Analysis Of Richard Wilbur's Only In Dreams In The House Of Poe

2335 Words5 Pages

Only in Dreams
In "The House of Poe", Richard Wilbur elucidates his criticisms of Poe 's work. He firstly comments on a critic 's purpose, then how Poe 's stories are all allegories. He then addresses the possible opposition to his argument, and then begins his discussion of the common themes in Poe 's writing and provides examples from his stories. This dissertation will analyze Wilbur 's criticism by cross referencing Poe 's work and how it exemplifies Wilbur 's assessment. There is a great deal of evidence to support Wilbur 's theories, but a close examination of each one will determine how legitimate his argument really is.
Wilbur opens his criticism with the introduction of the critic: "The business of the critic, after all, is to divine the intention of the work, and to interpret the work in the light of that intention" (Wilbur 808). If this is true, then Wilbur intends to find the purpose of Poe 's writing and explain it to the reader. In the same way, this analysis will serve to find the purpose in Wilbur 's criticism and …show more content…

This opens up the discussion for how the buildings and rooms in Poe 's works represent parts of the mind. As Wilbur asserts, Poe 's "cellars or catacombs...stand for the irrational part of the mind", and as in the madhouse in "The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether", "The keepers are the rational part of that mind, and the inmates are its irrational part" (Wilbur 821). The many rooms in Prospero 's palace could be construed as the different parts of his mind, and as he travels through them he goes further and further into the less sane reaches of his mind. The theory that the architecture in Poe 's work is a variant of his own mind or the mind of his characters, is well supported in both Usher and Prospero 's

Show More
Related

  • Edgar Allan Poe Figurative Language Essay

    1073 Words  | 3 Pages

    Edgar Allen Poe is known for his dark yet comedic approach toward the his theme of his stories. Likewise, Poe’s themes have gathered many fans due to his impression of reasoning in his stories. The author uses thinking and reasoning to portray the theme. Poe’s unique diction comprehends with the theme of the story. Poe has a brilliant way of taking gothic tales of mystery, and terror, and mixing them with variations of a romantic tale by shifting emphasis from, surface suspense and plot pattern to his symbolic play in language and various meanings of words.

    Read More

  • Foreshadowing In The Cask Of Amontillado

    1035 Words  | 3 Pages

    Edgar Allan Poe, a famous American writer and a poet, had written several short stories such as “William Wilson,” “The Fall of the House and Usher,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” and poems such as “The Bells” and “The Raven,” which was one of the most famous poems ever written in English. There is always something different about Poe’s writing. Most of the classical murders make a person ask “who’s done it?” but his writings such as “The Cask of Amontillado” makes one ask the why question “why did he [Montresor] do it?” (Baraban). Every “detail in his [Poe’s] works that appear” has a purpose behind it (Baraban) and he “rarely depended on much dialogue in constructing his stories (Benton). In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Poe uses setting, foreshadowing,

    Read More

  • Poe's Fall of The House of Usher - The House and its Inhabitants

    915 Words  | 2 Pages

    Poe uses several descriptive words in his portrayal of the house.  The reader’s first impression of the house comes from a direct observation from the narrator.  This unnamed narrator states, “… with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit.”  As the narrator continues to describe the house he uses several similarly dismal adjectives.    The gloom experienced by the narrator is not limited to merely the house itself.  The vegetation, which surrounds the area, is described as “a few rank sedges and … a few white trunks of decayed trees.”  He emphasizes these facets of the house and its environs by restating the descriptions reflected in a “black and lurid tarn.”  The narrator points out that the house seems to be in a dilapidated condition.  While he claims that the house appears structurally sound, he takes time to comment upon “the crumbling condition of the individual stones.”  He also emphasizes the long history of the house by stating that its features recall an “excessive antiquity.”

    Read More

  • Isolation and Its Results in Poe's The Raven

    1845 Words  | 4 Pages

    Walker, I. M., ed.  Edgar Allen Poe: A Critical Heritage.  New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986.

    Read More

  • Figures of speech in The Fall of the House of Usher

    654 Words  | 2 Pages

    Poe also uses symbolism to compare the deterioration of the house to the fall of the Usher dynasty. In Roderick’s poem, “The Haunted Palace”, he describes the history of the house as it began as a strong and “radiant palace”, which over time became a decrepit, disease-ridden cage. The radiant palace repres...

    Read More

  • “Because I could not stop for Death” and “Annabel Lee”: Similarities, Differences, and Their Authors

    1506 Words  | 4 Pages

    Redfield, J. S. "The Genius of Poe." Foreword. The Works of Edgar Allan Poe. Ed. A.C. Armstrong & Son. New York: A.C. Armstrong & Son., 1884. xv-xxvi. EPUB file.

    Read More

  • Literary Legends: Edgar Allan Poe and Mark Twain

    766 Words  | 2 Pages

    Edgar Allan Poe primarily authored stories dealing with Gothic literature; the stories were often quite dreary. Poe possessed a very sorrowful view of the world and he expressed this throughout his literary works. His goal was to leave an impression with every detail that he included in his stories. Although Poe’s stories seem very wretched and lackluster they all convey a certain idea. A trademark of Poe’s is his use of very long complex sentences. For instance, in his work The Fall of the House of Usher, Poe tried to ensure that every detail was as relevant as possible by integrating a wide variety of emotion. In the third paragraph, of page two hundred ninety-seven, Poe wrote, “Feeble gleams of encrimsoned light made their way through the trellised panes, and served to render sufficiently distinct the more prominent objects around…” This sentence illustrates the descriptiveness and complexity that Edgar Allan Poe’s works consisted of. The tormented cognizance of Poe led him to use a very gloomy diction throughout his writing. Edgar Allan Poe’s use of symbols and the way he conveyed his writing expr...

    Read More

  • Edgar Allan Poe's Life and Work

    1406 Words  | 3 Pages

    Edgar Allan Poe was an excellent horror, suspense, and mystery writer of the eighteenth century. His use of literary devices and different literary techniques makes this writer important to American literature. This paper will show how Edgar Allan Poe has made an impact on Society and American literature as well as how Edgar Allan Poe developed the short story. I will also discuss and analyze some of his works and techniques he uses in his short stories and poems.

    Read More

  • The Life of Edgar Allan Poe

    859 Words  | 2 Pages

    Howarth, W. L. (1971). Twentieth century interpretations of Poe's tales; a collection of critical essays.. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.

    Read More

  • Symbolism and Irony in The Tell-Tale Heart

    2255 Words  | 5 Pages

    " Twentieth Century Interpretations of Poe's Tales. ED. William L. Howarth, b. 1875. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1971. 94. - 102. - 102.

    Read More

  • Symbolism and analysis of "The Fall of the House of Usher"

    837 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thomson, Gary Richard, and Poe Edgar. The selected writings of Edgar Allan Poe. New York: Norton & Company, 2004

    Read More

  • paper

    788 Words  | 2 Pages

    Edgar Allan Poe has been debated to be the author of the most dark and horrific pieces of literature. He was favored by many for his complex pieces of literature that have ultimately impacted the world of literature today. However, Poe’s pieces of work did receive harsh criticism before and after his death. Because Poe was generally known for his thought-provoking short stories, his short stories often received mixed reviews. One of Poe’s most arguable short stories is “The Fall of the House of Usher”. This short story was “regarded as an early and supreme example of the Gothic horror story” (Plot Summary: "The Fall of the House of Usher"). Poe himself described this piece as “arabesque” due to its ornate prose (Plot Summary: "The Fall of the House of Usher"). However, many critics disagreed with each other on their views of “The Fall of the House of Usher”.

    Read More

  • Moral Insanity In Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart

    1431 Words  | 3 Pages

    The short story is generally a study in human terror. Furthermore, the author explains Poe use of a particular style and technique, to not only create the mood of mystery, but to cause the reader to feel sympathy for the narrator. Poe makes a connection between the storyteller and reader with knowledge and literary craftsmanship.

    Read More

  • The Gothic Theme of Edgar Allen Poe's Work

    1372 Words  | 3 Pages

    With respect to the Gothic conventions present in The Raven, The Black Cat, and The Tell-Tale Heart, Edgar Allan Poe’s texts are considered examples of Gothic literature. Through the use of literary techniques and devices, Poe has effectively conveyed thematic concerns of Gothicism. Poe’s texts explore the inept fear of the unknown, the decay of an individual’s character and the psychotic relationship between insanity and the expression and instigation of emotions. The Gothic conventions within his work complement each other and operate in conjunction to express themes related to Gothicism, as ambient setting is achieved with the aid of the Gothic conventions of supernatural motifs and reference to darkness. By creating a pastiche of forms and conventions, Edgar Allan Poe’s works are considered sublime paradigms of Gothic fiction.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe´s Literature

    897 Words  | 2 Pages

    Edgar Allan Poe has a unique writing style that uses several different elements of literary structure. He uses intrigue vocabulary, repetition, and imagery to better capture the reader’s attention and place them in the story. Edgar Allan Poe’s style is dark, and his is mysterious style of writing appeals to emotion and drama. What might be Poe’s greatest fictitious stories are gothic tend to have the same recurring theme of either death, lost love, or both. His choice of word draws the reader in to engage them to understand the author’s message more clearly. Authors who have a vague short lexicon tend to not engage the reader as much.

    Read More

More about Analysis Of Richard Wilbur's Only In Dreams In The House Of Poe

Open Document