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Analysis of Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven Essay

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Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most well-known gothic writers around. He has written many form of writing from poems to short stories. One of his most famous narrative poems is “The Raven.” There are many reasons to read the “The Raven.” One reason to read the poem is because it is a classic. Secondly, reading “The Raven” can give sight to Poe’s thoughts and feelings towards his life. Thirdly, the poem is a good example of the mind set of someone who has faced a loss. Another reason would be that the poem can represent trochaic octameter form. It can also represent narrative poem form. Of these reasons, the most important one is that it is a poetic classic. The main reason to read “The Raven” is simply because it is a classic, which means …show more content…

He married Virginia in 1836 and it is believed that the couple lived very happily together. Alas, in1847, Virginia passed away due to a case of tuberculosis, which is what claimed the lives of his mother and foster mother the years before. Poestories.com states in the article titled “The Biography of Edgar Allan Poe”, “After losing his wife, Poe collapsed from stress but gradually returned to health later that year” (“Biography of Edgar…”). For the next two years, Poe tried starting a relationship with a married woman, Nancy Richmond, but she did not share the same feelings. He attempted to marry Sarah Helen Whitman, but the engagement did not last. He finally became engaged again to his previous fiancée, Elmira Royster, but disappeared shortly after. Many of Poe’s best works are based on the loss of a loved one, especially a woman. “The Raven” is a prime example of this and is also a good example of the things that can happen to a person’s sanity after a loss that great. The poem is a must read for a poetic look at hallucinations. Hallucinations are occurrences that happen inside the mind but not in reality. “The Raven” shows the narrator experiencing, what seems to be, a hallucination. Jake Fling explains in his article, “The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe Literary Analysis”, “He [the narrator] is “weak and weary” (par 1), in a debilitated state, and mentally unable to do much of anything at this point”

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