Concetti Chiave
- Edgar Allan Poe was raised by John Allan after his mother, a travelling actor, died.
- Poe's literary works include mostly short stories with a focus on psychological depth and a "single effect".
- "Tales of the grotesque and arabesque" are horror tales entwined with fear, wonder, and imagination.
- "Tales of ratiocination" are detective stories featuring a clever detective and an assistant, inspiring later works like Sherlock Holmes.
- Poe's narratives often feature weak and ill female characters, reflecting the influence of his mother and wife.
Indice
Poe - The narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym
Edgar Allan Poe(1809-1849) was the son of two travelling actors; when his mother died, he was grown up by John Allan, but was soon covered by gambling debts and turned into an alcholic.
He had a happy period when he married his cousin Virginia, and in 1838 he published his only novel, “The narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym”.
It was so relevant that both Lovecraft in At the Mountains of Madness and Verne in Le Sphinx des glaces quoted it while Poe insert himself in the tradition that started with Coleridge, Swift and Cooper of seafaring tales.
At the same time in the novel seems to be echoing the traditional route of the hero that experience sufferings, anguish and death in order to save and improve his life, almost resurrecting from his previous self, and explore another dimension of the human being.
This concept can be linked both with the alchemic formula “solve et coagula” and the Greek and Eastern initiation rites.
The story that is narrated in the novel is claimed to be true because the events that the main character had to live were real.
The plot focuses on the young Arthur Gordon Pym who decided to secretly embark himself in a barn, “The Grampus”, with the help of his close friend Augustus Barnard, to travel through the sea leaving all his reality at the back.
But, his journey was not steady because of: a mutiny, heavy rain and a tempest, episodes of cannibalism among the surviving crew, the presence of violent indigenous tribes in an archipelagoes and the escape to South Pole.
At end another ship, “The Jane Guy” happened to rescue Arthur Gordon Pym so that the protagonist’s journey could continue without terrible consequences.
Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories
All his others works are short stories or collections of short stories:
- “Tales of the grotesque and arabesque”: they are something like horror tales, connected with fear and wonder, humor and imagination.
- “Tales of ratiocination”: these are detective stories, in which there’s a very clever detective helped by an assistant who balances his superiority (such as in “The murders in the Rue Morgue”).
This kind of stories (the smart detective and the "normal" assistent) reminds to Sherlock Holmes' novels but, at the same time, Poe’s short stories were so important because they anticipate the psychological thriller which will be fully developed in the USA after the First World War and before the Second one.
Poe’s tales are quite short in order to be read in one sitting; they are simple, with no action, because they focus on the character’s work of mind and sensations, with deep psychological analysis, and all the elements in the story are thought to convey in a “single effect” at the end of the story. There are very few women, and they are weak and ill, in fact they resemble his mother and his wife; there is also an internal time (the time that his perceived by the main character) and an external time (the chronological time).
Domande da interrogazione
- Qual è l'importanza del romanzo "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym" di Edgar Allan Poe?
- Quali sono le principali avventure vissute da Arthur Gordon Pym nel romanzo?
- Come si caratterizzano i racconti brevi di Edgar Allan Poe?
- In che modo i racconti di ratiocinazione di Poe hanno influenzato il genere del thriller psicologico?
- Quali elementi autobiografici si possono trovare nei racconti di Poe?
Il romanzo è significativo perché è stato citato da autori come Lovecraft e Verne, e si inserisce nella tradizione dei racconti di mare iniziata da Coleridge, Swift e Cooper. Esplora anche il tema del viaggio eroico e della trasformazione personale.
Arthur Gordon Pym affronta un ammutinamento, una tempesta, episodi di cannibalismo, tribù indigene violente e una fuga verso il Polo Sud, prima di essere salvato dalla nave "The Jane Guy".
I racconti di Poe sono brevi, semplici e si concentrano sull'analisi psicologica dei personaggi, con l'obiettivo di creare un "effetto unico" alla fine. Sono privi di azione e spesso includono elementi di paura, meraviglia e umorismo.
I racconti di ratiocinazione di Poe, con un detective intelligente e un assistente, hanno anticipato il thriller psicologico, che si è sviluppato pienamente negli Stati Uniti dopo la Prima Guerra Mondiale.
Nei racconti di Poe, le poche figure femminili presenti sono deboli e malate, riflettendo la madre e la moglie dell'autore. Inoltre, i racconti esplorano il tempo interno ed esterno, rispecchiando le percezioni soggettive dei personaggi.
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