(33) The Influence of E. A. Poe: European Tradition and New Genres in Prose and Poetry.

A m e r i c a n  R o m a n t i c i s m

[See "Background for Topics 31-33..."]

E d g a r  A l l e n  P o e  ( 1 8 0 9 – 4 9 )

L i f e :

- son of wandering actors: his mother died when he was 2, his drunkard father disappeared, adopted by the childless Richmond merchant John Allen

- enrolled at prestigious schools in En.; at the Uni of Virginia x but: after 1 term in debt more than a y. salary; and at the West Point Academy x but: dismissed

- lived with his aunt Mrs Clemm in Baltimore, and married her daughter Virginia when she was 14

- worked as an ed. for a Richmond magazine x but: dismissed for drinking; then worked with several magazines in Philadelphia; and unsuccessfully attempted to start a magazine of his own

(+) a pop. impact of his ed. writings, critical reviews, poems, and short stories

(–) the death of his wife of TBC (when 25), his excessive drinking, and his over-extension resulted in his death

W o r k :

(1) a Gothic tradition: his horror stories

(2) a part of broader movement of Romanticism:

- exploited the unconscious, the dark corners of human mind, mental illnesses, and the border states btw sleeping and being awake

- interested in beauty combined with terror, unreasonable violence, and oth. deviations of nature

- interested primarily in the effect of the symbol x not the meaning: a symbol should not be transparent x but: the referent should be obscure

- sometimes called a ‘Byronic hero’ himself

(3) Chivalric tradition: his cult of ladies and gentlemen

F i c t i o n :

- aims at truth = ‘the satisfaction of the intellect’: demands precision and the objects

- passion = ‘the excitement of the heart’: demands homeliness

=> therefore both Truth and Passion are antagonistic to Beauty and the Soul [see his “Philosophy of Composition”]

‘Poe saw “the fundamental incompatibility btw beauty and truth.” On Romantic premises he questioned the Am. tendency to unite the aesthetic with the moralistic, which “obstructed the free enterprise of the imagination”... Poe, in short, embraced not Romantic affirmation but Romantic agony, the separation of art and nature.’

- wrote horror tales, mystery tales, and detective stories (developed mystery of a closed room, a slower and a wise detective to explain the mystery, police on a wrong trace, etc.)

- preocc. with the psychological aspect of a sick mind

- genres:

(1) Arabesque – “The Fall of the House of Usher”

(2) Grotesque

(3) Ratiocinative: stories of rational analysis

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym: 1^st publ. as a hoax, in the Richmond magazine he co-ed.

Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque: ratiocinate

Tales by Edgar A. Poe

Also wrote following short stories of distinction:

> “MS Found in a Bottle”: won him the 1^st prize in a story contest in a Baltimore paper

> “Gold Bug”: won him fame and the top prize in a Philadelphia newsp

> “The Murder in the Rue Morgue”: a detective story

> “The Balloon Hoax”, “The Pit and the Pendulum”, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, “Berenice”, “Morella”, “Ligeia”, “William Wilson”, “Eleonora”, “The Black Cat”, “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “Shadow”, “The Cask of Amontillado”, “The Masque of the Red Death”, “The Purloined Letter”

P o e t r y :

- aims at Beauty = an ‘intense and pure elevation of soul – not of intellect, or of heart’

=> poetry should appeal only to the sense of beauty x not truth [see his “Philosophy of Composition”]

- rejects didactic poetry, and realistic details in poetry: poetry should evoke mood rather than meaning

- emphasises forethought

- transl. by Verlain (associated with the beginning of symbolism), and better known in Eur. than in Am.

(a) early poetry: typically Romantic in form and content

(b) mature poetry: little progress beyond the Romantic Gothicism in subject x but: remarkable in technique – “The Raven”, “Ulalume”, and “The Bells”

Tamerlane and Other Poems: his 1^st coll., publ. on his own expense

Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems

The Raven and Other Poems: publ. by a prestigious publ. house

Eureka: a long prose poem explaining the nature of the universe

> “Annabel Lee”, “Israfel”, “Sonnet — To Science”, “To Helen”, “Ulalume: A Ballad”

C r i t i c i s m :

- introd. a new criticism avoiding moralising, comments upon art, generalisation, and boasting off