symbols of edgar allan poe the eye considered to be the window of the soul a way to see into...
TRANSCRIPT
Symbols of Edgar Allan Poe
The Eye• Considered to be the window of the soul
• A way to see into someone; to know what they are thinking
The Heart.
• The physical pump of the body that sustains life
• The center of all feeling and experience
• Poe places more emphasis on the heart (emotion/experience) than the head (reason/logic)
Unnamed Narrator• Tells the story rather than Poe-
•It’s not meant to be Poe- it leaves the reader to interpret
•It’s usually first person, which makes the reader’s connection to the story more intimate
•Could be the “common man”—anyone!
• Some are sane and some are insane
Dreams and Dreaming• A portal/door to the
inner workings of the mind
• Question whether they are awake or dreaming
• Do they dream to remember, or dream to forget?
Duality of Man•The idea that there are two sides to every person- depictions of how the human mind works heightens a reader’s connection to the story
•Often a rivalry between self, usually sane, and some alter ego, usually insane
•An internal conflict of good versus evil
•In Poe’s stories, evil usually wins—insanity overtakes sanity
Animals • Often uses: a
black ape, raven, cat, serpent, or vulture
• He hints that these animals have some magical or evil powers
•Some are intelligent and tricky
•They are also scavengers.
Supernatural Beauty & Love• Idealizes love and puts it/the
person on a pedestal
• The “beauty” is almost too perfect or divine for this world, speaker is obsessed
• Young, innocent, unattainable – and frequently dead!
•Personification of the memory of someone, even after death. Love has no boundaries…•*** This mostly occurs in his poems
Puzzles and Puzzles and HoaxesHoaxes• Uses puzzles in his Uses puzzles in his
detective storiesdetective stories
•Often very logical Often very logical
• Early readers thought the Early readers thought the stories were real; they were stories were real; they were actually fake hoaxesactually fake hoaxes
The kVortex• Traveling downward
• use of catacombs
• Endless spiral out of control
Time• Uses of significant hours: 3:00, 6:00, 9:00, and Midnight
• References to clocks
• Uses dusk and daybreak
• “The witching hour” meaning midnight
Premature Burial/Suffocation.
• Associated with the deaths of many of his real-life loved ones
• Death is painful and difficult
•The victims are often unprepared for this death (Even if they are aware it could happen, it still catches them by surprise)
• The person is dressed like a clown to represent being a joker or a fool
The Jester
The idea of being consumed…
• The dread of being consumed or mutilated
• Eyes and teeth- their ability to “take in” (or consume) objects