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Poe and Romanticism

Poe and Romanticism. 1785-1840 Gothic period. Focus of the period. Intuition and emotion Setting and time Characterization Subject matter. Intuition and Emotion. Rejection of the rational and the intellectual The art should deal with emotions

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Poe and Romanticism

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  1. Poe and Romanticism 1785-1840 Gothic period

  2. Focus of the period • Intuition and emotion • Setting and time • Characterization • Subject matter

  3. Intuition and Emotion • Rejection of the rational and the intellectual • The art should deal with emotions • Poe’s characters rely more on intuition than on rationality. • Usually dominated by emotion. • This explains the erratic behavior of his characters.

  4. Setting and Time • Always some obscure place or distant place in the past • Poe created new worlds so readers could focus on themes or atmosphere (feelings) • Important to alienate the reader from everyday world.

  5. Characterization • Characters are often not named or only first name is used. • Emphasis of literature ought to be on the final effect and the emotion produced. • Poe- most characters do not have names, with exceptions.

  6. Subject Matter • Emphasis on the strange, bizarre, and unusual and unexpected • The common or the ordinary had no place in the realm of art. • Should be about things the reader would not encounter in every day life • Ex.- living corpses, frightening experiences, horrors which startle the reader, situations never imagined before.

  7. Key Principles that Poe believed in and Used • Unity of effect • The brevity of a work • Appeal to emotions • Ideal subject matter • Importance of emotional response

  8. Unity of Effect • Repetition of words and phrases • Plot, narration, tone, create effect

  9. Closed environment • Achieves unity of effect • Highly important • Appears in many of Poe’s works

  10. Brevity of Work • Short story should be length that one could read in one sitting. • Total effect is destroyed if two sittings are required.

  11. Subject Matter • Poe aimed for beauty and melancholy • He believed melancholy is the most legitimate of all poetical tones. • Death of a beautiful lady is the most effective subject to write about to achieve greatest emotional melancholy • Should be expressed by lips of bereaved lover. • Poe’s favorite subject.

  12. Appeal to emotions and emotional response • Writer should decide what effect he wants to create in the reader’s emotional response and use all creative powers to achieve that particular effect. • Fear was often effect Poe chose and every word and image were carefully chosen to create an effect of fear within the mind of the reader.

  13. Information taken from • http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/poe-short-stories/critical-essays/edgar-allan-poe-romanticism.html

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