Symbolism In Poe's The Raven By Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe is an old world author with a reputation for entertaining the macabre in most of his works.

Poe composed a body of work when his wife Virginia was very ill with tuberculosis. This unhappy circumstance influenced the composition and tone of

The Raven.

As a result, Edgar Allan Poe’s

The Raven is a psychological experience that evokes a gothic tone through his artful use of symbolism, supernaturalism, and refrain. A reader of poetry interprets verse based on his or her personal experience and knowledge, and yet, Poe is able to guide the reader’s understanding of his work through the use of a fixed set of beliefs about symbolism existing within the mind of the reader. Ravens often appear in literature, mythology, and folklore as an “ill omen” (Edwards,

Milton’s Reformed Animals

, 285). For that reason, when Poe first introduces his audience to the raven as it flies in through the opened window of the student’s room, the audience senses a gothic scene.

The raven perches upon a bust of Pallas, another name for Athena - the Greek goddess of innocence, purity, and wisdom – contributing further imagery that substantiates the virtue of the raven’s message. The idea that the raven is pure and to be trusted is a repeated theme throughout the poem as the student continually implores the bird to provide divined information. In his essay

Laughing at Fear

, Paul Lewis, an English Professor from

Boston College, finds similarity between the student in the poem and the reader, stating that both initially

“laugh at fear” and find themselves “deeper into horror and puzzlement” because of the way that Poe manipulates the tone of the poem through this use of symbolism (413). Like the symbolism prevalent in

The

Raven

, supernaturalism is ...

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...spaired of any end to his grief and resigned to his miserable fate, the student comes to the realization that his soul – captured in the shadow of the demon raven, will never be free (Poe,

The Raven

, 2-5). Poe uses the refrains “...and nothing more” and “Nevermore” as a means to highlight the students clash of emotion in the mind of the reader.

Edgar Allan Poe did not invent gothic poetry – he perfected it. Reputed for his skill at evoking the more grisly side of one’s imagination, Poe drew on the darkness from within his own state of depression to create works that ask the reader to believe in the unbelievable. In

The Raven

, Poe expertly uses symbolic imagery, paranormal specters, and repetition of theme to induce a gloomy and dark tone. The result is a literary work that has captured the imagination of millions and asked each reader to explore their own inner dem