Edgar Allan Poe Group at eNotes

i think the most symbolic literary works of e.a.poe are THE BLACK CAT,...

Sat, 5 Dec 2009 12:21:41 PST

i think the most symbolic literary works of e.a.poe are THE BLACK CAT, and LEGIA. u should definetely take a look at them especially MORELLA and check the significance of teeth and mouth. they are said to represent the intimate parts of the female anatomy. very interesting symbolism by the way.

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Sat, 28 Nov 2009 19:48:41 PST

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"Annabel Lee"--In this well-known Poe poem, the narrator is so overcome...

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:00:15 PST

"Annabel Lee"--In this well-known Poe poem, the narrator is so overcome with grief for his lost Annabel Lee that he wants to or possibly even does sleep next to her grave. He has lost his desire to live and longs only to join his lost love. "The Raven"--Similar in theme to the previously mentioned poem, "The Raven" features a narrator who misses his lost Lenore so much that he has become a recluse who sits in his chamber overwrought with...

I am looking for examples of how the women in Poe's stories or poems...

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:48:33 PST

I am looking for examples of how the women in Poe's stories or poems have changed the narrators by their influence.

The Tell Tale Heart is a story partly about madness - and that is always...

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:35:57 PST

The Tell Tale Heart is a story partly about madness - and that is always hard for sane people to understand! - particuarly when it is as macabre and full of suspense as Poe makes it sound. briefly and basically (so you can go read it again) it's about a person who carefully schemes to kill someone who has a bad eye. Gruesomely, the murderer chops up the victim's body and stashes the body parts under the floor. Then, as in Macbeth, the madness...

The Tell Tale Heart, by Edgar Allan Poe

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:18:03 PST

The Tell Tale Heart, by Edgar Allan Poe

Dupin also deploys his sleuthing skills in Poe's short story "The...

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:12:09 PST

Dupin also deploys his sleuthing skills in Poe's short story "The Murders of the Rue Morgue." By a simple process of observation and deduction, he solves the unsolvable. Furthermore, this tale is considered the very first detective story, well before the exploits of Maigret, Poirot or Sherlock Holmes. Dupin also appears in "The Story of Marie Roget," published in 1865.

If you are looking for a literary figure named Dupin, I tagged your...

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 16:37:00 PST

If you are looking for a literary figure named Dupin, I tagged your question with Poe and one of his short stories entitled "The Purloined Letter." Edgar Allan Poe, while known for his Gothic contributions to American Literature, is also famous for creating the modern detective story (stories which feature an intelligent civilian who solves crime through logic and paying attention to detail all while outwitting the police). Poe created a...

Who is Dupin?

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 16:03:46 PST

Who is Dupin?

If every home today had as vast a system of catacombs as...

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 17:25:17 PST

If every home today had as vast a system of catacombs as Montressor's in Edgar Allan Poe's classic short story, "The Cask of Amontillado," then the perfect crime would become routine. Montressor has indeed committed the perfect crime. For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them. In pace requiescat! Although Fortunato's "crime" is never disclosed, Montressor states frankly that it must be met with "impunity"--exempt from...

According to Montressor, in "The Cask of Amontillado," what makes a...

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 17:10:11 PST

According to Montressor, in "The Cask of Amontillado," what makes a perfect crime ?

I think that one of Poe's most symbolic works is the Masque of the Red...

Tue, 3 Nov 2009 11:23:43 PST

I think that one of Poe's most symbolic works is the Masque of the Red Death. Everything in the story symbolizes something else. The rooms symbolize life from birth to death. The clock symbolizes the time that the people who are in the abbey have left to live. The Prince represents all of our desires to cheat death. Other symbolic works include The Raven, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell-Tale Heart, and the Cask of Amontillado.

E. A. Poe's works are mostly symbolic--his poems, short stories and the...

Tue, 3 Nov 2009 00:50:08 PST

E. A. Poe's works are mostly symbolic--his poems, short stories and the one novel that he has written, all have symbolic properties in different ways. Pay attention to the Gothic symbolism in Poe. He is one of the first writers to give the Gothic genre a genuine modern twist. With Poe, the Gothic is a garb for the world of hysteria, obsessional neurosis, perversion and other kinds of mental derangement. Considered to be an exponent of the...

What are some of the most symbolic literary works by E. A. Poe?

Mon, 2 Nov 2009 19:47:18 PST

What are some of the most symbolic literary works by E. A. Poe?

This is a tough question since both are superbly written. I believe,...

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:11:13 PST

This is a tough question since both are superbly written. I believe, however, that "The Raven" has so much more working for it with its great story line, rhyme scheme, vivid imagery and its almost musical rhythms. The mix of horror and humor is also first-rate. Along with "The Bells" and "Annabel Lee," I consider these three among the finest of all 19th century American poetry.

My students and I enjoy "The Raven" more than "The Pit and the...

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:47:35 PST

My students and I enjoy "The Raven" more than "The Pit and the Pendulum." Poe's "Raven" shows the poet at his best, and "The Pit" has so many dated allusions that a great deal of background knowledge is necessary to recognize the story's true impact. Additionally, most readers find a new aspect to admire in the poem each time they read it.

I think the poem reflects the terror and fear that Poe made his own. ...

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 05:41:15 PST

I think the poem reflects the terror and fear that Poe made his own. Both works do echo this idea, but I think that the poem does this in a very lyrical and direct way. The structure and cadence of the poem resonates this in a more clear way, in my opinion.

They are both great stories, but the Pit and Pendulum is a more...

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:10:45 PST

They are both great stories, but the Pit and Pendulum is a more developed story. Both narratives (even though The Raven is a poem) leave a lot to the imagination and you have to read between the lines quite a bit to fully understand what is going on. This lends to the mystery and level of supernatural in the story which is typical of gothic literature.

"The Raven" is a poem, of course, while "The Pit and the Pendulum" is a...

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:45:32 PST

"The Raven" is a poem, of course, while "The Pit and the Pendulum" is a short story. There is a bit of a narrative in "The Raven," though. We know Lenore is dead and that the narrator is grieving, but we don't know much more than that. The real "story" in the poem is the emotional disintegration of the speaker. Poe takes us through the many stages of his grief; the narrator is on an emotional roller coaster that ends in complete despair and...

which story was better the raven or the Pit and the Pendelum

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:24:20 PST

In my opinion i loved both. The meaning of the raven being the soul of his dead wife was a very touching point but, the horror of the pit and the pendelum was just to good to over come. Imagine if you went through that kind of justice system it makes me wounder if back then war was actually like that its so cruel and unusual i would have died the moment i was hanging off the end of the pit. Although the point and the story line of the...