Исследовательская работа "Женские образы в произведениях Э.По"

    The famous writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe has repeatedly appealed to the image of women in his works. It is known that many critics and scholars of the author believe that in all the works he appeals to a woman ( she is Virginia). There is no doubt: Edgar Allan Poe's meeting with the seven-year old cousin Virginia, who later became his wife, had a profound impact on his life. And I was curious, I wanted to know more about the life of the author, about his fate and their thin connection with the works of Edgar Allan Poe.

The theme of my work: "Women's images in the stories of Edgar Allan Poe"

Aim: To prove that the image of Poe's wife Virginia is a prototype image of literary heroines.

Tasks:

1. To examine the biography of Edgar Allan Poe
2. To read the selected stories and make a comparison chart on the works: "Morella", "Berenice," "Eleanor," "Ligeia"
3. To analyze the heroines and consider stylistic means for transmitting the brightest female images

Hypothesis: The wife Virginia had the greatest influence on the formation of short stories by Edgar Allan Poe

Methods:

• analysis
• comparison

On may 16, 1836 a poet Edgar Allan PoE married his cousin Virginia Terminals, who was under 14 years of age.

And so began the history, which conquered the hearts of many people, the story of Clemm and Poe. This woman  played  a big  role in the life and work of  the poet.

Beyond  the  pallor of the girl,  there was  a  severe disease. In fact, the poet married not even with a girl, but with the rock. So as the beautiful heroines of his works-Ligeia, Morella, Berenice, she was too perfect for a fallen world.
Wise, Mary, the aunt of Edgar Allan Poe, realized that a love drama cast  in front of  her eyes: young Edgar and Virginia were becoming more and more attached to each other.

The happy life of the two was not long. One January night, in 1842 a charming voice of Virginia broke off  in mid-sentence. The sufferings of his beloved almost killed Poe.

The doctor warned Edgar and Mary that the health condition of Virginia is hopeless, but she still lived six years after it.
Virginia quietly died on 30 January 1847, Edgar Allan Poe, did not leave his wife till the last minute.

Edgar survived his Muse just for two years, but terrible timelessness between the glass of whiskey and a shot of opium stopped his life at the train station in Baltimore.

After the death of his wife, Poe began to write much more, and most of his works were devoted to Virginia, including "Berenice", "Morella", "Ligeia", "Eleanor". You should pay attention to the fact that the stories were written in the first person, from "I" and this is not an accident: first, it gives the works a realistic understanding, and second, it made works to be part of his biography. All three stories are connected with the name of Edgar’s beloved, Virginia.

Berenice is the embodiment of "the magnificent "  beauty, she was graceful, lively, full of joy and energy. In this story, reality and fantasy are intertwined  the most.

The image of Morella, an erudite woman, who avoids the company of people, with great  power of the mind that enjoyed mystical works, musical voice. It is the "day of days" and Morella died, but she continued to live in her daughter, who she had given  birth  to  before her death. During the ritual of baptism, the Child received the name of her dead mother.

The decision of the narrator to call her daughter by the name of the deceased mother indicates that he wanted her to die. Creating the story, Edgar Allan Poe was looking for a chance to reflect  what is happening with the personality, the identity of a person after his death. The identity of Morella embodied  in her daughter.

Features of Ligeia are deprived of classical correctness. Black eyes, long eyelashes, arched eyebrows. Her knowledge of the mathematical, moral, physical Sciences was great , but Ligeia was ill.
After her  death  the narrator found himself a new wife, but she didn’t live long. At night the corpse came  to life, it was cold, and it turns out that  Lady Rowena turned into Ligeia.

In these stories ("Berenice", "Morella", "Ligeia"), the heroine can not die. So Bernice moves disfigured, although she was buried; Morella rises in her daughter; Ligeia comes alive in the body of Rowena, they are all immortal in the mind of the author. In these three stories, the theme of human immortality is risen. As it has already been mentioned, the stories are devoted to Edgar’s beloved wife, Virginia Clemm.. It was her appearance, and her erudition that the author describes in his stories.

No wonder in  "Berenicee, Poe  referred to the words of Tertullian - "the son of God Died; and the  buried, rose from the grave; it is impossible", the author likened Berenice to the  son of God, as she died, was buried, but was still alive, when her grave was desecrated. In "Morella, there is a different subject sounds –the transmigration of souls. In Ligeia" there is also the idea of the immortality of a man, but of a man with an  iron will. In Ligeia", the beauty, the unfading human soul and a desire to live, are sung by the author. In "Eleanor" - the story is also dedicated  to the theme of  love after death.. The heroine of this story  is a fifteen year old girl who is doomed to die young. She knows about it and grieves that her cousin will  fall in love with another woman. To comfort Eleanor, he swears to love her forever.He breaks the oath . Eleonor visits him in his dreams and in her last her  visit  she  frees him from  his vow. The main driving force of love  is that it’s unified and sovereign. And the last words of Eleanor confirms: love in a mysterious way doesn’t come in contradiction with the one that was the first . This is love in the understanding of Edgar Poe.

Thus, comparing the heroines in stories by Edgar Allan Poe and his wife Virginia, I have found out that their images are similar. Edgar Allan Poe used the memories about his wife, to create works. Thereby Virginia  is always alive in his stories. Thus, the hypothesis: The wife Virginia had the greatest influence on the formation of short stories by Edgar Allan Poe has been confirmed.