When discussing his perceptions of romanticism in the preface to The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne speaks of a “neutral territory.” Hawthorne envisions the neutral territory as a dream-like state that exists between what is real and what is imagined. In the neutral territory, familiar, mundane objects transform and take on a foreign, mystical quality. It is through this mystical, romantic lens that Hawthorne finds the inspiration to write and to create. Hawthorne remarked that ". . . at such an hour, and with this scene before him, if a man, sitting all lone, cannot dream strange things, and make them look like truth, he need never try to write romances" (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/s/the-scarlet-letter/critical-essays/the-scarlet-letter-as-a-gothic-romance).
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From the initial “midnight dreary,” Poe goes on to describe the “quaint and curious” volumes of lore. Through the use of his carefully chosen descriptors, Poe succeeds in lending a magical quality to an everyday item. Further, Poe evokes a dreamlike Gothic mood through his description of the smoldering cinders. In Poe’s adept hands, ash is turned to a “separate dying ember” that “wrought its ghost upon the floor.” Even the movement of the curtains evokes fear in the reader when the masterful Poe describes their eidolic “uncertain …show more content…
For instance, the narrator thinks that the bird is Lenore or that mourning the death will never pass. The bird seems to repeat “nevermore” which is emulating the idea that there is never going to be anyone or anything to fill the void. The raven also causes the speaker to think a lot about where this bird came from and whether it is some kind of demon as evidenced in the line “thing of evil—prophet still, if bird or devil!“ He also ponders deep issues, such as the afterlife and the existence of God. This is evidenced when the narrator beseeches the raven “by that God we both adore” to tell him if he will “within the distant Aidenn” “clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name
From the initial “midnight dreary,” Poe goes on to describe the “quaint and curious” volumes of lore. Through the use of his carefully chosen descriptors, Poe succeeds in lending a magical quality to an everyday item. Further, Poe evokes a dreamlike Gothic mood through his description of the smoldering cinders. In Poe’s adept hands, ash is turned to a “separate dying ember” that “wrought its ghost upon the floor.” Even the movement of the curtains evokes fear in the reader when the masterful Poe describes their eidolic “uncertain …show more content…
For instance, the narrator thinks that the bird is Lenore or that mourning the death will never pass. The bird seems to repeat “nevermore” which is emulating the idea that there is never going to be anyone or anything to fill the void. The raven also causes the speaker to think a lot about where this bird came from and whether it is some kind of demon as evidenced in the line “thing of evil—prophet still, if bird or devil!“ He also ponders deep issues, such as the afterlife and the existence of God. This is evidenced when the narrator beseeches the raven “by that God we both adore” to tell him if he will “within the distant Aidenn” “clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name