What Is The Difference Between Lenore And Edgar Allan Poe

Poe Vs Hawthorne
“‘Wretch,’ I cried. ‘Thy God hath lent thee-- by these angels he hath sent thee / Respite-- respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore; / Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!’ / Quoth the Raven, ‘Nevermore’” (Poe, The Raven 439). Edgar Allan Poe, an author tormented by death and loss. Poe often was expelled from schools to rebel against his adoptive father, John Allan, who had taken Poe in when his mother died of tuberculosis. He married his cousin in 1836, but she died eleven years later, also from tuberculosis. As a result of losing so many people who were close to him to tuberculosis, many of his writings were themed with death such as The Fall of the House of Usher and The Raven. Another
author named, Nathaniel Hawthorne, a puritan ashamed of his family history because his great-great-grandfather was a judge at the Salem witch trials, who led many innocent people to their deaths. Although he shared the puritan belief that all people were sinful, he branched off to extend the puritan religion by saying that perfection was impossible. With this he was able to create works themed with hypocrisy, sin, and guilt; some examples are The Minister’s Black Veil and Heidegger’s Experiment. Though the two authors, Poe and Hawthorne, have very different inspirations of death and disowning family they use similar styles, such as their word choice, symbolism, and other literary aspects.
The two authors carefully choose their words in order to express their thoughts by, not only, directly stating what they think but using language to help the reader experience it as well.
Hawthorne is very emphatical with his language, which is a pattern that goes along with most puritan authors. By using words like phenomena, the dread Being, and melancholy he is able to express how astounding or startling an event is. A great example of this is in The Minister’s Black Veil, when he says, “A rumor of some unaccountable phenomenon had preceded Mr. Hooper in the meeting house, and set all the congregation astir. Few could refrain from twisting their heads towards the door; many stood upright, and turned directly about; while several little boys clambered upon the seats, and came down again with a terrible racket,” (Hawthorne, 472). Hawthorne uses such descriptive words to make the reader feel as if they were there and able to envision what had been going on if they closed their eyes. Many authors have nearly perfected the simulation of an experience through writing and music. Poe is able to join Hawthorne in the list of authors capable of doing so. Edgar Allan Poe is a well known and respected author in the world of literature due to his ability to make novels that were the most similar to poems, using colorful language that both explained what was going on as well as giving the writing a sinisterly, smooth flow. In one of his stories Poe says, “The disease of the lady
Madeline had long baffled the skill of her physicians. A settled apathy, a gradual wasting away of the person, and frequent although transient affections of a partially cataleptical character were the unusual diagnosis,” (The Fall of… 418). His writing has a meter to it as if it were meant to be told as a poem, but his lyrical language was present in all of his writings, with The Raven being one of his few poems. Poe uses lyrical language because it seems that humans can relate better to songs rather than a seminar, and because it sounds pleasant to listen to, and hear if it should be spoken. Both authors are able to fully submerge the reader with their thoughts and imagery through their choice of words.
As an american gothic writer in the 1800’s, dark tales were something new and could not be fully expressed or written with real terms or scenarios where legitimate history was made so symbolism played a major role in literature. Hawthorne uses symbolism in a more philosophical way than Poe, though it gives the same effect. The story where Hawthorne uses the most symbolism is The Minister’s Black Veil, he says, “On a nearer view, it seemed to consist of two folds of crape, which entirely concealed his features, except mouth and chin, but probably did not intercept his sight, farther than to give a darkened aspect to all living and inanimate things. With this gloomy shade before him, good Mr. Hooper walked onward, at a slow and quiet pace, stooping somewhat and looking on the ground, as is customary with abstracted men, yet nodding kindly to those of his parishioners who still waited on the meetinghouse steps,”(472). The crape that the minister drapes over his face can symbolize many things such as death, sin, guilt, and other similar themes. Sin-themed literature occurs often throughout history, through poetry, novels, and scripts. Poe had also included sin as a theme into his writing because the topic of sin was such a popular topic. In Edgar Allan Poe’s writing sin was the source of guilt, this is seen in many of his works; in The Fall of the House of Usher Poe says, “Not hear it?-- yes, I hear it, and have heard it. Long--long--long--many minutes, many hours, many days, have I heard it--yet I dared not--oh, pity me, miserable wretch that I am!--I dared not-- I dared not speak! We have put her living in the tomb!” (429). Here, the character (Usher) expresses the guilt that has bubbled up to the surface of his mind, causing him to mumble what seems to be meaningless until he admits to burying someone alive. This symbolizes the darkness and dread that is always at the back of minds, eating away at the soul to fill its host with guilt. Neither of the authors write very cheerful tales, but both use symbolism to help give morals to their literature.
The literary aspects used in the stories helps the reader understand or relate to the topic or, in the case of Hawthorne and Poe, moral that is written within the text.
Many authors use literary aspects such as hyperboles, similes, and personification to give their novels a fictional quality. Hawthorne uses personification often, more so in Heidegger’s Experiment than in any other of his works. In his story he says, “His guests shivered again. A strange chillness, whether of the body or spirit they could not tell, was creeping gradually over them all. They gazed at one another, and fancied that each fleeting moment snatched away a charm, and left a deepening furrow where none had been before,” (Hawthorne, Heidegger’s Experiment). Hawthorne uses personification to make his writing more entertaining to read, fairytale-like qualities draw in readers to continue reading and understand what is going on. Poe also uses these fable methods as well, in order to continue patterns. Personification is seen throughout all of Poe’s works; The Fall of the House of Usher, The Raven, and The masque of the Red Death are a few that have a surplus of personification. In The Raven, Poe says, “Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December; / And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor. / Eagerly I wished the morrow;--vainly I had sought to borrow / From my books surcease of sorrow--sorrow for the lost Lenore-- / For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name
Lenore-- / Nameless here forevermore,” (436). Poe uses personification when he speaks about the dying embers that scatter the floor as they cool into ash, and the books of sorrow--when books cannot show emotion. Hawthorne and Poe use other means of literary aspects to increase the reader’s interest in their short stories, but they do it in the most similar of ways.
Writers can come from all different backgrounds, and though their backgrounds aren’t similar, there is similarities throughout the style of writing for all writers. Poe, being an author tormented by the deaths of women in his life wrote american gothic tales with very dark themes. Hawthorne wrote of the darkest corners of the mind that bring out guilt that resembled his guilt for his family history. Though, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe have family history related to death and they both have experiences with death, disownership of family, and guilt, they share similar branches of literary style; Word choice, symbolism and other aspects of literature. The two authors have both become famous for their works and deserve the recognition for their brilliant styles which have entertained readers for decades.