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The Raven Research Paper

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Everyone knows Michael Jackson as the king of pop. Elvis Presley is famously the king of rock and roll. But what about gothic literature? Yes, even a genre of literature can have a throne. And who occupies that throne you may ask? Edgar Allen Poe, that’s who. Believed to have originated in Germany in the 1700s, gothic literature is the genre where the romantic movement found its home. It began with unrequited love stories ending in tragic suicide, then evolved into happily ever afters in France. Before hitting America, it went to England where elements of sorrow and dreariness mixed with the weather. In the mid 1800s, it made its final stop here, especially in the mind of the great Poe. He suffered greatly from depression, alcoholism, loss, poverty, and love. Every writer is a romantic to some extent, but it is the tragic nature of Poe’s romances that created the uniquely insane and terrifying characters in his work. Edgar Allen Poe was a hopeless romantic. He loved so many people in his lifetime. And because of the amount he’s loved, he’s lost quite a few lovers as well. “The Raven”, one of his more famous poems, is known for grief after losing a lost love. “Sorrow for the lost Lenore/For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore/nameless here for evermore” (29). This tale tells of a narrator who can’t handle the guilt of losing a person he appeared to love with all of his heart. He used to be so happy, but when he lost her, it appears he lost all company

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