“And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted -- nevermore!” (Poe 28)
These famous lines are from an often quoted poem by Edgar Allen Poe, one of the most
famous American Authors of all time. He was a writer of all kinds of literary genre but
well know for his mystery or detective stories. Who does not know “The Tell-Tale Heart”
or was shocked by the horror in “The Fall of the House of Usher”? Poe was a magnificent
writer of Gothic Novels and is still today a well-known and well referred author when it
comes to horror or even science fiction. His stories and plays are often adopted for the
theatre and also Hollywood is incapable of not portraying his well-known horror stories.
Next to his famous works Poe, like many authors of the 19th century, wrote arabesque
stories. Although there is his known Collection of Arabesque and Grotesque Stories from
1840, it is unknown to many that he followed truly an oriental writing tradition and set
footprints into this new genre like Johnson, Moore, Byron and others and developed the
arabesque term to a new limit.
But the question is if these stories are really written in the oriental tradition. Many critics
are unsure up to this day if Poe really wanted to write in the arabesque or grotesque
tradition and if he was aware of the fact that these two terms are of different background
and do not, like many people think, just refer to the same definition.
This term paper will focus on Poe’s use of the arabesque tradition in his stories “The
Visionary” from 1834 and “Ligeia” from 1838. It is the aim to find out parallels between
both stories regarding the oriental tradition.
Therefore I will first explain the term Arabesque because there are many versions of what
an arabesque could be: a style of writing, the writing itself, a wall paper etc. Also I will
focus on the term “grotesque” because this term is often, especially when used with
reference to Poe’s literature, mixed up with the term `arabesque`.
And at last I will have a closer look on the use of the term arabesque in Poe’s stories
because, as I said before, he wrote more tales of the grotesque and the arabesque than the
two I am going to refer to.
[...]
Table of Contents
0. Introduction
1. Arabesque
1.1. Grotesque
1.2. The Term Arabesque in Poe’s Literature
1.2.1. The Problem of Perception
2. Ligeia
2.1. The Story
2.2. The Arabesque Structure of “Ligeia”
3. The Visionary
3.1. The Story
3.2. The Arabesque Structure of “The Visionary”
4. Conclusion
5. Works Cited
Objectives and Core Topics
This paper examines the influence and application of the "arabesque" tradition in two specific short stories by Edgar Allan Poe, "The Visionary" and "Ligeia," aiming to identify thematic and structural parallels through an orientalist lens.
- Analysis of the definitions and historical development of the "arabesque" and "grotesque" styles.
- Exploration of Poe’s specific literary use of arabesque structures and imagery.
- Literary interpretation of "Ligeia" with a focus on its arabesque elements and unreliable narration.
- Detailed study of "The Visionary" (also known as "The Assignation") regarding its aesthetic and structural features.
- Comparison of how both stories utilize arabesque motifs to bridge reality, dreams, and death.
Excerpt from the Book
1.2.1. The problem of perception
As already stated before, a problem of perception can occur while looking at an arabesque ornament: it depends on how far the distance between spectator and ornament amounts and what kind of religious or worldly background the person watching provides. It is important for Poe to describe the interaction between detail and the whole impression. In “The Domain of Arnheim” the protagonist states: Now … what we regard as exaltation of the landscape may be really such, as respects only the mortal or human point of view.” (Ernst 46)
The oriental arabesque plays with the difference between order and disorder, which can be connected as well to the distance between the spectator and the object. According to his cosmology „Eureka“ from 1848 Poe states that the” optische Evidenz des Betrachters zur Beurteilung der Beschaffenheit eines Körpers nicht immer hinreicht.“ (Ernst 51) While watching through a normal telescope the spectator can see fog like spots on the firmament but through a new developed and highly sophisticated telescope he can see that the spots where nothing less than an accumulation of stars, which seems first to be fog because of the great distance. As Rudolf Arnheim states: “[…] vision proved to be a truly creative apprehension of reality- imaginitve, inventive, shrewd, and beautiful. […] All perceiving is also thinking, all reasoning is also intuition, all observation is also invention.” (Ernst 51f)
Poe, in his works, doesn’t reduce the visual perception only to optical aspects but concentrates on it as an interaction between the eye and the spirit.
Chapter Summaries
0. Introduction: This chapter outlines the paper's focus on Poe's use of the arabesque tradition in "The Visionary" and "Ligeia" and sets the methodological approach.
1. Arabesque: This chapter explores the historical definitions of the arabesque, its aesthetic postulates, and its significance in Islamic art and literature.
1.1. Grotesque: This section clarifies the distinctions and overlaps between the grotesque and the arabesque styles, particularly in the context of Poe's literature.
1.2. The Term Arabesque in Poe’s Literature: This section traces how Poe utilized the term "arabesque" throughout his career in his poems, prose, and critical essays.
1.2.1. The Problem of Perception: This section analyzes how the distance of the spectator and the viewer's background influence the perception of complex arabesque patterns.
2. Ligeia: This chapter provides a literary interpretation of the story "Ligeia," focusing on the unreliable narrator and Gothic themes.
2.1. The Story: This section offers a comprehensive overview of the plot, characters, and the themes of death and recollection in "Ligeia."
2.2. The Arabesque Structure of “Ligeia”: This section investigates how the story incorporates arabesque features, such as intricate room descriptions and dreamlike motifs.
3. The Visionary: This chapter introduces "The Visionary" (or "The Assignation"), examining its setting and narrator.
3.1. The Story: This section explores the narrative structure, the influence of Byronism, and the detective-like elements in the story.
3.2. The Arabesque Structure of “The Visionary”: This section focuses on the specific arabesque interior descriptions and how they mirror the protagonist's mental state.
4. Conclusion: This chapter summarizes the findings and affirms that "Ligeia" and "The Visionary" serve as essential models for Poe’s arabesque style.
5. Works Cited: This section lists the secondary literature and sources utilized for the analysis.
Keywords
Edgar Allan Poe, Arabesque, Grotesque, Ligeia, The Visionary, The Assignation, Orientalism, Gothic Literature, Literary Perception, Aestheticism, Symbolism, Narratology, Romanticism, Art Theory, Ornamentation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this academic paper?
The paper investigates how Edgar Allan Poe incorporates the "arabesque" tradition into his short stories "Ligeia" and "The Visionary," moving beyond simple genre classifications of horror or Gothic fiction.
What are the central themes discussed in this work?
Key themes include the aesthetic and structural nature of the arabesque, the distinction between the arabesque and the grotesque, the reliability of Poe's narrators, and the intersection of art, memory, and perception.
What is the main research objective?
The objective is to identify and analyze parallels between "Ligeia" and "The Visionary" regarding their use of orientalist traditions and how these stories exemplify Poe's unique application of the arabesque style.
Which scientific methodology is used?
The author employs a comparative literary analysis, utilizing definitions from art history (such as those by Alois Riegl and Ernst Kühnel) to interpret literary patterns, stylistic devices, and structural elements within Poe's prose.
What is covered in the main body of the text?
The main body systematically defines the arabesque and grotesque, analyzes the specific appearance of these motifs in "Ligeia" and "The Visionary," and explores how these elements reflect the characters' perceptions and mental states.
Which keywords best characterize this research?
The research is best characterized by terms such as Arabesque, Grotesque, Poe, Orientalism, Literary Perception, and Narrative structure.
How does the author define the "problem of perception" in the context of the arabesque?
The author argues that the perception of an arabesque depends heavily on the distance of the spectator and their background, leading to a "blurry" or shifting interpretation that mirrors the psychological confusion of Poe's characters.
What role does the setting of Venice play in "The Visionary"?
Venice serves as a "typical oriental atmosphere" that reinforces the cultural and architectural exoticism necessary for the arabesque aesthetic, mirroring the narrator's disorientation and the story's overall artistic design.
How does the paper relate the "censer" in the stories to the arabesque?
The censer is analyzed as a physical object whose complex form and "writhing" flames directly mimic the lines of an arabesque ornament, thus serving as a visual metaphor for the story's own intricate structure.
- Quote paper
- Mandy Stein (Author), 2007, The Use of the Arabesque in Edgar Allen Poe’s Short Stories “Ligeia “and “The Visionary“, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/119284
