In this paper, it will be argued that this emphasis on visual sensations is directly related to the violence against women as it exposes the murderers’ motives and drives, their course of action as well as their attempt to then distort the reader’s view of the truth in order to cover their involvement. For the discussion of this thesis Poe’s short stories “The Oval Portrait,” “Morella”, “Berenice” and especially “Ligeia” will be considered.
Many of Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories deal with a fixation on dying women as he famously states in “The Philosophy of Composition: “death, then, of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world” (1621). The death of those women is often violent as they are murdered by a male character as a result of an “emotional estrangement between the male protagonist and a fated female” (Kennedy 118). Interestingly, the characters and the circumstances surrounding those deaths are described with an emphasis on the “lexical field of sight” (Marín-Ruiz 58) so that already “a cursory exposure to Poe’s fiction leaves a strong impression of his recurrent emphasis on the eye” (Scheick 80). Detailed accounts of eyes, glances, gazes and vision keep reappearing in the selected stories, so that sight becomes one of the key elements of the tales.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Introduction
- The Symbolic Meaning of Sight
- Ethereal Beauty
- Will Power and Passion
- Superior Knowledge and Imagination
- The Distorted Vision of the Narrator
- Monomania
- Opium
- Visual Trickery and Optical Illusions
- Conclusion
- Works Cited
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This paper analyzes the significance of visual sensations, particularly the depiction of eyes and sight, in Edgar Allan Poe's short stories, focusing on the context of violence against women. The paper explores how the emphasis on visual imagery exposes the motives and actions of the murderers, as well as their attempts to distort the reader's perception of the truth.
- The symbolic meaning of women's eyes in Poe's stories, representing beauty, knowledge, and will power.
- The distorted vision of the male narrators, influenced by monomania and opium, leading to unreliable narration.
- The role of visual trickery and optical illusions in manipulating the reader's perception of events.
- The connection between visual imagery and the violence against women, revealing the motivations and actions of the murderers.
- The unreliability of the male narrators and their attempts to manipulate the reader's understanding of the truth.
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
- Introduction: This chapter introduces the topic of violence against women in Edgar Allan Poe's short stories, focusing on the recurring theme of death and the emphasis on visual imagery. The paper argues that the emphasis on visual sensations is directly related to the violence against women, revealing the murderers' motives and actions.
- The Symbolic Meaning of Sight: This chapter examines the symbolic meaning of women's eyes in Poe's stories, analyzing their representation of beauty, knowledge, and will power. The chapter explores the effect of these unusual eyes on the male characters and their role in the narratives.
- The Distorted Vision of the Narrator: This chapter analyzes the male characters' vision and their unreliability as narrators. It explores the influence of psychological illnesses, particularly monomania, and the distortion of vision caused by opium consumption, questioning the credibility of their accounts of the women's deaths.
- Visual Trickery and Optical Illusions: This chapter focuses on the visual description of the characters' surroundings, including the visual tricks and optical illusions created through furniture and décor. The chapter explains how these elements play a significant role in causing the women's death and in manipulating the reader's perception of the story.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
This paper examines the themes of visual sensation, violence against women, unreliable narration, monomania, opium, and the symbolic meaning of sight in Edgar Allan Poe's short stories. Key concepts explored include the connection between visual imagery and the murders, the manipulation of the reader's perception, and the unreliability of the male narrators.
- Quote paper
- Amelie Meyer (Author), 2012, Aspects of Visual Sensation in Edgar Allan Poe’s Depiction of Violence against Women, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/537939
