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Edgar Allan PoeA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
The story’s title and the focus of its action and imagery all point to the symbolic significance of the eponymous oval portrait. The description of the portrait’s remarkably lifelike expression is a clue to what the portrait represents: the attempt of art to capture life “realistically.” The frame narrator’s reaction to the painting demonstrates that this attempt is unsuccessful; his discomfort may contribute to an “uncanny valley” effect. Rather than capturing the spark of his wife’s life to create an immortal version of her beauty, the painter has created an off-putting near-copy that disturbs instead of uplifts the viewer.
The painting is a vignette—a portrait painted without a border. Since the image of the painter’s wife is borderless, the gold frame that houses the painting functions as its border, much as the frame narrative “houses” the story of the painter and his wife. This points out the symbolic significance of the gold border—and thus of the frame narrative—as well. The effects of both the portrait and the story depend upon the presence of an audience, something outside of the painting and the story that can contain their meanings.
By Edgar Allan Poe
A Dream Within a Dream
A Dream Within a Dream
Edgar Allan Poe
Annabel Lee
Annabel Lee
Edgar Allan Poe
Berenice
Berenice
Edgar Allan Poe
Hop-Frog
Hop-Frog
Edgar Allan Poe
Ligeia
Ligeia
Edgar Allan Poe
Tamerlane
Tamerlane
Edgar Allan Poe
The Black Cat
The Black Cat
Edgar Allan Poe
The Cask of Amontillado
The Cask of Amontillado
Edgar Allan Poe
The Conqueror Worm
The Conqueror Worm
Edgar Allan Poe
The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
Edgar Allan Poe
The Fall of the House of Usher
The Fall of the House of Usher
Edgar Allan Poe
The Gold Bug
The Gold Bug
Edgar Allan Poe
The Haunted Palace
The Haunted Palace
Edgar Allan Poe
The Imp of the Perverse
The Imp of the Perverse
Edgar Allan Poe
The Lake
The Lake
Edgar Allan Poe
The Man of the Crowd
The Man of the Crowd
Edgar Allan Poe
The Masque of the Red Death
The Masque of the Red Death
Edgar Allan Poe
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
Edgar Allan Poe
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket
Edgar Allan Poe
The Philosophy of Composition
The Philosophy of Composition
Edgar Allan Poe