The Oval Portrait by Edgar Allan Poe is a short, yet powerful story. It explores the ardour of an artist towards his art and his beloved wife. Both perhaps equally important to him but ultimately, passion for one takes over the other and destroys its rival.
The story captivates its reader’s attention from the first sentence itself and makes for an intriguing read; and much like other works of Edgar Allan Poe, it ends in tragedy as the reader is left reeling and fascinated by the enchanting tale. There’s a tense interaction between the images, symbols and words of the story and one single object ends up being the centre around which the whole story manages to revolve.
Examining this piece of work by Poe through the lens of liberal humanism without making it too facile would mean taking into consideration all the tenets of humanism theory.
So to begin with, let us consider what liberal humanism actually stands for. It is a philosophy that highlights the function and value of empirical knowledge and individual ideas; as opposed to relying on metaphysical or religious convictions. Liberal humanism isn’t limited to just secular thought, but the main idea is that liberal humanists are involved in supporting certain conditions which allows everyone to live as they like and make choices according to their own will rather than depending on external source.
The Oval Portrait is a timeless tale. It is viable for all ages across the universe and the fact that we’re reading this 174 years after its initial publication proves that there is no mortality attached to the story. It is still relevant and even relatable in today’s time; and to be very certain, this is definitely not an informative, scientific or autobiographical work. The characters are fictitious and so is the tale. It is enchanting and yet a little eerie, adding to the gothic, dark effect of the story. It is whole in itself and does not contain or require external contexts to make it relevant.
Human nature in this story is also very much unchanging. While the writing style and the events which take place are shocking and intriguing at the same time, the painter’s follies and the frenzy he gets in while trying to paint the perfect portrait of his wife results in the death of his lover. So while he is able to ultimately capture the essence and soul of his wife, into the painting, he ends up losing her. Taking one’s love for granted, passion turning into madness, loving someone unconditionally and recklessly enough to risk one’s own self etc., are all themes which had been used in stories before Poe and will be continued to be used in future stories as well.
This story also contains the essence of literature. It has characters which trigger certain events which lead to the progression of the story itself. Had the painter looked up once during his painting frenzy and realized that his wife was losing the colour from her cheeks just as he was painting them onto the portrait of hers, she would have been saved and sadly he didn’t and that led to the demise of his beloved.
The Oval Portrait is brief and still intriguing and makes the reader ask for more. It doesn’t attempt to provide a teaching or a lesson or even a moral. Rather, it explores the human condition and ardour which can turn into fanaticism. It is refined and polished and yet provides a raw, shocking ending. As it comes close to the end, it transcends from a mere short story to an absolutely immaculate piece of literature.
The story captivates its reader’s attention from the first sentence itself and makes for an intriguing read; and much like other works of Edgar Allan Poe, it ends in tragedy as the reader is left reeling and fascinated by the enchanting tale. There’s a tense interaction between the images, symbols and words of the story and one single object ends up being the centre around which the whole story manages to revolve.
Examining this piece of work by Poe through the lens of liberal humanism without making it too facile would mean taking into consideration all the tenets of humanism theory.
So to begin with, let us consider what liberal humanism actually stands for. It is a philosophy that highlights the function and value of empirical knowledge and individual ideas; as opposed to relying on metaphysical or religious convictions. Liberal humanism isn’t limited to just secular thought, but the main idea is that liberal humanists are involved in supporting certain conditions which allows everyone to live as they like and make choices according to their own will rather than depending on external source.
The Oval Portrait is a timeless tale. It is viable for all ages across the universe and the fact that we’re reading this 174 years after its initial publication proves that there is no mortality attached to the story. It is still relevant and even relatable in today’s time; and to be very certain, this is definitely not an informative, scientific or autobiographical work. The characters are fictitious and so is the tale. It is enchanting and yet a little eerie, adding to the gothic, dark effect of the story. It is whole in itself and does not contain or require external contexts to make it relevant.
Human nature in this story is also very much unchanging. While the writing style and the events which take place are shocking and intriguing at the same time, the painter’s follies and the frenzy he gets in while trying to paint the perfect portrait of his wife results in the death of his lover. So while he is able to ultimately capture the essence and soul of his wife, into the painting, he ends up losing her. Taking one’s love for granted, passion turning into madness, loving someone unconditionally and recklessly enough to risk one’s own self etc., are all themes which had been used in stories before Poe and will be continued to be used in future stories as well.
This story also contains the essence of literature. It has characters which trigger certain events which lead to the progression of the story itself. Had the painter looked up once during his painting frenzy and realized that his wife was losing the colour from her cheeks just as he was painting them onto the portrait of hers, she would have been saved and sadly he didn’t and that led to the demise of his beloved.
The Oval Portrait is brief and still intriguing and makes the reader ask for more. It doesn’t attempt to provide a teaching or a lesson or even a moral. Rather, it explores the human condition and ardour which can turn into fanaticism. It is refined and polished and yet provides a raw, shocking ending. As it comes close to the end, it transcends from a mere short story to an absolutely immaculate piece of literature.
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