Jane Campion's Bright Star: The Disputed Biographies of John Keats and Fanny Brawne

Jane Campion's 2009 film Bright Star, which focuses on the last three years of the poet's life and his relationship with Fanny Brawne, delves into the controversies and disputed biographies of John and Fanny as well as the longstanding debate about the gender identity of the poet. The relationship was discouraged by most of Keats's closest friends, represented in the film by Charles Armitage Brown, on the grounds that Fanny was not intellectually worthy to be the poet's companion and was simply a distraction from his calling as a poet. However, Campion's film, supported by recent biographies as well as by letters John wrote to Fanny, makes a strong case for the value of the relationship and for Fanny's worthiness. The other dispute that Campion seeks to redress is the attempt to feminize Keats, begun by some of his contemporaries; Campion's film emphasizes that any perceived weakness on Keats's part must be due to his debilitating illness - consumption.