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Edgar Allan Poe, Annabel Lee, And The Raven

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The Life and Works of Edgar Allan Poe The ideas and subjects expressed in Edgar Allan Poe’s works are a reflection of his life and times. Poe was an author and poet who was primarily active in the mid 1800’s. Infamous for writing grueling horror stories, he composed classics such as “The Tell Tale Heart,” “Annabel Lee,” and “The Raven.” For a majority of his life he lived in poverty and was heavily influenced by alcohol after the death of his young wife, Virginia (Poemuseum 1). His health plummeted at various points of his life, driving him to the brink of insanity (Ebsco 1). Such factors are often portrayed in his writings. “The Tell Tale Heart” depicts the story of an individual crazed by the eye of an old man. Maddened, he murders the …show more content…

He implores the raven to discuss its business being there, only to receive the response “Nevermore” each time (Poetryfound 1). He believes the raven is a symbol of death, representinghis lost lover, Lenore. Once again, Virginia influenced the story, seen when then the narrator says, “Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore...” (Poetryfound 1). In this quote, the narrator entreats the Raven to return to the “Plutonian shore,” a reference to the god of the underworld (Ebsco 1). Essentially, he is asking the raven to return to a state of death. Evidentently, he views the raven as a sign of death, moreover the sign of Lenore’s death, or in Poe’s life, Virginia’s death. Poe may have used the death of Lenore and the raven to express the pain he feels of his memory, and that he too wants the memories and insanity provoked from her death to return to where she is: in the afterworld. Additionally, the beginning of the story the narrator describes himself to be drinking a “nepenthe” in attempt to forget the loss of his love. Poe had a history of being an alcoholic, as he was influenced by family members and took up the habit himself; the death of Virginia worsened this habit, just as it had in the poem (Ebsco 1). Evidently, the element of death is a recurring theme in Poe’s works— especially the death of a loved one, such as Virginia. Another redundant theme is insanity, seen

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When analyzing the characters presented in the tales, the reader will find that although they differ in motives and illnesses, they are both consumed by intense emotions and mental instability from significant circumstances that occurred in the past. In “The Raven,” the main character is portrayed as a lonely individual who is suffering from melancholic depression, coping with the loss of their previous lover, Lenore. Assumingly, the narrator's difficulty in coping with the loss of his deceased lover has led him to obsess over memories of her, ultimately provoking him to descend into a deep state of depression, obsession, and psychological suffering. In stanza six, Poe displays the narrator’s psychological state by writing: Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream

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As much as Poe tries to get the raven to leave him alone the only response he would get back was “never more.” Hinting that the raven would never leave him alone. Portraying that he will never be able to get over the loss of his wife. This symbolism Poe uses of the raven compares his sadness of the narrator to a raven, know for its dark and sad

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Edgar Allan Poe was a writer that is known for his gothic style of writing. Poe’s short stories and poems are very popular. His work is intriguing, but also brings up questions about life itself. He uses the theme of death in a lot of his work, which is probably because of the death of his mother. He also uses color to symbolize things throughout his writings.

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He was probably writing about his wife dying. The poem is also based on the raven being a “Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance”. While the

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Poe creates a suspense throughout the poem with the repetiton of the raven's answer ,”Nevermore”. We know that the narrator is in deep agony since he lost his wife and he is looking for ways of getting rid of this pain or even bringing his wife back to life. That's why he has been looking at various books, hoping for a miracle or something supernatural to happen. Thus, when the raven arrives, the narrator may have thought that he could find the answers to the questions in his head. And thus, everytime the raven answers his question with the same line, the narrator goes mad and the tension builds.

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And that night, a raven comes in his window and perches above the door of the room. The narrator jokingly begins to talk to the bird. But he was in for quite a shock when the raven replied with just the word “nevermore.” After talking to the raven, the narrator begins to wonder if this bird was a devil coming to remind him constantly of the loss of his love or a message from God saying that he shouldn’t want to forget Lenore. And after shouting at the raven and telling it to leave, it never does.

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Shortly after returning home from the University of Virginia, Poe “[faced] another personal setback—his neighbor and fiancée Sarah Elmira Royster had become engaged to someone else,” leaving Poe “heartbroken and frustrated.” The betrayal of his fiancée gives Poe so much pain and sorrow that he uses it to master a ghastly writing style. Towards the end of Edgar Allan Poe’s days, he “was overcome by grief after the death of his beloved [wife] Virginia in 1847.” In “The Masque of the Red Death,” the feelings of “disapprobation and surprise—then, finally, of terror, of horror, and of disgust” that the guests feel when they notice the masked figure compares to the same feeling of shock and revulsion felt by Poe after losing his love interests. Just as a songwriter may write a sorrowful song after an ended relationship, Edgar Allan Poe wrote tragic and gloomy stories to cope with the betrayal of his fiancée or loss of his

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The raven’s constant reply of “Nevermore” is not Lenore ignoring the characters questions but giving the character a simple answer to all of his questions. The reply “Nevermore” is Lenore telling the character that she will forever be with him and he will never more have to worry with being a lone, she is here now. In conclusion, the raven in Edgar Poe’s story “The Raven” was sent to the unknown character to forever conclude his loneliness he felt from his loss. The raven symbolizes the presences of the unknown characters significant other Lenore.

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Poe writes, “Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!" Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore” (80-81). In these lines the narrator is speaking and the raven us haunting the narrator. The raven is reminding the narrator of Lenore even if the narrator wishes to forget her. In this excerpt and in several others, the raven is relentless and downright annoying.

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A fan favorite of Poe’s work is “The Cask of Amontillado.” The short story focuses on a man who seeks revenge against a man who insulted him. He conveniently meets the intoxicated man at a carnival before luring him into the catacombs and burying him alive (River 733-738). The narrative’s theme balances between revenge and mortality. It teaches that revenge can come at a hefty price, and it spotlights the anxieties people have involving death (“Cask of Amontillado Themes,” Schmoop).

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The raven is a symbol of the unanticipated arrival of death and how it can affect one’s mental state. As an example, the poem states, "Respite—respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore/ Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore! Quoth the Raven ‘Nevermore" (Line 84). In response to the narrator questioning the presence of Lenore, the Raven says that she will never do so. Therefore, the raven tells the speaker to forget her.

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After Poe’s wife died of consumption, he spent the years after roaming graveyards and writing poetry about his lost love. According to Edgar A. Poe, “Virginia would die in her mid-twenties, an invalid for years, and versions of her would figure in many of Poe’s tales of consumptive women destined to haunt his narrators’ imaginations…” (Rollyson 1). Following Virginia’s death, Poe coped with extreme grief by symbolizing her death in his short stories. In The Raven, it states, “Leave my loneliness unbroken!- quit the bust above my door!

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Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Night's Plutonian shore!" In this demand Poe levels the raven with that of the underworld and the grim horrors that go on down there (Poetry Foundation). The Night represents all that is dark and mysterious. Plutonian refers to the Roman god Pluto who reined over the Underworld. The Shore can be an allusion to the banks of the River Styxx or River Acheron that you arrive on after death in Greco-Roman mythology.

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In the poem “The Raven” the mood is also sad. In the poem, it says, “From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—” (10). This line from the text tells us that the reader is sorrow for his lost love, Lenore. Lastly, a piece of evidence from “The Raven” is, “Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door” (101).

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The raven symbolizes the man’s love for Lenore. Lenore was someone who was particularly important to this man. All he ever did was think about her. He tried to escape his thoughts, but every time he did, he got pulled back into them. Not only does the raven represent love but it also represents the narrator 's

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