A Study of the Gothic Style of Allan Poe

A Study of the Gothic Style of Allan Poe

As the first true American Gothic writer, Edgar Allan Poe’s works don’t only inherit the traditional characters of Gothic style, but also develop and surpass the Gothic style in literature. From the aspect of inheritance, it can firstly be embodied in the selection of work and plot conception which all possess a clear-cut Gothic color. No matter horror fiction, science fiction, detective fiction or poems, most of Poe’s work seems to be involved with the myth of death, the instinct of life and death. Until the end of his life, Poe still created the works connected with death.

Secondly, Poe frequently uses the Gothic techniques for the creation of atmosphere. His story is gloomy and mysterious, and the readers can be easily caught in his nightmare description by his fantastic image, breathtaking accident, bright fantasy and stirring description. Poe’s work is the production of his imagination. The horrific and mysterious feeling which can easily catch the readers is largely due to his exact mastering in atmosphere and imagination description. There is a very light beginning in the story Arthur Gordon Pym, Pym slips out of his home, stays away from his beloved grandfather and hides himself in the bilge of ship in order to begin an exciting voyage with his friends. But later he received a blood letter from his good friend and a revolt happened on the ship, then encountered storm and a series of weird, horrific incident.

From the aspect of development, firstly, Poe internalizes the Gothic style in literature. Horror is generally caused by external environment and object in the former Gothic literature. But Poe’s horror comes from the inner heart. There are plenty of mental descriptions in his work. He describes human’s horror and anxiety, human;s fear and despair generated from the tricks of some unimaginable, unreasonable horrible power. He designs the circumstances where the narrator put himself in an extreme horror and anxiety state. Under the extreme state, the narrator can grt crazy even heard a very slight sound. Some critics state his works have a kind of poetic horror. Poe appreciates the desolate beauty of death and often shows his helpless in death and sometimes yearns for it. The word “death” has a magic power to him and it is painted heavily in his work.

Besides, Poe’s work is more credible than traditional Gothic literature which separate itself from authenticity for the abundant use of supernatural phenomenon, ghosts and monsters. While Poe is highly valued the authenticity in his work, he believes the plot is essential though it can’t go beyond the credible scope and the material he used must belong to the real life. Poe’s insisting on authenticity made him specially cherishing the depiction of detail, his subtle analysis and deliberate logic made the weirdness accident reasonable.