Sample Student Research Project 2010
Essay
LITR
4232 American Renaissance
Sample Student Research Project 2010
Essay
Amber Criswell
A Legacy in Pieces: Find
Facets of Poeism in Modern Prose, Poetry, and Cinema
Considered the forerunner of dark romanticism, or the gothic,
Edgar Allan Poe was a prolific writer and poet whose influence reaches far and
wide. Prime examples of his literary influence can be found in other Gothic
writers, poets, songwriters, directors, and modern subcultures. Poe’s obsession
with the deeply dark psychological aspects of life and perception greatly shaped
Alfred Hitchcock; his ability to take the pain in his life and turn into art
greatly affected the youth of Allen Ginsburg; his use of heavy symbolism is
evidently flourished upon by Nathanial Hawthorne; his repetition and strong
rhythm in poetry influenced many 20th century poets; his
proliferation of the detective novel is still amazingly present in modern times;
and, his use of language is still considered a well of knowledge for writers and
poets alike. Poe’s influence is still highly prevalent, although elements of the
Gothic have changed throughout the years, and these will be discovered and
discussed by analysis of his works, the works of those influenced by him, and
critical analysis of Poeism.
The term Poeism is
first discussed by Clark Griffith in his essay
“Emersonianism” and “Poeism”: Some
Versions of the Romantic Sensibility. The term describes the style that was
created by Poe, in reference to American romanticism (125).
Throughout most of
his prose, Poe uses heavy symbolism. He takes one object and gives an
overwhelming amount of meaning to it, so just as the protagonist of the story is
transfixed upon the object, so is the reader (Griffith 132). One of Poe’s
contemporaries was Nathanial Hawthorne, who Poe was known to openly criticize
and admire.
Evident in any of
his work, Poe is obsessed with the dark aspects of being. He utilized themes
such as lost love, death, madness, and obsession in his stories. This was in
direct opposition to the sublime and ethereal subjects discussed by the other
Romantics of the time. In fact, Poe outwardly disliked the airy sentiment of the
current Romantics and specifically attempted to distance himself from it
(Prestwood 19). In direct opposition to other poets, such as William Wordsworth,
Poe advocated poetry that used melancholy and grief as chief themes. Poe did not
agree that youth was joyful and needed to be praised. This is especially
prevalent in his poem “Romance” (Prestwood 20):
But now
my soul hath too much room-
Gone are the Glory
and the Gloom-
The black hath
mellowed into grey,
And all the fires
are fading away.
The type of sadness and despair conveyed by Poe is evident
throughout modern poetry. It is much more common to find poetry that deals with
the darker aspects of life than the good, and much more that despise the aging
process rather than revere it. Poe correctly identified with the grief and
melancholy in poetry, as themes like those are still widely used and accepted
today. In fact, poetry that deals with these types of topics are accepted from
the mainstream level to the academic world, and are often taken more seriously
than poetry of a lighter subject.
Poe believed in
the glorification of language (
I saw not then what I now
clearly perceive, that the acquisitions of Ligeia were gigantic, were
astounding; yet I was sufficiently aware of her infinite supremacy to resign
myself, with a child-like confidence, to her guidance through the chaotic world
of metaphysical investigation at which I was most busily occupied during the
earlier years of our marriage.
The use of language is one of Poe’s most easily defined
characteristics. His eloquent phrasing, vast vocabulary, and ability to
articulate strange situations add much more to his stories than that of a simple
description. Many praise his ability to use language, and the critics of it try
to explain it as a type juvenility (Rainwater 424).
But, his personal glorification of words
is a characteristic that still alone resides with Poe. Many admirers of the
writer, such as H.G. Wells, use the type of language of Poe, but to different
means. Poe uses his own cosmology to define and shape the worlds that are found
in his fiction. Characters found in Poe’s poetry and prose are often attempting
to come to terms with the transcendental world that exists above them, and that
they have no earthly way to mold or tend. An avid enthusiast of Poe, H.G. Wells
used Poe’s idea that language should be glorified, but instead used to allow his
characters to immerse himself in the transcendental world created by the
characters (Rainwater 423-434). In other words, Poe distanced his characters
from the transcendental through the use of language, while Wells used the
language to allow his characters the ability to transcend to their personal
higher realms of existence.
The modern
detective novel, and even science fiction genre (Gunn 280) and some children’s
books (Hart), are affected by the writings of Poe. Poe created the first true
detective novel, littered with darkness, intricate plots, ghastly descriptions,
and morbid resolutions. Even the author’s group Mystery Writers of America named
their award for Best Mystery Novel of the year the “Edgar” (Cole). It is often
agreed upon that much inspiration for Sherlock Holmes came from the detectives
stories of Poe, such as “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” “The Mystery of Marie
Roger”, and “The Purloined Letter”. Much of Poe’s greatness for mystery writing
comes from his ability to make the absurd seem real. He was eerily good at
describing details with which one with medical or law enforcement background
would only possess. His influence in the mystery novel is perhaps one of his
most accredited and lasting legacies, and it apparent throughout most modern
mysteries (Olson).
A good example of Poe’s influence upon artists is Allen Ginsberg and Alfred Hitchcock. Both men were exposed to Edgar Allan Poe’s full range of work in their youth, owed to the fact that Poe had been deceased for some time. Ginsberg is considered a great American poet and dealt with many issues that were considered obscene or strange for the time. Much like Poe, Ginsberg was both berated and admired for his talent and subject matter. Ginsberg himself accredited a portion of this to Poe, as he was intrigued by the themes that he read in Poe’s stories as a young boy. He was “entranced by Poe’s verbal music […] and maturity (qtd in Pollin 535)” and sought to use these same elements in his own poetry, even if he was not using the same language as Poe. Ginsberg was heavily impressed by Poe’s ability to take the tragedy in his life and turn it into art. It is accepted that much sadness occurred in Poe’s life, as all those around him died and he was helpless to his alcoholic whims. Ginsberg cited Poe as discovering art as a way to “ease the pain of living” (qtd in Pollin 536). As Ginsberg championed out-of-the-box thinking, he appreciated Poe for doing the same. He felt that Poe “is a great awakener of youth” and in fact “wakened” Ginsberg’s mind (qtd in Pollin 536).
Ginsberg is certainly not the only person to be affected by Poe in his
youth, and this in fact highlights one of Poe’s greatest influences; his ability
to shape young minds. Most people encounter Edgar Allan Poe at a young age, and
because his name is synonymous with things like lost love and gloom, he is
sought out by angst-ridden teens and later rediscovered more deeply by college
students. Although not embodying the literary term, the Gothic sub-culture uses
Poe as one of its demigods. Poe brought forth some of the most recognized
symbols in Gothic literature; such as the supreme dark lady, the madness of
one’s own mind, the dark and desolate castle, inner-torture, and gloom. These
are themes that youths in the Gothic sub-culture easily identify with, and often
change their appearance to accommodate. This includes girls dying their hair
jet-black and wearing black clothes, boys trying to achieve an emaciated look,
dangling plastic shrunken heads from their key chains, writing dark poetry, and
hanging out in cemeteries. While Allen Ginsberg instead focused on the literary
aspects of Poe and applied it to his own literary style, the Gothic subculture
looks to Poe’s writings to set a standard for living and a perspective on life.
Given the nature of the themes expressed by Poe, it is easy to see why children
in the Gothic subculture identify with the writings of Poe so much, but it
doesn’t mean that they perfectly exemplify it by any means. Once again, the
topics and styles that are prevalent in Poeism are being applied in a new way to
modern society by both Allen Ginsberg and the Gothic subculture, in very
different ways. Ginsberg adopted the approach to embrace the weirdness of life
that was written out by Poe (Pollin 537), while the Gothic subculture embraces a
more literal sense of Poe’s world and attempts to create it.
Similar to Allen
Ginsberg, Alfred Hitchcock discovered Poe at a young age. He describes the
situation well,
“At sixteen I discovered the
work of Edgar Allan Poe. I happened to read first his biography, and the sadness
of his life made a great impression on me. I felt an enormous pity for him,
because in spite of his talent he had never been happy. I still remember my
feelings when I finished “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” I was afraid, but his
fear made me discover something I’ve never forgotten since: fear, you see, is an
emotion people like to feel when they know they’re safe (qtd in Perry 394),”
Hitchcock used the
device of terror heavily in his films. He, in fact much like Poe, still has a
cult following due to the strangeness and originality of his works. Hitchcock
discovered something very basic about Poe’s writing, one of the aspects that is
still relevant today, and that is the response to suspense. Hitchcock is known
for creating some of the most terrifying movies of his time, and most develop in
situations where one would not expect that kind of terror, much like the stories
of Poe. Also, Hitchcock pays great attention to the detail of singular objects
to further suspense (Perry 395). If Poe had lived the same era of Hitchcock, it
can be assumed that he would make similar films. The types of themes used by
Hitchcock are the same used by Poe, and the devices found in Poe’s literature
are brought to life on screen by Hitchcock. The director understood perfectly
what it meant to inflict suspension by dramatic irony on the audience. Often
times in Poe’s stories the reader is far aware of how a situation is going to
end before the protagonist is, and the same follows for many of Hitchcock’s
films. Hitchcock and Poe were both masters of manipulating the audience by
making them anticipate the horror of what’s around the dark corner. Yet, like
many of those influenced by Poe, Hitchcock injects modernity into his Poeism; he
breaks away from the traditional gothic structures in order to appeal to a
modern audience (Perry 398). This, like most of the changes to Poeism by modern
enthusiasts, is considered a sign of necessary change to stay relevant in a
modern society and cannot be considered a fault of Poe’s ability.
The work of Edgar
Allan Poe has obviously influenced artists that consider themselves to be both a
part of, and unrelated to, the Gothic genre. As with any great writer like Poe,
those who study their works are going to connect with a certain aspect of the
writing while dismissing another. As for Poe, his writing is defined by his
glorification of language, use of heavy symbolism, ability to create suspense,
discussion of the dark aspects of life, and exploration of the inner-workings of
the mind. While many of the artists influenced by Poe do not directly lend
themselves to copying his styles, they do take portions of what he accomplished
in his prose and poetry and develop it within their own genres. This quality of
Poe is what solidifies his legacy; many great minds were shaped by Poe, and any
literary critic can find Poe’s influence littered among the devices and themes
of others, but none try to directly imitate because Poe claims dominion over
Poeism. Poe is not meant to be imitated, but to spark the creative growth in
others.
Works Cited
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Gunn, James. "Science Fiction around the World." 27-29. World
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<http://coursesite.uhcl.edu/HSH/Whitec/texts/AmClassics/poems/PoeRomance.htm>.
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Rainwater, Catherine. "H. G. Well's Re-Vision of Poe: The
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