THE OVAL PORTRAIT
Edgar Allan Poe “The Oval Portrait” :
THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE MAIN STORY AND THE EMBEDDED ONE.
“The Oval Portrait” is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe involving the harrowing circumstances surrounding a portrait in a chateau. The final version of the text is a revision of an earlier story known as “Life in Death”. Poe improved his novella by eliminating narrator’s penchant for opium and modifying the conclusion. It allowed him to achieve purely didactic piece of writing focusing on moral aspects. “The Oval Portrait” comprises two parts, first which is recounted by the first-person narration and, at the same time, constitutes the main story, second –adduced by the protagonist from a small volume found by the bedside. At first glance, the only conjoint property linking two stories is the titular portrait presenting a young girl. Nothing could be further from the truth. Both fragments are built of the same concepts but are expressed by different means what makes it difficult for a reader to see the bond. What is more, Poe uses the technique of mirror image. He creates two worlds, seemingly separate, which reflect one another. However, alike a reflection in the mirror, they give an inverted depiction.
In my dissertation, I would like to concentrate on this reverse relation between the main story and the embedded one.
As I mentioned in the introduction, Edgar Allan Poe applies the technique of mirror image. He based “The Oval Portrait” on a series of motives which create exact binary pairs. However, those pairs do not occur together in the text. They appear one after another, interlaced, whereby the reader may be deceived. This notion resulted in the geometrical shape of the short story what, on one hand makes the text more complex and cultivated but on the other, more difficult to follow.
To begin with, I would like to discuss the setting of the novella. Both tales take place in the same chateau, moreover, in the
THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE MAIN STORY AND THE EMBEDDED ONE.
“The Oval Portrait” is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe involving the harrowing circumstances surrounding a portrait in a chateau. The final version of the text is a revision of an earlier story known as “Life in Death”. Poe improved his novella by eliminating narrator’s penchant for opium and modifying the conclusion. It allowed him to achieve purely didactic piece of writing focusing on moral aspects. “The Oval Portrait” comprises two parts, first which is recounted by the first-person narration and, at the same time, constitutes the main story, second –adduced by the protagonist from a small volume found by the bedside. At first glance, the only conjoint property linking two stories is the titular portrait presenting a young girl. Nothing could be further from the truth. Both fragments are built of the same concepts but are expressed by different means what makes it difficult for a reader to see the bond. What is more, Poe uses the technique of mirror image. He creates two worlds, seemingly separate, which reflect one another. However, alike a reflection in the mirror, they give an inverted depiction.
In my dissertation, I would like to concentrate on this reverse relation between the main story and the embedded one.
As I mentioned in the introduction, Edgar Allan Poe applies the technique of mirror image. He based “The Oval Portrait” on a series of motives which create exact binary pairs. However, those pairs do not occur together in the text. They appear one after another, interlaced, whereby the reader may be deceived. This notion resulted in the geometrical shape of the short story what, on one hand makes the text more complex and cultivated but on the other, more difficult to follow.
To begin with, I would like to discuss the setting of the novella. Both tales take place in the same chateau, moreover, in the