The Raven Gothic Elements.
“The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe is a perfect example of the Gothic genre. In fact there may not be a more potent, and certainly not a more famous model of the Gothic Poetry in action. Edgar Allan Poe followed it up with an essay called “The Philosophy of Composition” in which he revealed how he wrote it.
Gothic literature is defined as emphasising elements such as grotesqueness, mysteriousness and desolation; generally, it is a marriage between the Horror and Romance genres. The genre shows a dark and mad view of the world through elements such as: The Supernatural (ghosts, spirits etc); madness; isolation and loneliness; death; secrets (such as mysteries or underground passages); monsters (vampires, Frankenstein’s monster etc), and biblical evil (usually in the form of the devil). It takes its name from the style of art and architecture that was used in the Middle Ages which was extravagant and beautiful; but also very gloomy and foreboding (characterised by decorative designs and sculptures including Gargoyles)
The Raven certainly fits into this category of The Gothic, and begins with a short description of the speaking character’s isolation and vulnerability. It then tells us very little of the maiden named Lenore whom the character laments (as she is deceased, this may have contributed to the supernatural events later in the poem). The poem begins "Once upon a midnight dreary...”, hence evoking the feature of darkness and night. The narrator is roused from his sleepy state by a rapping on the door, which begins to terrify him because he is wishing for Lenore, but finds nothing, instead. This scene then contains the typical gothic elements of mystery, ghosts and the supernatural in the references to "silence [was] unbroken" (stanza 5, line 3) and "no mortal ever dared to dream before” (stanza 5, line 2), and terror as he refers to his beating heart (stanza 3).
In the first stanzas, Poe establishes that the character is filled with grief and sorrow, describing
Gothic literature is defined as emphasising elements such as grotesqueness, mysteriousness and desolation; generally, it is a marriage between the Horror and Romance genres. The genre shows a dark and mad view of the world through elements such as: The Supernatural (ghosts, spirits etc); madness; isolation and loneliness; death; secrets (such as mysteries or underground passages); monsters (vampires, Frankenstein’s monster etc), and biblical evil (usually in the form of the devil). It takes its name from the style of art and architecture that was used in the Middle Ages which was extravagant and beautiful; but also very gloomy and foreboding (characterised by decorative designs and sculptures including Gargoyles)
The Raven certainly fits into this category of The Gothic, and begins with a short description of the speaking character’s isolation and vulnerability. It then tells us very little of the maiden named Lenore whom the character laments (as she is deceased, this may have contributed to the supernatural events later in the poem). The poem begins "Once upon a midnight dreary...”, hence evoking the feature of darkness and night. The narrator is roused from his sleepy state by a rapping on the door, which begins to terrify him because he is wishing for Lenore, but finds nothing, instead. This scene then contains the typical gothic elements of mystery, ghosts and the supernatural in the references to "silence [was] unbroken" (stanza 5, line 3) and "no mortal ever dared to dream before” (stanza 5, line 2), and terror as he refers to his beating heart (stanza 3).
In the first stanzas, Poe establishes that the character is filled with grief and sorrow, describing