The Subconscious Mind, By Edgar Allen Poe

The 19th century American poet, Edgar Allan Poe, had been plagued by grief from an early age. He was an amazing poet and author who just happened to have a darker story. Many who have studied this prestigious man feel that his works, though magnificent, were extremely dark. Some believe it was nothing more then a fancy for him to spin such gruesome tales. Others feel his work was manipulated by the misfortune of his past. These people have actually found evidence that agrees with this statement. The works of Edgar Allan Poe were inspired by the history and life style of the author. The evidence is evident, when people look back and examine the author, his life, and his writings closely.

Written by Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven” is a famous short poem known for the dark fantasy that it portrays. From the mindset of a first person narrative, one may experience the tale through the eyes of a haunted man who is in mourning for the death of his beloved Lenore. As this man sits in his chamber, within a dark and dreary December night, a “raven of the saintly days of yore” visits him. The raven is no ordinary bird, for it is like a ghost, silent, yet it answers every inquiry the man presents in it’s own personal way. This dark and tragic tale grabs one’s attention through the rhythmic, yet melancholy verses, through the classic references, and through the dark imagery that all play a critical role within this poem.

Romanticism is an intellectual, spiritual, and literary movement that begins at the start of the nineteenth century and concludes at the beginning of the twentieth century. Of the many characteristics that are associated with Romanticism, the characteristics that are most evident in literature from this period are the characteristics of individuality and imagination. The author Edgar Allen Poe exhibits these characteristics in his works “The Black Cat”, and the “The Raven”.

If Madeline was indeed a figment of Roderick’s imagination, Poe is here exploring the difference between the mental and physical self, and the importance that the two are similar.

In Poe’s short story “Ligeia”, Ligeia’s coming back to life leads the reader to believe she was engineered because of Poe’s supposedly dark ways, when in reality the narrator’s strange visions are induced by opium and his perpetual

Since Romanticism often places emphasis on the importance of emotion, Romantics may use dream imagery to display the overflow of abundant feelings. Such is the case with Edgar Allen Poe’s “Ligeia”. While Poe’s themes are usually Romantic, “Ligeia” uses dreams to “[dramatize] the romantic's disenchantment with a world drained of its power to arouse joy and a sense of elevated being” (Gargano 338). The fine line of fantasy vs reality is blurred and bestows multiple versions of reality as the narrator slowly descends into madness. Poe’s use of dream imagery is prominent during the descriptions of the house, the narrators reminiscences of his first wife Ligeia, and his opium induced hallucinations. The use of this literary device demonstrates how the loss of Ligeia messes with the narrator's sanity and sense of fulfillment in his life. These dreams enable him to revisit Ligeia“out of [his] own self-consciousness” (Lawrence).

Edgar Allan Poe has a distinctive and dark way of writing (Poe & Kennedy, pp.22). His mysterious style of writing appeals to passion and sentimentality. Poe’s most prominent works of fiction are gothic. His stories tend to have similar recurring theme of either death, lost love or both. Poe’s psychologically thrilling stories examining the depths of the humanoid psyche earned him much fame throughout his lifetime and after his death. And this distinctive style of writing made him possess his own style of wiring (Arbor, pp.71). There is a psychological concentration which is an important characteristic of Poe’s literatures, particularly the tales of horror that encompass his best and well-known works, such as The Black Cat and The Raven which

This essay will discuss the themes in Poe’s writing that mirror his personal life and, in addition, the fear and supernatural motivators for his characters. First, I will discuss Poe’s background and explore how he became best known as a poet for his tales of mystery and macabre.

Sadness, guilt, and fear are some of the most negative emotions that humanity can experience, however they are also the strongest. Edgar Allan Poe, a nineteenth century author and poet, is known primarily for his use of these emotions, as well as the results that may come from these emotions, such as substance abuse, depression, and death. However, the ability to write such elegant, sophisticated works that delve into the very dark recesses of the human mind reflects greatly upon the author himself. Repetitive themes found both in Poe’s stories and in his life deliver insight on the inspiration for this author’s stories. Poe uses themes of death, illness, and depression in order to reflect his own experiences within his writing.

The Sleeper, by Edgar Allan Poe, was first published in the Poems of 1831; this poem has since been revised from its current version which was printed in 1845. This poem was written during the Romanticism Period. This time period is defined as a time in which poets began to “rebel against the Neoclassical restrictions and dominance of reason as poetic aim. Romantic poetry celebrated the imagination over rationality, passion, and dreams over reason and external reality, and isolated individuality over collective humankind. Romantic poetry looked to celebrate both the supernatural and elevate the commonplace.” (Henriksen) Poe’s imagination prevails in this lyric poem. The speaker of the poem experiences an internal conflict while mourning

Ideas, thoughts, and past experiences that bring images are dreams. Edgar Allan Poe wrote, “They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream by night.” When Poe says this he is trying to tell you that some who day dream might be living in a whimsical fantasy where they are stronger than in reality. They live better in their dreams because that’s what they want in reality. Most of the people who day dream are often faced with grim characters in nightmares. Poe portrays these elements in both of these literary pieces. In their “day dreaming” lives, the prosperous characters act as if they do not know what is going on because they feel a false sense of strength . The other characters that go about life day dreaming are psychologically traumatized. It is evident in Poe’s stories “The Masque of the Red Death” and “The Black Cat” that day dreaming masks the true evils and causes one to horrifyingly unwise in reality.

In Edgar Allen Poe‘s work, a majority of the character will reflect or have the a crazy or depressed inner world. In order to highlight and emphasis the “crazy” “messy” and “mad” mental condition, author will use those symbolized images. Meanwhile, the inner world can be visualized. As an additional effect, some of the images will have the function of doubling the emotion or add up the sense of depression.

As Poe went on with his life as a lost soul searching for affection, it was very easy for him to lose sight of his own importance. Without anyone to reassure his value of life it became difficult to remain content. In the short story “Ligeia” Poe stresses how the narrator “cannot.. remember how, when, or

When looking at a piece of literature through a psychological approach it is easy to apply Sigmund Freud’s theories of the id, ego, and superego, which focus on conscious and unconscious behavior. When analyzing many of Poe’s works, critics tend to look through a psychological lens. Specifically in Poe’s The Black Cat. Some critics believe that Poe’s alcoholism is reflected in the piece, but many, such as James W. Gargano “advised the tales readers to avoid the biographical pitfall of seeing Poe and the first-person narrator of The Black Cat as ‘identical literary twins’” (Piacentino 1). It is due to his childhood that Poe’s narrator in The Black Cat subconsciously places animals before humans, thus leading to him to murder his wife.

Edgar Allan Poe is an American poet well-known for his eerie and gothic based themes. In fact, his tales of mystery and horror were the first to give rise to detective stories. In his short story, “The Tell-Tale Heart” (1843), Poe invites us to experience a sinister and mystifying murder through the mind of the murderer, the narrator himself. This self-narrated tale takes place in a house that the narrator shares with an old man. The story’s focal characters are the narrator and the old man, both of whom are left nameless. It is probable that the narrator is telling the story from either prison or an insane asylum. He tries to justify his sanity; however, his actions prove otherwise. This tale revolves around the narrator 's passion to kill the old man because of his “evil eye” and the obsessed mind of the narrator who hears the beating of the dead man’s heart—solely within his own tortured imagination which causes the reader to question if the narrator is mentally sane or not. By analyzing how Poe’s early life influenced his work, I will demonstrate how Poe’s story engages readers with two widely occurring, but rarely explored elements of human experiences: a guilty conscience and the descent into madness. He takes his inner emotions to the extreme through his work and portrays the message that a guilty conscience will drive you insane. I will be analyzing how Poe’s early influences affect the