Abstract

 Edgar Allan Poe is one of the pioneers of American Romanticism. He is also among the most representative poets in the history of American literature. His poems embody his unique theory of aesthetics, which is very much reflected in one of his most well-known poems---The Raven. By fully understanding The Raven, readers are able to understand its aesthetic value as well as get a glimpse of Poe's aesthetic thought. This essay explores Poe's aesthetic thought expressed in The Raven by concentrating on its musical effect, dramatic features and painting beauty. Its musical effect is mainly revealed by sound, rhyme, and rhythm while dramatic features are embodied in the depiction of dramatic conflicts, dramatic actions and dramatic language and painting beauty can be seen in the spacial design, images,and perceived setting.

     The first chapter of the thesis is divided into three parts. The first part is a brief introduction of Edgar Allan Poe, which contains his career, major works and writing background and so on. The second part is a generation of Poe's aestheticism by referring to some of his major works.The third part pays attention to The Raven itself, giving a simple presentation of its content, analyzing its poetic characteristics and meaning. The second chapter is the literature review about Edgar Allan Poe and his poem The Raven consisting of information and materials from both home and abroad. Furthermore, the third chapter explores the musical effect in the poem,discussing how the poet reinforced the sound, rhyme and rhythm. The fourth chapter inquires into the psychological change of the hero and the development of plots to illustrate the dramatic features. And the fifth chapter reproduces the painting beauty in the poetry mostly based on the portrayal of space, images and setting.

     At last, The essay points out The Raven is the best illustration of Edgar Allan Poe's aesthetic theory. Readers can get a chance to probe into the inside of the poet and his aesthetic thought as well as improve their literary appreciation ability. 

Key words:  Allan Poe; The Raven; musical effect; dramatic features; painting beauty

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1  Introduction-1

1.1 Edgar Allan Poe-1

1.2 Poe’s Aesthetic Thought in Poetry-2

1.3 The Creation of The Raven-3

2  Literature Review-4

2.1 Studies on Edgar Allan Poe and The Raven Abroad-4

2.2 Studies on Edgar Allan Poe and The Raven at Home-5

3  The Music Effect in The Raven-7

   3.1 Sound-7

   3.2 Rhyme-8

   3.3 Rhythm-9

4  The Dramatic Features in The Raven-11

4.1 Dramatic Conflict-11

4.2 Dramatic actions-12

4.3 Dramatic language-13

5  The Beauty of Panting in The Raven-15

5.1 Spacial design-15

5.2 Images-16

5.3 Perceived setting-17

6  Conclusion-19

Bibliography-20

Acknowledgments-22