Abstract

Filled with goriness and darkness, this is the world Poe portrayed for us. As a short story writer, Poe is extremely talented in sending shivers down reader’s spine and keeping them wide awake even in the midnight. Edgar Allan Poe has been worldly considered as the master of horror fictions. He combined death with horror, presented a terrifying world through his meticulous descriptions. Nevertheless, we can still have a feeling of beauty in the world that he built for us. The aesthetics of death is found easily in Poe’s short stories especially his horror fictions. He created stories about life and death, dream and reality, soberness and madness, which bring a different sense of beauty to us.

Firstly, this paper will give a brief introduction to the aesthetics theory and the aesthetic of death. Afterwards, it will illustrate the creation conditions of Poe’s aesthetics of death and the reason why his aesthetics of death comes into being through the analysis of his age and his life experience. Later on, it will make a brief introduction about Poe’s aesthetic views on short stories.

    To make my statement clear, after the explanation of Poe and aesthetic theory, I will divide my opinion into two parts. In the first part, I will expatiate Poe’s special aesthetic perspectives through the analyze of the death elements in his short stories. In these stories, approaches to death can be split into: suicide, homicide, die of illness. Different approach to death reflects different aesthetic view of Poe. In the second part, I will share my discoveries about the themes, emotions that Poe wants to express to us. It finally comes to the conclusion that through Poe’s gripping, gory and macabre stories, we can also appreciate and enjoy a special kind of beauty. The treasure Poe leaves for us is really beyond measure.

Key words: Edgar Allen Poe; Death; Aesthetics; Short stories

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1  Introduction-1

2  Aesthetics theory and Edgar Allan Poe-3

2.1 Aesthetics theory-3

2.1.1 Aesthetic theory-3

2.1.2 Aesthetics of death-3

2.2 Edgar Allan Poe-4

2.2.1 Cultural background of Poe’s age-4

2.2.2 Poe’s life experience-6

2.2.3 Poe’s aesthetic views on short stories-7

3  Death，The unique viewpoint of beauty-10

3.1 Suicide-10

3.2 Homicide-11

3.3 Death due to illness-12

4  Beauty, the ultimate goal of death-13

4.1 The beauty of life-14

4.2 The beauty of moral-14

4.3 The beauty of rationality-15

4.4 The beauty of love-15

5  Conclusion-16

Bibliography-18

Acknowledgements-19