Women In Edgar Allan Poe's Real Life And Major "Death Of Beauty' Tales

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the greatest writers of American literature in the 19th century. In "The Philosophy of Composition", he firstly proposed the idea of "Death of Beauty". He thinks if the melancholy is the most legitimate of all the poetical tones, then the "Death of beauty" is the most melancholy in the world. This theme runs through most of his poetry and short stories.This thesis connects Poe's aesthetic view with Poe's real tragic life. First, it attempts to explore the influence of women on Edgar Allan Poe's real life as well as on the creation of the heroine images. Since childhood, Poe had been suffering from abandonment, especially from women. Poe's birth mother Elizabeth, foster mother Frances Allan, first love Mrs. Jane Stitch Stanard, and wife Virginia Clemm all died in their young ages. Women influence not only Poe's life, but also his writing style and themes. The themes of many his tales are related to women, especially the beautiful dying young women. These women are always the portrayals of Poe's lost beloved ones. Then, in the next three chapters try to analyze the heroine images related to this theme as well as their connections with the real women in Poe's life in Poe's three major tales:"Ligeia", "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "Eleonor'd respectively. The last chapter is a conclusion which will be based on the changing of Poe's attitude towards women in the tales as well as projecting the real ones in his life from three aspects:the Poe's aesthetic view, the incest, the transformation of scene. Namely, in "Ligeia", the male protagonist has witnessed the death of Ligeia; in "The Fall of the House of Usher" the male hero chooses to die together with Madeline; in "Eleonora" although male protagonist showed the sadness and nostalgia to the Eleonora's death, he still chooses to re-live together with the second lover Ermengarde. In "Ligeia" and "The Fall of the House of Usher", the heroines die and live again for revenge on the heroes. However, in "Eleonora", the heroine lives again to forgive the hero's second marriage with the new love. The changes of the heroines in the three tales mirror Poe's attitude changes towards the women in his different stage in his life. And with the variations of the scenes in the tales, we can explore the eagerness that Poe want to walk out the confinement of the sad memories, the forgiveness of the lost lovers, and Poe's wanting to face the reality and get the rebirth in seeking the new love.