Edgar Allan Poe 埃德加 爱伦 坡.doc

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)一、Comments on Poe1)He is a novelist, poet and critic.2)He is the most controversial and most misunderstood literary figure in the history of American literature.3)He enjoyed respect and welcome in Europe.4)The majority of critics have recognized him as a great writer of fiction, a poet of the first rank, and a critic of acumen and insight.5)He is the father of modern short story6)He is the father of psychoanalytic criticism.7)He is good at writing Gothic and detective fiction. He is the father of western detective stories.8)His aesthetics has influenced such French symbolists and advocates for“art for arts sake”as Baudelaire; 二、Poe worked in a variety of genres (1827-1849)1）Criticism-he gained a national reputation as a virulently sarcastic critic, a literary hatchet man. The bulk of his writing consists of his criticism, and his most abiding ambition was to become a powerful critic.2）Poetry-He was an experimental poet.3）Psychological fiction-He wanted to produce the greatest possible horrific effects on the reader.4）Detective Story-Poe created this form when he was 32, will all its major conventions complete.三、WorksTales of the Grotesque and the Arabesque 奇异怪诞故事集、MS. Found in a Bottle 瓶中手稿、The Murders in the Rue Morgue毛格街杀人案、The Fall of the House of Usher厄舍古屋的倒塌、The Cask of Amontillado一桶酒的故事、The Tell-Tale Heart 泄密的心、Black Cat黑猫、The Gold Bug金甲虫、 The Masque of the Red Death红色死亡的化妆舞会、The Raven乌鸦、Israfel 伊斯拉菲尔、Annabel Lee 安娜贝尔李、To Helen 致海伦、Sonnet To Science 十四行诗-致科学、The Poetic Principle 诗歌原理 、The Philosophy of Composition 创作哲学四、 Major Themes Poes works1. Love - usually of a mourning man for his deceased beloved. The Raven乌鸦2. Pride - physical and intellectual.3. Beauty - of a young woman either dying or dead. Annabel Lee4. Death - a source of horror.五、Theory on Poems A. Brevity:Poems should be short, concise and readable at one sitting. B. Beauty: The aim of poem writing is beauty; the most beautiful thing described by a poem is the death of a beautiful woman; the desirable tone of a poem is melancholy. （The melancholy is the most legitimate of all poetic tones; the death of a beautiful woman is the most poetic topic in the world.） C. Purity: Poe is opposed to the heresy of the didactic and called for pure poetry. D. He opposed didactic poems. E. He stressed the form of poem, especially the beautiful and neat rhyme.（He stresses rhythm, defines true poetry as “the rhythmical creation of beauty”and declares that “music is the perfection of the soul, or ideas, of poetry.”）六、Short Story1、 Poes Four Types of Short Stories1）. Arabesque - strange; use of the supernatural; symbolic fantasies of the human condition; (Example - The Fall of the House of Usher).2）. Grotesque - heightening of one aspect of a character (Example - The Man Who Was Used Up).3）. Ratiocinative - detective fiction (Example The Purloined Letter).4）. Descriptive (Example - The Landscape Garden).2、Poes Theories for the Short Story: a. The short story should be so brief as to be read at one sitting. b. The first sentence ought to help to bring out the “single effect” of the story. c. No word should be used which does not contribute to the work. d. A tale should reveal some logical truth, and should end with the last sentence, leaving a sense of finality with the reader. 3、 Features1）Gothic elements deep analysis of human psychology2）precursor of detective stories and science stories3）style: ordinary, traditional4）language: mannerism七、Characteristics of Poes detective stories1)Poe places veiled clues before the reader.2)The writer/narrator strives to appear objective.Poe would have liked to solve everything by the mind.He was disturbed by what he could not solve by reason.3)The climax of the story is the narrators explanation of the crime.八、 Gothic Novel The Gothic novel, or “Gothic romance” flourished through the early nineteenth century. Authors of such novels set their stories in the medieval period, often in a gloomy castle, and made plentiful use of ghosts, mysterious disappearances, and other sensational and supernatural occurrences; their principal aim was to evoke chilling terror by exploiting mystery, cruelty, and a variety of horrors. The term “gothic” has also been extended to denote a type of fiction that develops an atmosphere of gloom or terror, represents events which are mysterious, horrible, or extremely violent, and often deals with abnormal psychological states. 九、Poe and the Gothic1)Poe did not want to write gothic stories; he started his career spoofing the Gothic.2)He said that he wrote,“Tales of terror, not of Germany, but of the soul.”3)He transformed tales of terror into psychological stories; he delved into the mysterious recesses of the human mind.十、Elements of Gothic in Poes Fiction1)Grim settingLandscapes are often reflections of characters mind.Unusual buildings, extremes of nature, eccentric works of artVery few of his stories take place in America; most take place in Europe or Never-never-land.2)Hidden evil: Unspeakable, mysterious crimes, including incest and parricide3)Obsession with DeathGhosts, blood, body parts4)Maniacal Laughter5)Deformitythe grotesque-people who dont look right are capable of activity beyond the norm十一、An element of Poes style1)Poe uses vocabulary to create setting, for rhetorical effect, rather than for information.2)Modern horror films use music to create atmosphere; Poe used vocabulary.Writing Style: Poes style is traditional. It is much too rational, too ordinary to reflect the peculiarity of his theme. He is good at generalizing. He is not easy to read. He lays stress on brevity and imaginati