Common themes of American Romanticism were sentimentalism, primitivism and the cult of the noble savage, political liberalism, the celebration of natural beauty and the simple life, idealization of the common man and an interest in the picturesque past. Additionally, an interest in the supernatural or in “the crepuscular heart of mystery” (Hart 725) was a widespread topic used by romantic authors. The latter used the supernatural to deal with the disorienting situation of 19th cen-tury American culture, which was not only pressured by the frontier experience but also by an un-ease concerning the experiment of democracy, the virtual nonexistence of a developed American society and racial issues especially relating to slavery and the Native Americans. Additionally, the occupation with the supernatural showed the American romanticists’ concern with the “culture’s occupation with death in an increasingly secular, individualistic, and scientific age”.
Two romantic authors that tried their hand as supernatural tales are Washington Irving and Ed-gar Allan Poe. In their supernatural tales ghosts, ghouls, vampires and other mysterious beings as well as inexplicable phenomena make their appearance. Some of these appearances can be ration-ally explained; others are clearly of supernatural origin. The reader of supernatural tales usually chooses one or the other explanation. However, sometimes the reader hesitates between the two. Stories, in which the latter is the case, are according to Tzvetan Todorov’s definition situated in the fantastic.
In my opinion Washington Irving’s tales Rip van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher belong to different literary genres even though they both constitute supernatural stories. The former belong to the fantastic, while the latter does not. This hypothesis will either be proven wrong or right in the course of this paper. To do so, I will first focus on the definition of the fantastic, which is, as mentioned above, given by Tzvetan Todorov in his book The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre. In a second step I will apply Todorov’s definition to Irving’s and Poe’s tales.
Table of Contents
1. The rise of the supernatural tale in American Romanticism
2. The literary genres of the fantastic, the uncanny and the marvelous: A definition
2.1. The fantastic
2.2. The uncanny and the marvelous
3. Rip van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow as fantastic tales?
3.1. Rip van Winkle
3.2. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
4. The Fall of the House of Usher as a tale of the uncanny?
5. Conclusion
6. Works cited
6.1. Primary Works
6.2. Secondary Works
Research Objectives and Themes
The primary objective of this study is to analyze selected supernatural tales by Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe through the lens of Tzvetan Todorov’s structural definition of the fantastic. The research aims to determine whether these works qualify as "fantastic" or if they are more accurately categorized as belonging to the genres of the "uncanny" or "marvelous" based on the reader's sustained hesitation between rational and supernatural explanations.
- Theoretical application of Tzvetan Todorov's structural approach to literary genres.
- Comparative analysis of reader hesitation and narrative framing in American Romantic fiction.
- Distinction between the genres of the fantastic, the uncanny, and the marvelous.
- Evaluation of Irving’s "Rip van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" as fantastic tales.
- Investigation of Poe’s "The Fall of the House of Usher" regarding its potential classification as an uncanny tale.
Excerpt from the Book
4. The Fall of the House of Usher as a tale of the uncanny?
Summoned by his boyhood friend Roderick Usher, the unnamed narrator of The Fall of the House of Usher arrives at the house of the Usher family on the evening “of a dull, dark and soundless day”11. From the beginning on a gloomy and mysterious atmosphere is created. The narrator feels “a sense of insufferable gloom perva[ding] his spirit” (Poe 148) as soon as he lays eyes on the house. Later on he even believes that the grounds around the mansion and the mansion itself have absorbed an evil and diseased atmosphere from the decaying trees and murky ponds around it. He cannot distinguish where this feeling comes from and why the house evokes this particular reaction in him.
In the course of the story the gloomy atmosphere is further increased. Even when the narrator enters the house his vague sentiments of gloom do not cease. On the contrary, entering the house enhances them. The narrator perceives the atmosphere of Roderick’s room as being pervaded by “[a]n air of stern, deep, and irredeemable gloom” (Poe 151). Roderick’s appearance, especially “[t]he now ghastly pallor of the skin, and the now miraculous lustre of the eye” (Poe 151), increases the feeling of gloom and even evokes some kind of terror. Roderick is hypersensitive and nervous and even afraid of his own house. The explanation that Roderick’s behavior is provoked by the concern for his seriously ill sister further increases the gloomy atmosphere of the story and with it the feeling of horror in the narrator and the reader. Both expect something horrific to happen.
Summary of Chapters
1. The rise of the supernatural tale in American Romanticism: This chapter provides a historical context for the American Romantic period and explores how supernatural themes were utilized to address cultural anxieties of the 19th century.
2. The literary genres of the fantastic, the uncanny and the marvelous: A definition: This section establishes the theoretical framework by defining the genres of the fantastic, the uncanny, and the marvelous according to the structural approach of Tzvetan Todorov.
3. Rip van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow as fantastic tales?: An application of the established theory to Washington Irving’s works, concluding that these stories fulfill the conditions required to be classified as fantastic.
4. The Fall of the House of Usher as a tale of the uncanny?: This chapter analyzes Edgar Allan Poe’s tale, demonstrating that because Poe provides logical resolutions for supernatural phenomena, the story belongs to the genre of the uncanny rather than the fantastic.
5. Conclusion: The author summarizes the findings, confirming the initial hypothesis that Irving’s selected works are fantastic, while Poe’s story falls under the category of the uncanny.
6. Works cited: A list of primary and secondary sources utilized for the analysis.
Keywords
American Romanticism, supernatural tale, Tzvetan Todorov, the fantastic, the uncanny, the marvelous, Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, Rip van Winkle, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Fall of the House of Usher, literary genre, reader hesitation, narrative structure, gothic fiction.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this academic paper?
The paper examines specific supernatural short stories by Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe to classify them into the literary genres of the fantastic, the uncanny, or the marvelous.
What are the primary themes discussed?
Key themes include the development of American Romanticism, the role of reader hesitation in literature, the structural definitions of specific narrative genres, and the interpretation of supernatural elements in 19th-century American fiction.
What is the central research question?
The central question is whether the selected tales by Irving and Poe strictly fit the criteria of the "fantastic" genre or if they shift into the categories of the "uncanny" or "marvelous" upon closer analysis.
Which scientific method does the author employ?
The author applies the structuralist literary theory of Tzvetan Todorov, specifically the conditions regarding reader hesitation and the absence of poetic or allegorical interpretations, to analyze the texts.
What does the main body of the work cover?
The main body covers the definition of Todorov’s genres, followed by a detailed application of these definitions to Irving’s "Rip van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," and finally an analysis of Poe’s "The Fall of the House of Usher."
Which keywords best characterize this work?
The work is defined by terms such as American Romanticism, the fantastic, the uncanny, Todorov, reader hesitation, and specific literary analysis of Irving and Poe.
How does the author distinguish the "fantastic" from the "uncanny"?
The fantastic is defined by a persistent state of hesitation in the reader regarding whether an event is real or supernatural, whereas the uncanny involves a situation where the reader or characters eventually decide on a rational, natural explanation for the events.
Why does the author conclude that Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" is not "fantastic"?
The author argues it is not fantastic because the narrator and the author eventually provide logical, natural explanations for the "supernatural" occurrences, which resolves the reader's hesitation.
What role do the narrators and framing play in Irving’s tales?
The narrators and framing devices, such as the use of Diedrich Knickerbocker, serve to enhance the sense of ambiguity and maintain the reader's hesitation, which is crucial for fulfilling the criteria of the fantastic.
- Citation du texte
- Julia Linnarz (Auteur), 2009, 'The Fall of the House of Usher', 'Rip van Winkle' and 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' in relation to Tzvetan Todorov’s definition of the fantastic, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/157057
