Poe and His Literary Standards

An Examination of Poes Literary Standards In compar might with His Own Writings Edgar Allan Poe, in addition to macrocosm a poet and master of the short news report, proved to be extremely successful as a literary critic during the early nineteenth century. Possessing the innate ability to distinguish truly remarkable writing from the ordinary and unimpressive, Poe definitively asseverate his views regarding the importance of certain aspects of the short story and poetry in several(prenominal) of his literary reviews, specific in ally his review of Nathanial Hawthornes text Twice Told Tales as well(p) as his turn out The Philosophy of Composition. Poe especially stressed the importance of single of deed, originality, as well as the revelation of truth in the short story and beauty in poetry. in time contempt his assertions regarding the importance of these aspects in literature it can be seen that Poe did not always adhere to his throw slender standards. Poe asserted sever al things in his review of Hawthornes Twice Told Tales the first of which claimed the short story to be one of the greatest form of prose in that the tale, as he referred to the short story, affordeding the best prose opportunity for presentment of the highest talent (Review).He believed that all good literature should be short enough to be read in one sitting however still maintain enough length to have lasting impact. He disliked the novel, and asserted that because of its immense length it did not have the ability to profoundly affect the proofreader on an emotional level, instead preferring poetry and tales. In his opinion these forms of literature possessed the ability to lambaste an instinctual reaction of the baser instincts, which should be the objective of fictional literature.In this same review Poe asserted the importance of unity of effect in writing. He praised Hawthorne citing his writing as purity itself and that his tone was is singularly effective- wild, plaint ive, thoughtful, and in full consonance with his themes (Review). In this aspect Poe himself is also very successful. In tales such(prenominal) as The origin of the class of show up Poe ingeniously enthralls the audience through the use of evocative imagery depicting the extravagantly gothic grace which complements the morose story.The opening line of this story at once establishes the gloomy setting as well as the overwhelmingly oppressive feeling of the tale. Poe subsequently reinforces this throughout the story, utilizing dark imagery and language such as with an utter depression of soul, an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart an unredeemed dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination could torture into aught (738). The negative connotations of the phrases only add to the shadowy, mysterious, and miserable sentiment explicit by Poe in The Fall of the House of Usher. However, the unity of effect that Poe stressed to be so central in his review of Nat hanial Hawthornes Twice Told Tales is imperfect. Scenes such as when the narrator recounts the story of the Mad Trist of Sir Launcelot Canning detracts from the unity of effect. This almost humorous scene disrupts the whole tone of the story and is an extreme contrast to the events detailed immediately prior and after the story. Poe also believed that all prose should be original, however, he, himself failed to be entirely original in several of his own working.Poe recycled weighty themes and pivotal plots. Themes focusing upon questions relating to death appear several times in Poes tales, as well as the issue of premature entombment can be seen in The Fall of the House of Usher, The Cask of Amontillado, and The Premature Burial. All three of these stories focus the death of a character by way of premature burial. In The Fall of the House of Usher it is evident that it is Madeline Usher whose death is the focal point of the story.Her brother Roderick, continually expresses his fear that his sister is close to her falling victim to her long worn out illness leaving him as the last of the ancient race of Usher, and it is she that eventually dies but not it is not the for the expected reason of her illness (742). Instead Madeline ultimately meets her demise at the detainment of her brother who effectively buries her alive while she is unconscious. Similarly the character Fortunato in The Cask of Amontillado is the victim of an inopportune interment at the hands of his supposed friend Montresor.In the third story focusing upon death and being buried alive, The Premature Burial the narrator who is also the main character of the story is preoccupied with his own death and has an irrational fear of being buried alive, and describes in great detail several instances in which this happened as well as all of the precautionary measures he himself has taken to prevent this from happening. Poe also reused themes such as mental instability and murder. In both The Fal l of the House of Usher and The Cask of Amontillado hallucination is prevalent in the main characters.In the first tale it is displayed by Roderick Usher and in the second it is Montresor who displays an distemper of mind. In both of these stories Poe also features scenes in which secondary characters are intentionally buried alive as a result of the aforementioned insanity. Usher buries his sister alive and Montresor bricks his supposed friend Fortunato into a wall. In both instances these deaths are instances of murder, which is another prevalent theme in Poes body of work.This is particularly explicit in The Cask of Amontillado when Montresor asserts that he had borne the thousand injuries of Fortunato as best I could but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge (763). Murder also makes appearances in The Tell-Tall Heart as well as in near of Poes detective stories. While it is true(p) that Poe did pen works extremely original, such as The homo of the Crowd however eve n this tale, which meets several of Poes requirements, does not fully comply.This story demonstrates no true underlying point, such as a clear emotional impact, establishment of an ironic situation, or literary argument about the nature of humanity, which Poe stressed as being important. He disliked didacticism and allegory, asserting these forms of literature to no longer be art as they contain an obvious point. Yet he found it important that art must have meaning, and preferred that the point of the piece be subtly instilled to the audience, as asserted in his literary review of Nathanial Hawthornes Twice Told Tales.Poes essay The Philosophy of Composition moreover asserts the belief that short stories may transmit strictly with some aspect of truth, such as an emotional truth, as perceived within the confines of the fiction genre, while poetry should focus upon beauty. In this essay Poe extensively analyzes his own poem The Raven, asserting the many ways that it adheres to this belief. However Poes poem A Sonnet to Science contradicts this by failing to discuss beauty. In no way does this poem deal with any aspect of the beauty of science as the title ironically implies.Instead this poem is in accompaniment about the truth of science and the perceived negative implications for art and society. An example of a similar contradiction in terms would be The Purloined Letter. While this tale explicitly deals with truth it there is no true emotion conveyed in the piece, no true unity of effect that will leave a lasting impression, which as mentioned earlier, Poe prized highly. notwithstanding being extremely talented both as a master of the short story and a reviewer, Edgar Allan Poe was in several instances unable to adhere to the high standards he imposed on the authors whose many works he critiqued.Read also Edgar Allan Poe DrugsHis reuse of themes, placements of scenes such as the Mad Trist in The Fall of the House of Usher, and ironic statements regardin g the state of society in poems such as the Sonnet to Science are all a part of what made Poe so talented as a writer and popular, particularly posthumously. However all of these things and more are examples of instances when Poe did not follow his own literary advice and adhere to the standards he himself sketch in essays such as The Philosophy of Composition and his review of Nathanial Hawthornes Twice Told Tales.