爱伦·坡小说写作风格分析

齐星伟

摘 要：作為美国短篇小说之父，埃德加·爱伦·坡的文学成就毋庸置疑。他的文学作品对世界文学的发展影响深远。他的诗、小说、文学批评理论都是无价瑰宝。一生之中，他写了很多不同的小说。然而，他的短篇小说也存在着一些共性。本文意在通过这些共性来分析爱伦·坡短篇小说的写作手法。文章的第二章将依次阐述爱伦坡短篇小说的四个主要特点—象征、哥特、心理分析以及死亡主题。文章的第四章将着重介绍爱伦坡短篇小说的语言特点，以及他对中国乃至世界文学的影响。

关键词：德加·爱伦·坡;短篇小说;写作手法;语言特点

1. Introduction

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the greatest American novelist and poet， and also one of the most controversial in the 19th century. Poe’s works always involve death， murder and horror. Themes like these and techniques of his short stories are quite different from the American mainstream literature at that time. In his lifetime and for a long time after his death， Poe is misunderstood and repelled by the American literature circle. But now he is widely recognized as a genius writer who holds a unique position in the history of world literature. As the father of short story， Poe certainly deserves more credit than any other writers for the development of short story. Throughout his life， Poe writes considerably large amount of short stories which are quality works both in the value of originality and literary appreciation. He even invented the detective fiction genre. His short stories win him lots of admirers. His short stories are seemingly simple but bounds in meanings of many kinds. However versatile a writer Poe is， there are still many common features can be found in his works. The study of Poe has always been popular both at home and abroad. But， the research field is dominated by researchers using different approaches to interpret Poe and his works. Some of the studies are engaged in exploring the features of his short stories， which is consequential to my study. But most of them just focus on one part of it. The aim of this thesis is to summarize the general features of Poe’s short stories， so that the reader can get a better understanding of Poe’s writing style.

2. Writing Style of Poe’s Short Stories

It is his unique writing style that distinguishes Poe from other writers in the world. This chapter will commit to illustrating four main features of Poe’s short stories detailed with the analysis of some of his works.

2.1 Symbolism

As a master of Symbolism， the use of symbols is one of the most distinctive features of Poe’s short stories. His works are inclined to express the reason-less and unconscious world， which causes the animal image and the house image to appear repeatedly. And， Poe usually uses images like animal or houses as symbols to convey implied meaning. Symbolism applied in Poe’s stories strengthens the artistic effect and the symbolic meanings help the reader gain a deeper understanding of his intentions of creating such kind of short stories. The Masque of the Red Death is one typical example.

The Masque of the Red Death is a story about a prince and his followers trying to escape the plague. In this story， symbols are extremely important for the story and crucial for the establishment of the true meaning behind the story. There are at least three main elements in this story that can be seen as symbolism. The first and also the most conspicuous one is the masquerade. People generally use masquerades to hide their true identity. But here in this story， prince and his followers are not hiding from each other but death. Masquerade symbolizes their fear of death. The second is the color used in decorating the rooms. There are seven rooms and seven different colors. Different colors symbolize different stages of life. Blue， the color of first room may symbolize the beginning. Purple symbolizes corruption， a period of time in which the human life is corrupted by reality. Green， the third room， can be seen as growth. The last room is decorated with black， which can be viewed as death. The third symbol is the shrouded mummer which may symbolize death itself. The arrival of shrouded mummer brings the finale and symbolizes the end of one’s life. When the Princess enters the black room， he wants to defeat death but fails. This has established the main theme of the story： No matter who you are and no matter what you do， you can never escape death.

“Poe uses symbolism in most of his poetry and short stories in order to force the reader to see his views on life， religion， love， and death （Cui，2009）” Without symbolism， most of Poe’s short stories would merely be normal horror stories. This proves that symbolism is a useful device in the writing of literature.

2.2 Gothicism

Gothicism is a sub-genre of literature that prevails in the middle ages of Europe. It is usually bristled with violence， murder， revenge， rape， incest， or even with the presence of ghost， monster or some other supernatural phenomena. The atmosphere of such fictions is somber， mysterious， horrible and always filled with suspense （Xiao， 2001）. Unlike others’， Poe’s gothic stories are quite different. In contrast with the other Gothic writers， Poe deepens the connotation of Gothicism by exploring themes like death， revenge and morbid psyche. Poe intends to psychologize the Gothicism and tries to change the traditional Gothic relationship， in which the direction of terror averts from the outside to the inside， from setting to self. The characters are more likely to be the originator of terror rather than passive victims or witnesses of their appalling plight， while the circumstances are merely the products of their imaginative mind （Li， 2006）. To Poe， gothic is not just a literary genre but a way to explore the “terror of soul”.

The traditional Gothic settings includes places like the ruined castles and abbeys， murky crypts and fungous dungeons， dark passages and stairwells echoing with howls， groans and dripping charnel houses. From Gothic fiction of the English eighteenth century， Poe took the imagery of terror： the blighted oppressive countryside， the ancient house， the bleak walls—upon the vacant eye-like windows， and decayed trees （Carlson， 1987）. Gothicism is always crucial for the setting of Poe’s short stories. Looking from his works， it’s not difficult to find that Gothic architectures appear very often. Poe’s renowned short story The Fall of the House of Usher well exemplifies this. Reader can immediately feel a sense of terror from the introduction of house of usher.

“…I entered the Gothic archway of the hall…through many dark and intricate passages in my progress to the studio of his master. While the objects around me—while the carvings of the ceilings， the somber tapestries of the walls， the ebony  blackness of the floors…”（Poe，1992）.We can see from above that the detailed description immediately arouse a sense of terror inside the reader and ushers them into a terrified world created by Poe.

Things like dark hallway， black floor help Poe creates the terror atmosphere of the story and contribute to the gothic feature of his works. Gothicism is not of Poe’s invention but he contributes greatly to it. It is no doubt a useful device for the creation of horror story and one feature of Poe’s work.

2.3 The Recurrent Theme of Death

Despite the fact that Poe is a rather versatile storyteller， there is always one thing recurrent in almost all of his works， that is， the theme of death. Around sixty of Poe’s short stories contain the element of death （Li， 2004）. Death appears in the title， in the story， as implied meaning. Poe lost his parents when he was only two years old. The shadow of death has been haunted him ever since. His beloved wife， stepmother and some of his female friends all died very young which has quite a huge impact on him. This helps explain Poe’s obsession with death， especially the death of woman. It then is reflected on his short stories. Also due to his many encounters with death， he gains a profound understanding of death. Usually people associate death with terror. Therefore， it can help Poe build up the atmosphere of horror. More importantly， it reveals Poe's own attitude towards death. The Pit and the Pendulum would be a good case in point.

Death is the main theme of this story. In the first line of the story， I was sick unto death with that long agony" （Poe， 1992）， Poe immediately puts reader under the fear of death. An unnamed protagonist is caged in a cell with a gigantic pendulum and a crescent razor swinging slowly back and forth. The downward sway of pendulum will eventually kill him. The wall of the cell is moving inwards， driving him into the center of the room and towards the brink of a pit. The pit， the worst nightmare of the protagonist， could also kill him. The pit and the pendulum can all be seen as the tool of death. Pendulum is time which can bring death to everyone. While pit is the space to which a stifling and ever-contracting existence compels man. Here， Poe used a series of adverbs describing the sway of the pendulum --“Certainly"， "relentlessly"， "unceasingly"， "inevitably and presented the inexorable flux of time under whose control the individual is able to do nothing （Li，2004）.

This again tells readers that no one can ever escape death. In his other works Poe tries to explore death in different perspectives like the life after death. Death contributes greatly to the buildup of the horrific atmosphere and serves as catalyst to the development of the story and arouses the fear inside reader. Because it is based on his real life experience， so death appears in his works is very real and may cause reader to actually think about their life and death. Thus， except scaring people， through his portrayal of death readers may get a deeper understanding of death.

3. The Influence of Poe’s Writing Style

There is no arguing that Poe exerts greats influence on both the Chinese literature and world literature. Poe makes great contribution to the literature. As a short story writer， he invented the detective genre which is still thriving. And he reforms the writing of gothic fictions by exploring some of the new things and changes the traditional way of presenting terror.

3.1 The influence on Chinese literature

Zhou Zuoren is the first scholar introducing Poe into China. In 1905， He translated Poe's fiction Gold Bug into Chinese. Poe’s work is then introduced into China in anthology of foreign stories， which is translated by Lu Xun and his brother Zhou Zuoren in 1912. After the May 4th Movement in 1919， especially since the  Reformation and Opening-up， Poe’s poems， short stories and his many other works begin to be published in China. And relevant reviews and criticism on his works comes into being in succession. Poe exerts great influence on Chinese literature， especially his short stories. His theories about the unity of effect and symbolism have inspired lots of People. Horror fiction begins to flourish in China， since 21st century. Famous Chinese horror writers like Din Tian， Chen Gang are all admirers of Poe. Their novels well demonstrate Poe’s idea of the terror of soul. It also seems that they’ve employed Poe’s ways of presenting terror （Hu， 2008）. Even Lu Xun， the giant of Chinese literature is his admirer. Lu Xun loves Poe’s Golden Bug so much so that he sent it to his brother and then his brother published it in Chinese. And Lu Xun admitted that his early works are inspired by Poe. With a closer look ， we can find that the theme of death ，symbolism and physical deformity all appear very often in Lun Xun’s short stories as well. They may use similar artistic techniques. Though they may differ in aesthetic tastes and value orientation， they use similar artistic techniques.

3.2 The influence on World literature

The introduction of Poe’s works is much earlier in the western world. And， his influence on the world is much more profound. It is especially so in France. Poe is firstly rejected by the American literature circle， while French take him in with their warmest welcome. Poe’s idea of symbolism has great impact on French symbolism. Without Poe， the French Symbolist Movement might not have been what it was like. Poe's opinion and his practices of musicality in poetry have exerted so great an influence on French Symbolism that it becomes a general pursuit of the symbolists（Zhou，2004）.Among all his French followers， Baudelaire is the most famous. Baudelaire is a renowned French poet， art critic， and pioneering translator of Edgar Allan Poe’s works. But， He not only absorbs his idea but also further develops it into his key principle of symbolism. We can also find Poe’s influence on British Literature. Conan Doyle， the author of the world famous detective story Sherlock Holmes， once said that he always saw foot-marks of Poe in front of him. As the inventor of the detective fiction genre， Poe makes great contribution to the development of detective story. Other than Britain and France， countries like France， Japan are all under Poe’s strong influence. Literally， Poe has admirers all over the world.

4. Conclusion

Among all the writers in the world， perhaps no one deserves more credit than Edgar Allan Poe for the transformation of the short story. Poe’s short story is not only a huge success in itself but also the treasure of the world literature. His story is both innovative in content and techniques. Though rejected by the people for a long time， now with revaluation， more and more people will be introduced to Poe’s works. With the growing reputation of Poe， his short story exerts even greater influence on people from all over the world. Therefore， many people try to take after him. It certainly is a good thing in that people can learn many things from Poe. However， Poe can’t achieve his literature fame without the clever use of certain elements discussed above.

Just as D. H. Lawrence once said， “He [Poe] was an adventurer into vaults and horrible underground passages of the human soul （1973）.” With clever manipulation of words， Poe is able to take readers with into the dark side of human soul and society， exposing them to the harsh reality. In spite of all those tragedies in his life， he never gives up and stops his own pursuit of literary achievements and love. And， his perseverance eventually wins him an everlasting position in the history of world literature. Therefore， long after his death， his short stories remain highly popular.

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