John Keats's Ode on a Grecian Urn : a study of the critical opinions and textual material.
Since its publication in 1820 critics have offered numerous opinions concerning the Ode on a Grecian Urn. Until 1925 the criticism was shallow, but a predominant theory did emerge. During the last forty-one years this theory has been engulfed by a flood of new interpretations. The result is that the contemporary critic finds a myriad of theories concerning the general thought of the poem. The attempt of this thesis to establish a final reading evaluates these interpretations on the basis of whether they are supported by a stanza-by-stanza explication, whether these explications are consistent in dealing with the material of the poem, and whether these explications are based on the authoritative text. The conclusion to this attempt is that a final reading cannot be established because an authoritative text cannot be determined; therefore, the two entirely different approaches to the important last two lines ((1) they are one statement; (2) they consist of a statement and a counterstatement) are justified as are the myriad of approaches to the whole poem that depend upon them.
Keats, John, 1795-1821. Ode on a Grecian urn.
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations