Analysis of Edgar Allen Poe's Work - Case Study Example

Analysis of Edgar Allen Poes Work Edgar Ellen Poe is one of the most influential in the historyof English literature contributing in the form of great deal of psychologically thrilling stories to the genres of horror and science fiction. This essay attempts to analyse the most prevalent themes and phobias is his work; as well as what were the most prominent and distinguishing characteristics in his work that made them popular among the horror genre & earned Poe the title of the father of modern detective stories & a very influential and commendable poetry writer; through a research of some of his most popular short stories and poems. Examination of the most prevalent themes in Poe’s work The most prevalent theme in most of Poe’s tales is the compelling and thrilling use of horror to go into the depths of human mind. Horrifying yet inspiring use of psychology earned him great fame for the writing style and phobias that he developed throughout his many stories. I will explore this in later part of the essay. Edgar Allen Poe accomplished this psychologically thrilling and compelling approach through the use of his narrative style and theme setting in his stories. A lot of writers and critics have analyzed the work of Poe and all have different sorts of views thereon, but Harold Bloom summarized his writing style in a very different and nice way when he mentioned that, "Poe has an uncanny talent for exposing our common nightmares and hysteria lurking beneath our carefully structured lives. " (Bloom 07) Edgar Allen Poe used to believe that the poetry must be a “rhythmical creation of beauty”. However the concept of beauty and what is beautiful is very much different in the eyes of Poe. Sadness, melancholy, psychological conditions and state of mind; according to Poe, were beautiful. Therefore, even when writing about the emotions and feelings of love in his works like “The Raven” and “Annabel Lee”, he expressed these views through the death of a young and beautiful woman; which was in it a beauty – a concept developed by Poe. Analysis of Poe’s writing with respect to the prevalent themes in his work Although there are several different characteristics of Edgar Allen Poe’s writing, I will focus mainly on the very distinctive setting and narrative style used by Poe throughout the most popular stories written by him. I will analyze some of his most successful and influential stories and poems in an attempt to prove my point. Poe’s work is famous especially under the genre of horror. What makes these scary stories like “The Black Cat” and “The Fall of the House of Usher” really frightening is the unusual and realistic use of the creation of pictures in our mind. He used his uncanny talent to paint the pictures of darkness, gloom and death in the minds of the readers. This was further elaborated by the detailed and complex psychological mechanisms that Poe used in a deliberate attempt to let the readers make a relation and a distinction between the darkness, reality and death. The constant use of the mechanisms such as hallucinations, dreams and the influence of drugs etc. are used to highlight these concepts in his stories. The following analysis of his work will further elaborate on this idea. Pit and the Pendulum To better understand the setting of darkness and horrifying theme, consider Pit and the Pendulum. The use of setting in this tale is extraordinary as it was originally the pitch black type. The narrator of the story who is the central character suddenly begins to realize that there is nothing that can be done by him except relying on his senses to make a comprehension of reality and the surrounding environment. Then again, the said theme and setting played an essential role as the narrator discovers how he may die. The sense of reality is not certain but the narrator is quite sure that somewhere in the darkness the death awaits for him. The same theme makes Poe’s story scary and psychologically thrilling. The chamber used in the “Pit and the Pendulum” was described by Richard Wilbur as follows: “"Though he lives on the brink of the pit, on the very verge of the plunge into unconsciousness, he is still unable to disengage himself from the physical and temporal world. The physical oppresses him in the shape of lurid graveyard visions; the temporal oppresses him in the shape of an enormous and deadly pendulum. It is altogether appropriate, then, that this chamber should be constricting and cruelly angular" (Wilbur 63). This characteristic of shuddery setting is also very much evident in "The Fall of the House of Usher". This story tends to be scary through the description of images Poe is trying to create within our mind. The details he has used to enable us to connect the present story with its backgrounds are quite satisfying just as it was in "Pit & Pendulum". For example, the depiction of the way in which both the Usher mansion and the Usher family are breaking down slowly from the inside to finally collapse. These are among the many manifestations of horror and intense sadness he has tried to create in the story. The setting and the theme of thoughtful sadness is apparent throughout the story. Images of Usher mansion as vacant and start place providing nothing, and so of the narrator himself gives us the feeling of melancholy and darkness. It seems as though Poe wants us to picture these images in our mind and the decay of the mansion makes us feel as if the life all around it is also falling apart. It is rightfully said by Vincent Buranelli that, “Poe is able to sustain an atmosphere which is dark and dull. This is one of the tricks which he largely derived from the tradition of the Gothic tale" (Buranelli 79). Presence of American romanticism is the Poe’s stories Another very strong feature of Edgar Allen Poes writing was the presence of American romanticism of the 19th century. Similar authors at that time used to have a strong sense of pride in their national identity. One of the major ambitions was to formulate their own unique style that will differentiate itself from the British literature of that time. Edgar Allen Poe could be consider a great member of the American Romantic authors movement. He influenced them through developing his own individualistic style which resulted in a noteworthy element of creativity in the romantic literature. The most apparent elements of this new style of romantic writing was that he rejected the classicism, impassioned idealism and the remoteness of space and time continuum. Poes short story "Ligeia," which was published in 1838, is the perfect example of such style of writing. Like many other stories this one also presents a young beautiful women names Ligeia who was the first wife of the storys narrator. Like The Raven and The Black Cat, the beauty dies in this story as well but in a different way. The narrator marries another woman Rowena. Poe tried to build in the usual features of women of that time into the character of Rowena. To our surprise Rowena also dies and near the end of the story she comes back from the dead in the form of Ligeia (Lawrence). It may be said the stories he wrote were all inspired by some of our life events but the way in which he used to communicate it to us was quite unfamiliar or maybe strange for some of the readers. In Ligeia we learn near the end that the narrator was an opium addict. The similar technique was used in many other stories as well where the psychological condition of the narrator, the main character, was put to question. Conclusion The creative use of narrative setting and the horrifying yet captive and riveting details are the main characteristics of Edgar Allen Poe’s work through which he has captured the minds of people. Thats the theme he used to attract peoples attention and which contributed to the American literature. Poe’s spooky idealism and the uncertainty with respect to time and space have also made him one of the pioneers of the American Romanticism. To quote the words of Buranelli, "He has created a universe, given it psychological laws without denying the existence of the moral law, and peopled it with characters appropriate to such a universe. Putting overt mortality out of bounds helps to give him uniqueness" (Buranelli 74). For these reasons Edgar Ellen Poe will always be remembered in the history of literature as one of the greatest authors to ever live on the face of the Earth. Works Cited Bloom, Herold. Modern Critical Views on Edgar Allan Poe.  New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1985. Buranelli, Vincent.  Edgar Allan Poe.  Boston: G.K. Hall & Co., 1977. Lawrence, D.H. Studies in Classic American Literature. New York: The Viking Press, 1961. Wilbur, Richard. Modern Critical Views on Edgar Allan Poe. Ed. Harold Bloom.  New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1985. Read More