Keats uses the phrase “pic nic scandal” to suggest something silly, and he tosses it off as if it’s a common phrase, but it’s unique to him.
Writing to his brother George and his wife Georgiana, he writes, “Perhaps as you were fond of giving me sketches of character you may like a little pic nic of scandal even across the Atlantic—But now I must speak particularly to you my dear Sister—for I know you love a little quizzing, better than a great bit of apple dumpling.”
At first, Keats tells an anecdote about their Uncle Redhall, but the real gossip this leads up to is Fanny Brawne, his romantic interest. Keats seems shy to introduce them, but he lets them know that she’s special—beautiful, elegant, and graceful, though argumentative –a “Minx” with a “penchant for acting stylishly.”
See John Keats. “Letter to the George Keats 18 December 1818.” In Letters of John Keats. Edited by Robert Gittings. New York: Oxford University Press, 1970. Also, Picnicsonfilm.org discusses Jane Campion’s fictionalization of the Keats/Brawne romance and courtship in Bright Star (2009).
Featured Image: John Keats (Ben Whishaw) dancing with Fanny Braun (Abbie Cornish). See Jane Campion’s Bright Star (2009)
See John Keats. “Letter to the George Keats 18 December 1818. #137” In Letters of John Keats. Edited by Robert Gittings. New York: Oxford University Press, 1970; Jane Campion. Bright Star (2009). Screenplay by Jane Campion