Dark Romanticism By Edgar Allen Poe

The Romantic Period is characterized as an artistic and intellectually stimulating literary movement. Writers of this genre and time are considered to be those who fused the elements of romance in their writings to enhance the human experience. Edgar Allan Poe, known as the father of the modern short story, epitomizes this notion in his writings. In “Annabel Lee,” and “The Oval Portrait,” Edgar Allan Poe uses romance to illustrate the essence of death and misery and to illustrate elements in which the reader can actually feel that was is happening in the story is happening to them.

Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe are considered masters of American gothic fiction. They used similar gothic elements in their writing and used it to build up a sense of impending doom. Even today numerous readers enjoy, study, and discuss the gothic elements both utilized in their work. Gothic writing is a style that is concerned with the dark side of society, an evil that lies within the self. Poe and Hawthorne contributed stories which contained dark struggles between characters and society with its rules of order of the time. Gothic writing is fantasy meant to entertain despite the fact that it depicts the political and social problems

Dark Romanticism is a literary subgenre which emphasizes on a sinful side of a human; the authors who followed this movement were interested in psychology and morality. Edgar Allan Poe, who was strongly interested in self-destructive human nature, and Herman Melville, whose themes of mystery and madness are also very remarkable, were other famous representatives of this literary movement. Sometimes Dark Romanticism is said to be close to the Transcendentalism literary movement, though they are quite different. Transcendentalism

Dark Romanticism illustrates the subgenre of Romanticism and it often explores man’s capacity for malevolence. Edgar Allen Poe is one the writers of Dark Romanticism and in his story, “The Tell-Tale heart”, he explores humanity’s propensity to commit sin. The story is based on the concept of sin and apathy, as the narrator tries to convince the reader that he is nervous, not mad. Dark Romanticism consists in showing man’s malevolent nature and engages with the concept of man’s darkness. Therefore, in the “The Tell-Tale Heart”, the narrator’s evil actions demonstrate the story’s inclusion in the genre-specific of Dark Romanticism.

Edgar Allan Poe was a 19th century American writer who is best known for his poetries and short stories.Poe wrote in many genres;however, his most famous works were written in the mystery or horror genre.According to Robert Giordano,”Poe wrote quite a few gothic stories about murder, revenge, torture, the plague, being buried alive, and insanity” (Giordano).Many of his prominent works include “The Raven,”The Fall of the House of Usher,” and ”The Tell-tale Heart.” The spectacular work of Edgar Allan Poe would be commended and acknowledged throughout history.

Gothic literature contains many thematic elements such as horror, death, and even at times romanticism. This type of literature incorporates various different elements, in order to evoke the emotions of terror. There are many authors who are extremely talented and are still remembered and read in classrooms today. These are authors like Edgar Allan Poe, best known for his mysterious poems and short stories, Richard Matheson and Horacio Quiroga, who have all incorporated psychological problems and violence themes in their short stories in order to fascinate the readers and add suspense to the story. These three gothic authors correlate the themes of violence and the psychological/ mental issues in order to depict anticipation and terror

"In one case out of a hundred a point is excessively discussed because it is obscure; in the ninety-nine remaining it is obscure because it is excessively discussed." This quote by Edgar Allan Poe describes his obscure works which have been discussed and criticized in great detail for many years to come. Some readers believe that his works are too dark and eccentric maybe even deathly. Others believe his works to be masterpieces. However, one thing that is not up for debate is the fact that Edgar Allan Poe is a literary genius. Edgar Allan Poe, the creator of the ratiocinative story and the amateur sleuth and leading contributor to the gothic genre, is the greatest author of the mid-nineteenth century.

Poe probably made one of the biggest impacts in Gothic literature. Gothic Literature is considered to involve the horror or gothic element, but is mixed with romance, superstition, women in distress, and the occurrence of supernatural events. The history and beginning of this era is unknown. Poe analyzes the most controversial subjects and describes them in a meticulous and scientific way, which leads to terrible imagery that can attack a nervous man’s head and give him evil thoughts. (Szumski 33) Many people blame Poe for inspiring Jack the Ripper. His style

“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe is an example of Dark Romanticism. This poem is a form of Dark Romanticism because it depicts what can happen to some people if you push them to their limit, they may resort to madness. It also shows the evil side of people and the sins they can commit while in their state of madness. These are just some of characteristics of Dark Romanticism.

Poe wrote in a time when American romanticism and gothic literature were in their prime. American romanticism grew in popularity because it went against the ideas of the church. It focused more on individualism and freedom. By turning away from the traditions in the 18th century, American romanticism targeted finding oneself through the forces of nature. Believed religion should be chosen, and not forced on from the public (A Look at American Romanticism). Gothic literature also played a major role in this era. Gothic literature almost always included decaying castles, secrets, mysterious passageways, and or hidden desires. It is also believed that the authors of gothic literature not only wrote haunting, thrilling stories but had underlying messages within the text. The authors express their deepest darkest thoughts in their writing. The scariest part is the writing relates to the audience, even in today's society. Which means the haunted inner workings of the authors, are also understood by most readers (Weinauer). Obsession and love drive people to commit unthinkable acts as portrayed in Edgar Allan Poe's short stories “The Tell- Tale Heart,” “The Cask of Amontillado,”

Gothic literature has been around since the late eighteenth century, displaying a horror impression to its readers. During this time of popular Gothic literature the genre was all around the world, but Gothic literature took a new turn when one man decided to take a chance with it. This man was Edgar A. Poe. Poe was one of the great contributions to Gothic literature in the late nineteenth century, writing his poems and short stories that brought his readers to have an awed response.

During the first half of the nineteenth century the Romanticism movement was starting to reach its apex. However, one of its sub-genres would have a longer impact on literature. It was gothic fiction, a genre that according to study.com “involved elements of fear, horror, death, and gloom, but it also included romantic elements of nature and very high emotion, such as fear and suspense, and often concentrated on individuality”. The most famous writer of gothic fiction during the early to mid nineteenth century was Edgar Allen Poe.

When discussing gothic fiction many early authors come to mind, Mary Shelley, the Bronte Sisters, Bram Stoker, and Oscar Wilde, to name a few, were all exceptional European writers of this style. As for American authors, there are two names that hold top places of honor, Edgar Allan Poe, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Poe, with his talent for lyrical, poetic prose and conveying the macabre, is considered by many to be the master of gothic fiction. However, Hawthorne with his propensity toward humor and his ability to breathe humanness into his characters is an excellent contender for the title. They both exhibited gothic traditions in their writing, while at the same time adjusting elements of this previously European genre to fit into American surroundings, all the while delivering their own unique contributions to the gothic scene. I will explore and compare some of their works with hopes of identifying what I find to be some of their genius contributions to this dark romantic style.

Edgar Allan Poe was a prominent writer during the era of Romanticism, but Poe’s poems focused primarily on the Dark Romanticism, developed under Romanticism. The era of Romanticism was commonly described as showing raw emotion, but there was still a conflict in the story. The purpose of Romanticism was for the writer to feel free; there were no rules when it came to this form of writing. Dark Romanticism was looking at the gothic side of stories rather than the heroism stories, which focused more on death, and the flaws of humans. Dark Romanticism also focused on the evil aspect of writings rather than the heroic part to stories. Edgar Allan Poe’s poems are shown more in this type of writing rather than the typical Romantic writings. When looking more into Dark Romanticism readers are able to see how Poe could have connected his personal turmoil to his poems. The University of Delaware’s library says, “Suffering for offenses against God, man and Nature, the hero-villains wander the earth, alone and misunderstood. Their personal torment in a vast universe is emphasized by desolate settings of icebound seas, jagged mountains and bottomless abysses: imagery that would inspire artistic, literary, and musical compositions,” (Dark Romanticism). This quote shows readers that writers during the Dark Romanticism era used their own sufferings in order to make the stories seem more dramatic and almost human. Looking into the poems “Annabel Lee” and “The Raven”, readers are able to see

Dark romanticism is a subgenre of writing that took a different approach to the fantasy, and it submerged into American literature in 1800-1860. And it emphasized humans weakness and vulnerability to sin and destruction. The main characteristic of this genre was horrific themes and creepy symbols. Since many famous writers wielded it into their writings such as Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Emily Dickenson.