Why should you read Edgar Allan Poe? - Scott Peeples
-
0:07 - 0:11A high forehead topped
by disheveled black hair, -
0:11 - 0:13a sickly pallor,
-
0:13 - 0:17and a look of deep intelligence
and deeper exhaustion -
0:17 - 0:20in his dark, sunken eyes.
-
0:20 - 0:24Edgar Allan Poe’s image
is not just instantly recognizable – -
0:24 - 0:27it’s perfectly suited to his reputation.
-
0:27 - 0:31From the prisoner strapped
under a descending pendulum blade, -
0:31 - 0:35to a raven who refuses
to leave the narrator’s chamber, -
0:35 - 0:39Poe’s macabre and innovative stories
of gothic horror -
0:39 - 0:43have left a timeless mark on literature.
-
0:43 - 0:46But just what is it that makes
Edgar Allan Poe -
0:46 - 0:49one of the greatest American authors?
-
0:49 - 0:52After all, horror was a popular
genre of the period, -
0:52 - 0:54with many practitioners.
-
0:54 - 1:00Yet Poe stood out thanks to his
careful attention to form and style. -
1:00 - 1:02As a literary critic,
-
1:02 - 1:06he identified two cardinal rules
for the short story form: -
1:06 - 1:08it must be short enough
to read in one sitting, -
1:08 - 1:12and every word
must contribute to its purpose. -
1:12 - 1:13By mastering these rules,
-
1:13 - 1:16Poe commands the reader’s attention
-
1:16 - 1:20and rewards them with an intense
and singular experience – -
1:20 - 1:23what Poe called the unity of effect.
-
1:23 - 1:27Though often frightening,
this effect goes far beyond fear. -
1:27 - 1:32Poe’s stories use violence and horror
to explore the paradoxes and mysteries -
1:32 - 1:33of love,
-
1:33 - 1:34grief,
-
1:34 - 1:35and guilt,
-
1:35 - 1:39while resisting simple interpretations
or clear moral messages. -
1:39 - 1:42And while they often hint
at supernatural elements, -
1:42 - 1:46the true darkness they explore
is the human mind -
1:46 - 1:49and its propensity for self-destruction.
-
1:49 - 1:52In “The Tell-Tale Heart,”
a ghastly murder -
1:52 - 1:56is juxtaposed with the killer’s
tender empathy towards the victim – -
1:56 - 1:59a connection that soon
returns to haunt him. -
1:59 - 2:03The title character of "Ligeia"
returns from the dead -
2:03 - 2:06through the corpse
of her husband’s second wife – -
2:06 - 2:10or at least the opium-addicted
narrator thinks she does. -
2:10 - 2:12And when the protagonist
of “William Wilson” -
2:12 - 2:16violently confronts a man
he believes has been following him, -
2:16 - 2:20he might just be staring
at his own image in a mirror. -
2:20 - 2:23Through his pioneering use
of unreliable narrators, -
2:23 - 2:26Poe turns readers into active participants
-
2:26 - 2:29who must decide when a storyteller
might be misinterpreting -
2:29 - 2:33or even lying about the events
they’re relating. -
2:33 - 2:36Although he’s best known
for his short horror stories, -
2:36 - 2:39Poe was actually one of the most versatile
-
2:39 - 2:42and experimental writers
of the nineteenth century. -
2:42 - 2:45He invented the detective story
as we know it, -
2:45 - 2:47with “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,”
-
2:47 - 2:50followed by “The Mystery of Marie Roget”
-
2:50 - 2:52and “The Purloined Letter.”
-
2:52 - 2:55All three feature
the original armchair detective, -
2:55 - 2:57C. Auguste Dupin,
-
2:57 - 3:02who uses his genius and unusual powers
of observation and deduction -
3:02 - 3:04to solve crimes that baffle the police.
-
3:04 - 3:08Poe also wrote satires of social
and literary trends, -
3:08 - 3:12and hoaxes that in some cases
anticipated science fiction. -
3:12 - 3:15Those included an account of
a balloon voyage to the moon, -
3:15 - 3:19and a report of a dying patient
put into a hypnotic trance -
3:19 - 3:22so he could speak from the other side.
-
3:22 - 3:27Poe even wrote an adventure novel
about a voyage to the South Pole -
3:27 - 3:29and a treatise on astrophysics,
-
3:29 - 3:31all while he worked as an editor,
-
3:31 - 3:36producing hundreds of pages
of book reviews and literary theory. -
3:36 - 3:40An appreciation of Poe’s career
wouldn’t be complete without his poetry: -
3:40 - 3:42haunting and hypnotic.
-
3:42 - 3:46His best-known poems are songs of grief,
or in his words, -
3:46 - 3:50“mournful and never-ending remembrance.”
-
3:50 - 3:54“The Raven,” in which the speaker
projects his grief onto a bird -
3:54 - 3:56who merely repeats a single sound,
-
3:56 - 3:58made Poe famous.
-
3:58 - 4:00But despite his literary success,
-
4:00 - 4:02Poe lived in poverty
throughout his career, -
4:02 - 4:06and his personal life was often
as dark as his writing. -
4:06 - 4:09He was haunted by the loss of his mother
and his wife, -
4:09 - 4:13who both died of tuberculosis
at the age of 24. -
4:13 - 4:15Poe struggled with alcoholism
-
4:15 - 4:18and frequently antagonized
other popular writers. -
4:18 - 4:24Much of his fame came from posthumous –
and very loose – adaptations of his work. -
4:24 - 4:28And yet, if he could’ve known
how much pleasure and inspiration -
4:28 - 4:33his writing would bring to generations
of readers and writers alike, -
4:33 - 4:38perhaps it may have brought
a smile to that famously brooding visage.
- Title:
- Why should you read Edgar Allan Poe? - Scott Peeples
- Speaker:
- Scott Peeples
- Description:
-
The prisoner strapped under a descending pendulum blade. A raven who refuses to leave the narrator’s chamber. A beating heart buried under the floorboards. Poe’s macabre and innovative stories of gothic horror have left a timeless mark on literature. But just what is it that makes Edgar Allan Poe one of the greatest American authors? Scott Peeples investigates. Lesson by Scott Peeples, directed by Compote Collective.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 04:53
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