愛倫坡小說里的女性

Abstract：Edgar Allan Poe，a writer of a Romanism，is well-known for his grotesque and grim style of writing.

In most of his grotesque and grim works，describing females is his major method to express his own emotion.All of these women usually have a perfect appearance and passionate character，but are afflicted with mysterious illness.It is a conventional means of voicing feeling for Allan Poe to describe the heroes' deep pain and their yearning for the beautiful heroines.

This thesis will introduce Allan Poe's legendary life and analyze the features of the females in his life and works under the background of the United States at Edgar Allan Poe's times.And this thesis will describe of his denial of the patriarchy.

Key words：Edgar Allan Poe females dependence on mother patriarchy

中圖分類號：I025 文獻標志碼：A 文章編號：1674-9324（2013）03-0272-02

Introduction

This thesis will introduce Allan Poe's legendary life and the women in his life.Then under the analysis of the features of females in Poe's life，the thesis will explore the females' influence in some of his works which lead to Allan Poe's compelling and denial of patriarchy.

This thesis will be divided into three chapters；the first chapter will analyze the women in Poe's life.The second chapter will introduce the women in Poe's works.In chapter three the author will explore the common feature of the women in Poe's works by analyzing the women in his works.

1 Chapter One Women in Poe's life

1.1 The females in Poe's life

Poe's young wife，this little girl，succumbed to tuberculosis.Virginia's death gave rise to Poe's creation of “Annabel Lee”（May，1849），his second best poem to The Raven.It is easy to see that Poe was greatly shaken and distraught by his young wife's early death，his young wife was the only one “exclusive to him，who belonged to him wholly and entirely”.After the death of his wife Virginia Poe，as an “unreliable and drunken”suitor，Edgar Allan Poe courted many women.This can be seen in poems written in his later years which were addressed to specific women：Fanny，Osgood，Marie Louise Shew，Helen Whiteman，and Annie Richmond，to name a few.Among these women，special attention should firstly be paid to Annie Richmond，with whom Poe had a “passionate but Platonic romance.”

He also began another courtship with the widow Sarah Elmira Shelton，who，as Sarah Elmira Royster，had been forbidden to see him so long ago.She was surprised but not unattracted by Poe's charm.Six days later a compositor for the Baltimore Sun found a ragged and unconscious man lying on the pavement.After four days of delirium in the alcoholic ward of the Washington Memorial Hospital，the poet，clearly more seriously ill than drunk，died.

2 Chapter Two Woman in Poe's works

2.1 Introduction of To Helen

Jane inspired Poe to write “To Helen”（1831）.It seems that Edgar Allan Poe considers this lady Jane Stanard to be his first love and probably it is also the most passionate，innocent and pure love in his life.Poe's choice of the name“Helen”may also be the proof of this first love.

Another woman worthy of attention is Helen Whiteman.Though a married woman，Helen's relationship with Poe was tolerated by her husband.But they still did not end up together.This Helen Whiteman is the Helen who inspired Poe to write “To Helen”（1848）.

Apart from the romantic sides of Edgar Allan Poe's curiosity with womanhood，there is also a darker side to it.Throughout his life，Edgar Allan Poe was rejected by his fellow writers.This situation enhanced Poe's yearning for “beauty and hope”which his “ideal female”represents.

3 Chapter Three Denial of the patriarchy

There is another feature in Poe's works，that is，denial of the patriarchy，which is move prominently revealed in The Fall of the House of Usher.According to describe the death of Madeline in this story，we may say that the narrator is a representative of patriarchal society，and Madeline is a female who is oppressed and denied out of patriarchal language by the center of patriarchal society.On the other hand Roderick embodies a role that tries his best to confront and explains the ideology that “seemingly two parts are actually one man”.

Madeline embodies Allan Poe's affirmation of feminism，that is，he thinks positively Madeline's trial to fight against the old system that suppresses her.But under the control of Roderick and the narrator，actually two representations of patriarchal society，Madeline's pursuit can only be buried.But，Madeline returns in a stormy night.This shows her denial of patriarchal.

These factors that led to Edgar Allan Poe's denied patriarchy，that is，absence of mother in his life.And then some details go to the images of women in his writings.Controversial as Poe is as a literary figure，he is emigration as he could actually join together to opposite side，dependent of mother and the denial of patriarchy.This is only makes Poe more profound.For some，there is a lot more to study about Edgar Allan Poe.

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