About 'The Oval Portrait' of Edgar Allan Poe

Essay from the year 2012 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,0, University of Stuttgart, language: English, abstract: Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most famous and celebrated American writers whose short stories inspired numerous other authors. The Oval Portrait, initially titled Life in Death, is a revised and shorter version that was published in the Broadway Journal in 1845. Although being one of his shortest stories, Poe is able to establish in The Oval Portrait a haunting atmosphere of terror. The fate of the beautiful, young woman fascinates the narrator who is entirely taken by the enigmatic painting and the inscrutable circumstances of the lady's death. It is in this way that the author is able to create simultaneously a sense of both mystery and tragedy, and this essay will examine in greater detail how these two elements are combined in order to make up the Gothic mood typical for Poe's writings. Firstly, I will have a look at the author and his background before providing some general information about this short story. In this case, a biographical approach to The Oval Portrait is very enriching and is able to shed light on some aspects, as we will see later on. Secondly, I will concentrate on the appearance of the mysterious atmosphere in the work, such as the narrator's equivocal reliability, the mansion and its relation to the Gothic, the role of light and darkness, and the open questions. My third point of analysis will be the tragic: how is Poe able to make both the story's narrator and his readers be captivated by such a sad woman's death within less than four pages? To begin with, I will focus on the painter and his obsession with his art, as well as the dilemma whether the latter is inevitably irreconcilable with life. Then the woman's outward appearance, that is her surpassing loveliness, will be linked to what Poe himself says about the role of beauty and horror in his work Philosophy of Composition. Furthermore, James Twitchell's interpretation of The Oval Portrait will be taken into account.