+--The Spectrum--+
I would fall closer to being a Dark Romantic than a Transcendentalist, but not by an exceeding amount. I believe some of the Dark Romantic ideas while rejecting others, and the same goes with the Transcendentalists. In short, I do not believe in original sin, I do not believe that everyone's thoughts are the voice of God, and I do not believe that every thought should be acted upon. However, I agree with the Transcendentalists in that with hard work and self-reliance, you can succeed and reap the benefits. I also agree with the Dark Romantics in that every thought in your head isn't be pure and wonderful and that there are corrupt people in the word.
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TASK TWO/THREE:
+--The Masque of the Red Death--+
1) Imagination
One major connection I've noticed between Dark Romantic authors is their attention to detail and elaboration on the bizarre. This is especially true with Poe. In the Masque of the Red Death, the metaphors are endless and I was constantly analyzing the different situations into meaningful symbols or ideas. One good example would be the description of the rooms.
"The seventh apartment was closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over the ceiling and down the walls, falling in heavy folds upon a carpet of the same material and hue."
Although seemingly realistic, the room descriptions prompted a sense of metaphor in me. One speculation I have is that each room represents different emotions or feelings. Kind of like those cheap mood rings you can buy that come with a list of different colors and their 'meanings'. (Generally, colors like blue are 'calm' while reds are 'angry'.) Another idea, spurred from one of Mr. Siegmund's, was that the rooms represent a passage of time--or a person's life--starting from the east to the west--or from birth to death (the last room, of course, is black).
In the few pieces of Poe's literature I've read, I've noticed there is always an object, or symbol, that represents something deeper. This object is usually unrealistic. In this case, I would mean the masked figure in The Masque of the Red Death. You would obviously need a good imagination to read about the masked figure, who is described as a corpse, because at the end his outfit turns out to be empty.
"...the revellers at once threw themselves into the black apartment, and, seizing the mummer, whose tall figure stood erect and motionless within the shadow of the ebony clock, gasped in unutterable horror at finding the grave-cerements and corpse-like mask which they handled with so violent a rudeness, untenanted by any tangible form."
2) Proof of Anti-Transcendentalism
There is a plethora of statements against the Transcendentalists concealed in this story (it seems to me that Poe had a very distinct way of proving them wrong). When Prince Prospero (a quite ironic name for him, really) took his people and fled from the Red Death, he eventually brought the end to them all. This is clearly a statement against Transcendentalist belief for these reasons: 1) Prospero followed his intuition but in the end it killed him.
2) Evil lurks everywhere; Prospero tried to hide away but he only ended up locking himself in with it.
When Poe describes the black room, I immediately thought that this could represent Prospero's 'grain of evil' (that Original Sin that the Dark Romantics believe in). This 'evil' ended up killing Prospero.
I'll use the ebony grandfather clock from the story as my last example. Poe, as a Dark Romantic, believes that Transcendentalists are fools for their belief in 'all good intuition and thoughts'. In the story, whenever the 'evil' clock chimes, the party would die down and everyone would appear worried and frightened. I believe that here, Poe was saying that even the Transcendentalists were worried of evil, simply because evil was everywhere.
"...there came from the brazen lungs of the clock a sound which was clear and loud and deep and exceedingly musical, but of so peculiar a note and emphasis that, at each lapse of an hour, the musicians of the orchestra were constrained to pause, momentarily, in their performance, to hearken to the sound; and thus the waltzers perforce ceased their evolutions; and there was a brief disconcert of the whole gay company; and, while the chimes of the clock yet rang, it was observed that the giddiest grew pale, and the more aged and sedate passed their hands over their brows as if in confused reverie or meditation."
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TASK FOUR:
+--The Raven--+
1) Imagination
As with most of Poe's writing, it's clear to see the different ways you must use your imagination while reading the piece. The raven is the best example in this story. There are many ideas and arguments about what the bird stands for:
1) It's a real raven that the character imagines talking to him because he's going crazy with grief
2) It's a figment of his imagination that represents his hopeless despair
3) It's a ghost or imagined demon come to depress him
4) It's a real bird that's actually talking to him
Any one of these would require a good deal of imagination to understand. The idea I chose to go with was number 2. In the character's misery and grief, he imagines an answer to all his questions. Will I ever see Lenore again? No. Will I ever feel better? No.
Perhaps then, if the raven is fictional, it represents more than answers to his questions. Maybe it represents his own beliefs. While trying to feel better, the main character's 'seed of evil' slowly takes over his mind and convinces him that his life will always be horrible. It just happens to take the form of a black bird because that is much more imaginative than the character sitting and talking to himself the entire poem.
"In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore.
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door -
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door -
Perched, and sat, and nothing more."
2) Proof of Anti-Transcendentalism
The evidence here for Anti-Transcendentalism is unmistakable. Poe uses the main character of the story as proof himself. In the beginning of the poem, the main character attempts to bury his fear of the tapping in the darkness by saying 'tis the wind and nothing more!' To me, this appears to be the character having dark thoughts of the unknown evils lurking outside his home--when he (as a representation of a Transcendentalist) should be assuming it's something good and harmless, like a visitor.
"Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before."
Then again, when the narrator is faced with the raven, he speculates that the bird is a gift from heaven to take away his sorrow and pain of the lost Lenore. Even when the bird says 'nevermore', the narrator still hangs on to hope, asking the raven if he will ever feel good or see Lenore again. Of course, the raven says, 'Nevermore'.
"`Wretch,' I cried, `thy God hath lent thee - by these angels he has sent thee
Respite - respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'"
"`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil!...
On this home by horror haunted - tell me truly, I implore -
Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'"
By the end of the poem, Poe is showing the reader that Transcendentalist beliefs are flawed and useless as the main character falls apart and gives up all hope. The raven represents all the doubt to his questions and hopes. His intuition, where as a Transcendentalist should soothe and guide him to feel better, ends up destroying and depressing him.
"And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore!"
