Allegory, Symbolism, and Madness †Comparing the Demons of Edgar Allan

Allegory, Symbolism, and Madness – Comparing the Demons of Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne As contemporaries of each other, Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne endeavored to write about man’s dark side, the supernatural influence, and moral truths. Each writer saw man as the center-point in his stories; Poe sees man’s internal struggle as madness, while Hawthorne sees man as having a â€Å"secret sin.† Each had their reasons for writing in the Gothic format. Poe was not a religious man; he was well educated and favored reading the German Gothic literature, which would become the basis for his own writing. Hawthorne on the other hand, called on his Puritan-Calvinistic background to influence his writing style. Along with his formal education, and his self-imposed solitary time, that he spent reading and observing nature. Poe’s writing allows the reader to observe man’s thoughts and behaviors from within his mind and demonstrates how his behavior influences his surroundings. As opposed to Hawthorne’s writing, where a man’s behavior is affected from outside influences, as such, placing him in settings that will manipulate his emotional and mental behavior in an effort to deliver a moral theme. Each author would write their own version of a Gothic tale that would spin the reader’s imagination into places it might not otherwise go. The mechanics of Gothic fiction contain two key aspects, the first is allegory, and the second is the use of symbol. Poe and Hawthorne each utilized these two distinct styles of Gothic writing. Poe would favor the use of symbols in his writing while Hawthorne depended strongly on the use of allegory to create his tales. James K. Folsom describes Hawthorne’s use o... ...still be tantalized by the descriptive language of haunted woods, and ornately morbid houses. Readers of this style of fiction will always be intrigued by Poe’s internal demons and Hawthorne’s external demons. Works Cited Baym, Nina, general ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 6th ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 2003. Folsom, James K. Man’s Accidents and god’s Purposes: Multiplicity in Hawthorne’s Fiction. CT: College and UP, 1963. Haggerty, George E. Gothic Fiction/Gothic Form. PA: Penn State UP, 1988. Lloyd-Smith, Allan. â€Å"Nineteenth-Century American Gothic.† A Companion to the Gothic. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. Ringe, Donald A. American Gothic. Lexington: UP of Kentucky, 1982. Savoy, Eric. â€Å"The rise of American Gothic.† Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction. 2002. Voss, Arthur. The American Short Story. OK: U of Oklahoma P, 1973. Allegory, Symbolism, and Madness – Comparing the Demons of Edgar Allan Allegory, Symbolism, and Madness – Comparing the Demons of Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne As contemporaries of each other, Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne endeavored to write about man’s dark side, the supernatural influence, and moral truths. Each writer saw man as the center-point in his stories; Poe sees man’s internal struggle as madness, while Hawthorne sees man as having a â€Å"secret sin.† Each had their reasons for writing in the Gothic format. Poe was not a religious man; he was well educated and favored reading the German Gothic literature, which would become the basis for his own writing. Hawthorne on the other hand, called on his Puritan-Calvinistic background to influence his writing style. Along with his formal education, and his self-imposed solitary time, that he spent reading and observing nature. Poe’s writing allows the reader to observe man’s thoughts and behaviors from within his mind and demonstrates how his behavior influences his surroundings. As opposed to Hawthorne’s writing, where a man’s behavior is affected from outside influences, as such, placing him in settings that will manipulate his emotional and mental behavior in an effort to deliver a moral theme. Each author would write their own version of a Gothic tale that would spin the reader’s imagination into places it might not otherwise go. The mechanics of Gothic fiction contain two key aspects, the first is allegory, and the second is the use of symbol. Poe and Hawthorne each utilized these two distinct styles of Gothic writing. Poe would favor the use of symbols in his writing while Hawthorne depended strongly on the use of allegory to create his tales. James K. Folsom describes Hawthorne’s use o... ...still be tantalized by the descriptive language of haunted woods, and ornately morbid houses. Readers of this style of fiction will always be intrigued by Poe’s internal demons and Hawthorne’s external demons. Works Cited Baym, Nina, general ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 6th ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 2003. Folsom, James K. Man’s Accidents and god’s Purposes: Multiplicity in Hawthorne’s Fiction. CT: College and UP, 1963. Haggerty, George E. Gothic Fiction/Gothic Form. PA: Penn State UP, 1988. Lloyd-Smith, Allan. â€Å"Nineteenth-Century American Gothic.† A Companion to the Gothic. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. Ringe, Donald A. American Gothic. Lexington: UP of Kentucky, 1982. Savoy, Eric. â€Å"The rise of American Gothic.† Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction. 2002. Voss, Arthur. The American Short Story. OK: U of Oklahoma P, 1973.