The Eve of St. Agnes

Having read the footnote, discuss how the story illustrates the superstition mentioned there.

In the footnotes, the superstition involved with St. Agnes Eve is that when a "chaste young woman performs the proper ritual, she will dream of her future husband". The ritual as illustrated in the reading is skipping dinner "as supperless to bed they must retire", then they are to lie in bed on their backs with their face looking up "couch supine their beauties, lily white;//Nor look behind, nor sideways, but require//Of heaven with upwards eyes for all that they desire."

Madeline does these things, daydreaming the evening away as she waits to go to bed and hopefully dream of her husband. Here though, Porphyro makes her dream come true. Whether she truly dreamed of him is difficult to call I'd say, but he hid in her bedroom to whisper and play to her with gifts as she slept. A tricky boy, but smart in a way because his tending to her while she slept would surely inspire her dreams.