1. Dark Romantics, Gothic Literature
And the Works of
Edgar Allan Poe

2. Dark Romanticism
Emerged from the transcendental philosophical movement popular in nineteenth-century America.
The dark romantic spirit was influenced by Transcendentalism, but did not entirely embrace the ideas of Transcendentalism.

3. T. vs. D.R
Transcendentalists
Dark Romantics
Believed in man’s spiritual essence and his souls ability to transcend the physical world.
Literary works are notably less optimistic than Trans. texts about mankind, nature, and divinity.
Nature is beautiful and can help you reveal truths about yourself and the world and acts as a divine and universal organic mediator.
Dark Romanticism views nature in a much more sinister light. The natural world is dark, decaying, and mysterious; when it does reveal truth to man, its revelations are evil and hellish.
Individuals can grow and develop and are morally good.
Individuals as prone to sin and self destruction and frequently fail in their attempts to make changes for the better.

4. Themes of Dark Romanticism
A collection of works concentrating upon themes of horror, tragedy, the macabre and the supernatural.
The success of this movement also relies on the fact that the human psyche is attracted in a subtle way to the fear, pain and tragedy
It has lead to the birth of the Gothic style and has greatly influenced music and art.

5. Gothic Literary Movement
Works of the genre commonly aim to inspire terror, including through accounts of the macabre and supernatural, haunted structures, and the search for identity
Skeptics find Gothic Literature melodramatic and predictable
Gothic fiction is more about sheer terror than Dark Romanticism's themes of dark mystery and skepticism regarding man.

6. The Gothic Tradition Began in Europe First Gothic Work:
1765 The Castle of Otranto – Horace Walpole
Two Early Works:
Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus (1818)
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897)

9. Frankenstein’s Monster

10. Gothic Architecture
The Gothic tradition was also reflected in architecture: vaulted ceilings, arches, stained glass windows, gargoyles

11. Notre Dame

12. Characteristics of Gothic Fiction
Mystery
Horror
The Grotesque
Violence
The Supernatural

13. The Gothic

15. from “The Philosophy of Composition”
“The death…of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world – and equally is it beyond doubt that the lips best suited for such topic are those of a bereaved lover.”
Edgar Allan Poe
from “The Philosophy of Composition”

16. Edgar Allan Poe His biography is often distorted
His life was filled with personal tragedy and professional failure
Poe drank to escape this failure but had a low tolerance for alcohol
Numerous women whom he loved died, most from tuberculosis
His true love, his wife Virginia died from tuberculosis; Poe watched her slowly die for five years

17. The death of a beautiful woman was a common topic of his works because he had experienced such loss himself, including his mother, stepmother, childhood love, and his wife

18. Poe’s professional life was full of failure
His greatest success was “The Raven,” which brought him fame, but earned him only $14.00
Poe wrote many short stories simply for the money; ironically he is most famous for these stories
He saw himself as a poet, but could not make a living from writing poetry

19. He is the most important American poet before Walt Whitman
Poe was also an important literary critic (he was known as the “tomahawk man” for his often brutal criticism)
He is credited with the invention of the detective story (these stories provided Poe with the order & logic that was lacking in his own life)

20. Poe
Poe can be considered the father of the modern horror story, influencing writers such as Stephen King and Anne Rice

22. Poe explored the dark and often irrational side of the human mind (Hawthorne explored the dark side of the human heart)
His stories often are filled with a sense of anxiety & have a dreamlike quality

23. Master of the Short Story
Along with Nathaniel Hawthorne, Poe perfected the modern short story
Poe stressed a single dominant effect in his short stories
The Premature Burial

24. Poe
After the death of his wife, Poe went insane, desperately trying to find someone to take her place
His death remains a mystery; his final words were, “God help my poor soul.”

25. “Six years ago, a wife whom I loved as no man ever loved before, ruptured a blood-vessel in singing. Her life was despaired of. I took leave of her forever, and underwent all the agonies of her death. She recovered partially, and again I hoped. At the end of a year, the vessel broke again. I went through precisely the same scene. Again, in about a year afterward. Then again—again—again—and even once again, at varying intervals. Each time I felt all the agonies of her death—and at each accession of the disorder I loved her more dearly and clung to her life with more desperate pertinacity…I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity. During these fits of absolute unconsciousness I drank, God only knows how often or how much. ”
- Edgar Allan Poe, 1848

26. Poe’s characters are often tortured by guilt
Poe saw women as angelic figures: “Women have been angels of mercy to me.”
Poe’s characters are often tortured by guilt
Poe’s stories are quite modern in their psychoanalytical components
Like many of his characters, Poe was caught between
Rationality & irrationality
Order & chaos

27. HW: Define these words and give examples.
Terms to know for Poe
Alliteration
End Rhyme
Internal Rhyme
Hyperbole
Imagery
Irony
Mood/Tone
Point of View
Setting
Repetition
Foreshadowing
Assonance
Consonance
Theme
Symbol
Onomatopoeia
Allegory
HW: Define these words and give examples.

30. from “The Bells”
Hear the sledges with the bells- Silver bells! What a world of merriment their melody foretells! How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, In the icy air of night! While the stars that oversprinkle All the heavens, seem to twinkle With a crystalline delight; Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells From the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells- From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells…..

31. from “The Bells”
Hear the tolling of the bells- Iron Bells! What a world of solemn thought their monody compels! In the silence of the night, How we shiver with affright At the melancholy menace of their tone! For every sound that floats From the rust within their throats Is a groan. And the people–ah, the people- They that dwell up in the steeple, All Alone
The Bells: Audio
And who, tolling, tolling, tolling, In that muffled monotone, Feel a glory in so rolling On the human heart a stone- They are neither man nor woman- They are neither brute nor human- They are Ghouls: And their king it is who tolls; And he rolls, rolls, rolls, Rolls

32. “The Raven”
“The Raven” reflects the darkness, anger and frustration Poe felt while watching his wife Virginia die for five years
During that time, Poe struggled to keep Virginia fed and warm, and also to give her the medicine she desperately needed
The guilt & anger he felt are expressed in the darkness of “The Raven”

33. “The Raven”
Written while Poe’s wife, Virginia, was dying from tuberculosis
The darkness of the poem– the feeling that he will be free from the pain of the memory of his “Lost Lenore” nevermore is reflective of the agony and desperation Poe felt in his own life

34. “The Raven” The poem contains internal rhyme:
“Once upon a midnight dreary while I wandered weak and weary”
Poe establishes immediately, an atmosphere/tone of darkness/melancholy/ suspense/fear/anxiety

35. “The Raven”
The poem mirrors Poe’s own experience of dealing with his wife’s slow death (for five years) from tuberculosis.
She would get better, then worse, then better, then worse – a rollercoaster of emotions for Poe. The narrator/speaker tries to forget his lost Lenore, but can’t; he is distracted by books (forgotten lore) then the tapping on the door, then the raven, but only momentarily.

36. “The Raven”
He is continually reminded of the pain he feels from her loss (the bird will leave him in the morning like Lenore; Lenore will never sit in the chair as he does in the poem).
As much as the narrator wants to forget his loss, he can’t help but remember.

38. “Annabel Lee”
This poem is also about the death of Poe’s wife, Virginia, but it evinces a much more positive view of her passing.
Poe seems to have come to terms with the loss of his wife; he seems to be at peace with her passing, for she remains with him
The poem presents a romanticized memory of the death of Poe’s wife

39. “Annabel Lee”
“For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams of the beautiful Annabel Lee/ And the stars never rise but I see the bright eyes of my beautiful Annabel Lee.”
Contrary to “The Raven,” the narrator wants to remember his lost love; the narrator of “The Raven” wants to forget.

40. Comparing & Contrasting
“The Raven”
Lenore is angelic: “For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—”
Speaker wants to forget because it hurts to remember
Memory of her full of darkness and despair: “On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.”
Internal rhyme creates suspense and changes in tone which reflect speaker’s failed attempts to forget Lenore
“Annabel Lee”
Annabel Lee is angelic: “The angels, not half so happy in heaven/Went envying her and me—”
Speaker wants to remember
Romanticized memory of her: “For the moon never beams”
Fairy-tale like feel: “It was many and many a year ago….” – consistent with romanticized memory
Sing-song rhythm to poem creates hopeful and nostalgic tone

41. “The Cask of Amontillado”
“…but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.” “The Cask of Amontillado” is the narrator’s account of his ability to carry out a chilling plot of revenge against his offender.

42. Terms to Remember

43. Carnival

44. Carnival
Carnival is a secular holiday, but it evolved from the Christian observance known as Lent.
Lent is a 40 day period of fasting prior to Easter.
Traditionally, the fasting during Lent involves abstaining from eating meat.
Modern interpretations of fasting may involve abstaining from anything one enjoys.
FLESH (Meat) + FAREWELL

46. What happens during Carnival?
EXCESS and INDULGENCE.
BINGEING upon food and alcohol
Partying and masquerading
People tend to let down their inhibitions.
Mardi Gras.
“supreme madness” of Carnival.
How can a crime go unnoticed?

48. Lifestyles of the Rich Gemmary Painting Palazzos (mansions)
Fine Wine (vintages)

49. The narrator plans for his revenge to take place in the catacombs beneath his estate.
What are catacombs?

50. At a certain point in European history, catacombs, underground burial chambers, became a viable alternative to cemeteries.
The wealthy could opt for family catacombs beneath their estates.
Wine is also stored beneath the ground-cooler and easier to store.

51. Montressor’s Crest and Family Motto
 "The Montresors were a great and  numerous family.“
     "I forget your arms.“
     "A huge human foot d'or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are  imbedded in the heel.“
     "And the motto?“
     "Nemo me impune lacessit."

52. Montressor’s Crest and Family Motto
Latin: “Nemo Me Impune Lacessit”
English: “No one punishes me without impunity”
Impunity-exemption from punishment or loss or escape from fines

53. “The Masque of the Red Death”
The Red Death can be seen as tuberculosis, a disease which haunted Poe his entire life
Tuberculosis (consumption) seemed to kill everyone Poe loved; “The Masque of the Red Death” is often seen as Poe’s expression of this idea
A symptom of consumption was the coughing up of blood & lung tissue

54. Avatar: any incarnation or embodiment
THE "Red Death" had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its seal --the redness and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. And the whole seizure, progress and termination of the disease, were the incidents of half an hour.
Avatar: any incarnation or embodiment
Dissolution: death

55. “The figure was tall and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave. The mask which concealed the visage was made so nearly to resemble the countenance of a stiffened corpse that the closest scrutiny must have difficulty in detecting the cheat.”

56. “His vesture was dabbed in blood—and his broad brow, with all the features of the face, was besprinkled with the scarlet horror.”

57. And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death
And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.

58. “The Fall of the House of Usher”

59. Gothic Architecture in America
Started in US about 1840
Steeply pitched roofs
Pointed arch windows
Elaborate trim around roof edges
High dormers
Lancet windows

60. Poe’s “house of Usher” looks more like a medieval castle or English cathedral in Gothic style

61. The house might look something like this (from a photograph by Simon Marsden in his Visions of Poe)

62. Elements of Gothic Writing
Emphasis on setting
Exterior: landscape
Interior: houses
Castle-like architecture
Characters are brooding, secretive
Buried family secrets
Long history of family tied to place

63. The Doubling Motif
In literary criticism, this is called a “doppelganger,” from the German for “double-goer”
Examples are:
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Robert Louis Stevenson)
The Secret Sharer (Joseph Conrad)

64. What function does the doppelganger motif serve?
Represents the dual nature of man
In Poe, one side of man is reason, or the mind
The other is emotion, or the body
Roderick and Madeleine are genetically twins, but psychologically they are also doubles.

65. Who Represents What? Roderick An artist figure (509)
Nervous agitation (509)
Lives in dark upstairs apartment (511)
Cadaverous complexion (511)
“want of moral energy” (511)
“excessive nervous agitation” (511-12)

66. Roderick’s mental condition is affected by his environment
“He was enchanted by certain superstitious impressions in regard to the dwelling which he tenanted An effect which the physique of the gray walls and turrets, and of the dim tarn into which they all looked down, had, at length, brought about upon the morale of his existence.” (512)

67. Here, “physique” refers to something physical
And “morale” refers to something mental
Roderick is all mind in a weak body
He represents in one way the life of the isolated artist
Paintings
Reading
Guitar playing

68. Madeleine Illness has debilitated her
All descriptions focus on the body
“gradual wasting away of the person” (513)
Roderick and the narrator screw down the lid of her coffin (518)
She returns from the tomb to reclaim her twin brother, her “double”
“the huge antique panels…threw back” (521)
She “fell heavily inward upon…her brother and…bore him to the floor a corpse”

69. What is Poe’s point?
Poe addresses the dual and conflicted nature of the Self
Mind and body are at war with each other in each of us
We try to repress one side and live without it
But we cannot achieve a harmonious existence in this way

70. The Function of Setting - Exterior
The “house of Usher” has two meanings
The physical dwelling
The family line, or lineage
“the entire family lay in the direct line of descent”

71. The house is also a type of character in the story
Like the family, it is of “an excessive antiquity” (510)
The landscape is overgrown and ragged
On the front down the middle is “a barely perceptible fissure” going in “a zigzag direction” (510)

72. Interior Setting Gothic architecture (511)
“windows were long, narrow and pointed”
“feeble gleams of encrimsoned light”
“dark draperies”
“atmosphere of sorrow”
Roderick lives upstairs (mind)
Madeleine is entombed below ground (body)

73. Structure and Unity Poe creates texts within texts
“The Haunted Palace” (poem) reflects the Usher family life in the house (515)
“The Mad Trist” (story) parallels Madeleine’s return from the grave
The storm outside is analogous to the turmoil inside the characters in the house
The book titles in Roderick’s library are symbolic of the themes of the story

74. Roderick’s Library “the Chiromancy of Robert Flud, of Jean D’Indagine”
“the Directorium Inquisitorum”
“old African Satyrs, over which Usher would sit dreaming for hours” (516-17)

75. Poe’s Theory of Literary Unity
Poe earned his living as a “magazinist,” not a fiction writer.
He was an editor and reviewer for many major magazines.
Poe wrote a great deal of literary criticism, literary theory, and book reviews.
His theory of literary unity was articulated in a review of Hawthorne’s collection of stories, Twice-Told Tales in 1842

76. An author should “conceive, with deliberate care, a certain unique or single effect to be wrought out, [and] then invent such … events as may best aid him in establishing this preconceived effect.
In the whole composition there should be no word written, of which the tendency, direct or indirect, is not to the one pre-established design.

77. Unity in “Fall of the House of Usher”
First and last paragraphs are mirror images of each other, creating symmetry
The texts-within-text reinforce the central theme
The house itself symbolizes the split in the family
The construction of the house reflects a “perfect adaptation of parts” (510)