Romanticism: Washington Irving & Edgar Allan Poe - Essay Sample

Introduction

During the romantic era, the emotional feature of human beings was discovered and embraced. Many writers used different characters and rhetorical devices to express individual beliefs and human nature. Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe were well-known for their works of romanticism. Irving used a humorous tone using his setting and characters. On the other hand, Poe used a tone of despair to express the human condition. In Poe's novel, the ravel, he describes a gothic setting in a depressing December. The narrator seems to be in a lonely house with silken purple curtains rustling unsettling. Poe states "From my books surcease of sorrow, sorrow for the lost Lenore and nameless here for evermore" to intensify the darkness of the setting as the audience is provided an image of a melancholy man who is in a weakly lit library with books covered in dust. Poe uses words such as "Midnight Dreary"(1) and "ghost"(7) to stress the darkness of the setting. Likewise, Irving uses the same tone in his novel "The Devil and Tom Walker." The story is unfolding in a miserable forest some miles from Boston, Massachusetts. During this period, Boston was a town that was bursting of corruption. "There was a thickly wooded swamp in this forest." Tom Walker lived in a secluded area where "oaks of great and immense size grew" (Irving 180). According to the novel, Tom lived in a forlorn-looking house that set up alone and had poor ventilation. The house was surrounded by a few irregular savin trees where emblems of sterility grew close to it. At the end of the novel, Irving ends with the repercussions of corruption whereby Tom is ultimately whisked by the devil. All of his bonds and mortgages are condensed to cinders while his gold and silver are turned to chips and shavings. All of Tom's wealth which was acquired from corrupt deals is finished (188). According to Irving, those involved in corruption and acquiring material possessions using shortcuts will face the consequences for their actions. Poe and Irving use unique styles to provide their interpretations of human conditions. The two writers are different in their interpretations of corruption but provide a clear reality of human conditions (Goddu 45).

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Washington Irving was a prominent writer of American gothic horror. He was also a commentator and a well-known literary figure. His writing took place during a period when literary communities and publications were starting to develop. He incorporated his knowledge about human society and relationships into his literary work. In his early works, he wrote satirical comments on society through his letters. As the beginning of the nineteenth century, Irving played a primary role in the different literary movements such as in short story and the gothic short story. He facilitated the process and was also a part of it. He influenced other writers such as Hawthorne and Poe whose publications were done much later. Irving is a light romanticism writer. He uses this style in his description of the Catskill "mountains hues and shapes" (Irving 2). There are other light romantic features in the novel such as love of the land, people, good relations and nature. The good things that occurred in the past and were never present. This tactic was meant to criticize the industrial revolution.

Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe examined the conflict between good and evil, the psychological effects of guilt and sin as well as the madness and disorder of the human mind. However, their approach differed. Hawthorne was a moralistic and didactic narrator who examined the dark areas of the soul. He described his method to be revealing the reality of the human heart. He portrayed the degradation of the human being by using characters such as Roger Chillingworth of the scarlet letter who spiritually changes himself to a beast.

On the other hand, Poe identifies darkness in the human psyche. He portrays the repercussions of the evil of man by using an unreliable narrator who most of the time finally terrorized by his recognition of the fantastic works of his mind and the actual dreadfulness that lies in what human beings can do. He uses narrators such as "A Cask of Amontillado" who yell out in dreadful awareness (Dincer 220).

Hawthorne and Poe use symbolism in their works to express their themes. Hawthorne uses these symbols in his work: scarlet letters, poison bushes, black veils, and haunted houses which signify secret sin. Hawthorne and Poe used symbolism and metaphors to provide a sense of romanticism. In the custom-house section of the novel, he explains the room with the moonlight falling onto the Capet. The moon is described to be filtered by the window which is the use of reality and imagination. This is the core of romanticism. Like Poe Hawthorne also uses supernatural and mystery in his writings.

On the other hand, Poe uses Vulture eyes, catacombs, ravens, black cats, coffins, decaying mansions and harlequin costumes as a representation of the minds of his characters. Irving also uses symbolism in his work Rip Van Winkle. The story is humorous and the signs of sterility, decay and impotence symbolize the loss or surrender of manhood. Rip is an alcoholic who ends up drinking and falls asleep for 20 years. He exchanges his best years in life with a peaceful old age. While he was asleep, his friends fought in a war and created a new country. The supernatural feature in this story is the use of the light romantic approach. The sleep described in the story is an impossibility that cannot occur in reality.

Hawthorne and Poe use gothic bonds in their representation of the dark side of humanity. Though, Poe uses the conventions in a destabilized way as only human beings are the ones who craft the awful deeds. On the other hand, Hawthorne is traditional in his use of gothic conventions (Birkhead 56). The works of Hawthorne and Poe employs light or dark imagery. Hawthorne's work, The House of Seven Gables, thrives with this imagery. Poe also uses this imagery in his works such as The Raven and the house of Usher. In spite of this similarity, Poe and Hawthorne differ in their works. Poe stresses on the importance of his stories producing a singleness effect while Hawthorne's stories do not always use this specific style. Poe's stories are narrated in the first person to achieve a particular psychological outcome while the works of Hawthorne such as Rappacini's Daughter and Young Goodman Brown end with some uncertainty.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Irving uses his style of light romanticism in his writings. He is an optimistic writer who sees well in spite of the evil that human beings do. He searches the past to identify the values and good things that occurred in the past to seek for solutions. On the other hand, Hawthorne and Poe are Dark Romantics who view the world with pessimism in their works. Even though, Hawthorne and Poe use similar styles they are different in their use of symbols and their view of the world and humanity.

References

Birkhead, Edith. The tale of terror: a study of the gothic romance. The Floating Press, 2012.

Dincer, Figun. "The Light and Dark Romantic Features in Irving, Hawthorne And Poe." Journal of International Social Research 3.10 (2010).

Goddu, Teresa A. Gothic America: Narrative, history, and nation. Columbia University Press, 1997.

Irving, Washington. Rip Van Winkle: And Other Selected Stories. Macmillan, 1993.

Poe, Edgar Allan, Jan Sobota, and Jarmila Sobota. The Raven. Jan & Jarmila Sobota, 2002.