their inclusion serves key roles in how the story is driven but also how the role of woman has changed and how they can be characterized. Women can be as integral to a story’s progression as any other character because of how diverse their roles can be. In La Belle Dame sans Merci by John Keats and Lady with the Dog by Anton Chekov, we see women talk on many characteristics such as that of a temptress, manipulator and someone that is unattainable.

La Belle Dame sans Merci by John Keats is a poem about a knight who has fallen in love with a beautiful woman only to have a dream which warns him that he has been trapped. This poem is significant in creating a view for women as being seductive, dangerous and unattainable. In this ballad, the author creates a romanticized image of women as fairies. Keats describes the woman as a beautiful faery in the meadows with long hair, light feet and wild and beautiful eyes. In essence, it is the representation of how all men would like to visualize their partners. However, women are also illustrated to be sensual and seductive temptresses where the knight has little control over his love for her. “I made a garland for her head, And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;… I set her on my pacing steed, And nothing else saw all day long;” This woman is attractive and charming but also has the knight doing things that he would normally not do. This quote shows how Keats may be trying to represent women as casting spells on the men that they “trap”. It foreshadows the knights dream in which he is warned by authoritative figures “La belle Dame sans merci Thee hath in thrall!”” which means that the beautiful lady without mercy has you in bondage! Because the image of women as being beautiful yet dangerous, Keats chose to characterize the woman both literally and figuratively as something that is unreal. By using the image of the beautiful fairy, Keats shows us the true nature of how women that we hold to be perfect are hence portrayed as something that is unattainable.

Lady with the Dog by Anton Chekov is a short-story of Dmitry and Anna who are both married to other people and find love in Yalta. They hope to leave their previous lives behind for each other. This story also shares many of the same views of women as John Keats poem. Throughout the story, we see the progression of women being the primary driving force in the main characters life. They are characterized as seductive, dangerous and unattainable. Anna the main woman figure in the story is described as attractive “He recalled her slender, delicate neck, her fine gray eyes.” (1526) It is however, not her beauty that attracts Dmitry but her awkwardness and inexperience that hints toward an innocence that Dmitry is attracted to. As a result, Anna proved to be dangerous to Dmitry because he is trying to leave his wife, children, and work behind to be with her. Although it is unlike the way the woman in Keats poem might have purposefully been dangerous by luring the knight, Anna can be seen in such as way because their love must destroy Dmitry’s previous life. Because there is a struggle between Dmitry’s previous life and the one he wants to create with Anna, Chekov shows us that the women that we would like to have is out of reach from us.

With the rise of women as powerful figures in literature we can see that women are truly seen as driving forces. They can become anything the situation allows them to be. Woman can be seductive, they can be manipulating, but most of all they can be powerful and in control. Between just these two texts we can see how women can be both seductive yet dangerous and loving yet unattainable.