American Romanticism
Student-led Text-Objective Discussion 2008

Thursday 2 October: Edgar Allan Poe, N 671-75, 679-702 (“Ligeia” & “Fall of the House of Usher”)

text-objective discussion leader (Poe stories): Laurie Forshage

Edgar Allan Poe

1809 – 1849

Biography Information

·         Poe’s mother and father were actors: both died when Poe was around the age of 2

·         John & Frances Allan took Poe in (he was not legally adopted)

·         They lived in England 5 years until the tobacco industry collapsed.  Then they moved back to Richmond, Va.

·         John Allan did not support Poe through college so he resorted to gambling and selling poetry.

·         Poe went into debt, did not finish school and then joined the army as Edgar A. Perry.

·         Poe attended WestPoint for a brief period before he dropped out.

·         At age 27 he married 13 year old Virginia Clemm

·         Poe went through several editorial jobs in his life

·         Virginia Poe died at 19 of tuberculosis

·         Poe became a celebrity of sorts; attended many literary parties; and many women were attracted to him.

·         Poe became engaged to two more women after Virginia’s death, but never actually remarried

·         October 3, Poe was found “senseless near a polling place on Election Day” and 4 days later he died of congestion of the brain

“Ligeia”

Illustration by Henry Clarke, 1919

Objectives for “Ligeia”

1a. To identify and criticize ideas or attitudes associated with Romanticism, such as desire and loss, rebellion, nostalgia, idealism, the gothic, the sublime, the individual in nature or separate from the masses.

·         The narrator’s desire for Ligeia after her death, his sense of loss even after he remarries

·         Many gothic examples throughout the story – the abbey and bridal chamber, the language used- his description of Ligeia, the resurrection of the dead

·         The sublime is used when the narrator is describing Ligeia and sometimes he says he cannot explain her features fully – especially her eyes and hair

·         The narrator does not know how or when he met Ligeia and there is no indication of where they are specifically upon Ligeia’s death

1a.  Romance narrative: A desire for anything besides “the here and now” or “reality,” the romantic impulse, quest or journey involves crossing physical borders or transgressing social or psychological boundaries in order to attain or regain some transcendent goal or dream

·         After Ligeia’s death, the narrator is unhappy with Rowena & wishes for the return of Ligeia

·         The narrator’s use of opium suggests his desire to not face “reality”

·         Ligeia resurrecting from the dead is the crossing of an invisible border from death to life

1c. The gothic novel or style (haunted physical and mental spaces, the shadow of death or decay; dark and light in physical and moral terms)

·         Play of dark and light with Ligeia and Rowena

·         Rowena in the gothic bridal chamber

·         The bridal chamber itself is haunted and is described by the narrator as gothic.

Questions for “Ligeia”

1.       Is the narrator a reliable source?  There are criticisms that this story should be viewed more as a satire because of the narrator’s use of opium.

2.a. The use of the quote by Joseph Glanvill suggests that life is sustainable only through will power.  Was it Ligeia’s will power that resurrected her or the narrator’s? 

2.b.  The narrator places great emphasis on her appearance – so is it just her features that survive and not her soul or is it her entire being?

3.  Is Ligiea considered a romance narrative in consideration of romantic love the narrator and Ligeia have or is the narrator merely obsessed with Ligiea?

“Fall of the House of Usher”

Illustration by Aubrey Beardsley, 1894

Objectives for “The Fall of the House of Usher”

1 a. To identify and criticize ideas or attitudes associated with Romanticism, such as desire and loss, rebellion, nostalgia, idealism, the gothic, the sublime, the individual in nature or separate from the masses.

1c. The gothic novel or style (haunted physical and mental spaces, the shadow of death or decay; dark and light in physical and moral terms)

·         The entire setting is dark, reeks of decay and rot, haunted house, dreary landscape

·         There is vagueness in the setting which is what provides the terror

·         A mysterious sickness

·         The strange gas around the house

·         An unidentified location

·         A boyhood friend and yet the narrator does not know about his twin

·         Narrator filled with wonder and terror during the reading of the story while hearing the sounds

      2a. To identify the Romantic era in the United States of America as the “American Renaissance”—roughly the generation before the Civil War (c. 1820-1860, one generation after the Romantic era in Europe).

·         Both “Ligeia” and “The Fall of the House of Usher” were written during the Romantic era in the U.S.

Questions for “The Fall of the House of Usher”

1.       What exactly is the relationship between the brother & sister?  How do you explain the family relationships in this story?

2.       What is the connection (or is there one) between the books that the narrator and Roderick Usher studied and what was taking place in the house? Pg. 696

General questions about Poe

1.       What makes the stories American?

2.       Why are the settings so vague?