On the Aesthetics of Death in Edgar Allan Poe’s Short Stories_英语论文

摘要

爱伦·坡为我们描绘的世界充满着黑暗与血淋淋的景象。作为一个短篇小说作家，他有着让读者读完他的文章后脊背发凉，甚至到深夜也辗转难眠的本领。爱伦·坡是世界级的恐怖小说大师，他将死亡与恐怖结合在一起，通过细致的描绘，勾勒出一个恐怖的世界，然而就是在这样一个世界里，我们依然能感受到美的味道。我们能够轻易地在爱伦·坡的文章中找到死亡美学的踪迹，他笔下是关于生与死，梦与现实，清醒与疯狂的故事，这些故事带给我们一种与众不同的美学体验。

本论文首先将对美学概念及死亡美学进行简短的介绍。随后，将通过对爱伦·坡生活的时代，人生的经历的分析来阐述爱伦·坡死亡美学思想产生的条件及原因，接着，将对爱伦·坡对于短篇小说的美学思想进行简短的介绍。

为了让陈述更加的清楚，在对爱伦·坡与死亡美学的介绍后，我将接着从两部分来论述我的观点：第一部分，分析爱伦·坡短篇小说中的死亡主题。爱伦·坡小说中的死亡主题可大致分为三种类型：自杀，他杀和病故。不同的死亡途径的描绘与反应主题各有不同，因此将分别展开讨论。第二部分，分析爱伦·坡通过死亡主题体现出的美学观点。最后，将总结全文关于爱伦·坡作品的论述。

关键词：埃德加·爱伦·坡 死亡 美学 短篇小说

Abstract

Filled with goriness and darkness, this is the world Poe portrayed for us. As a short story writer, Poe is extremely talented in sending shivers down reader’s spine and keeping them wide awake even in the midnight. Edgar Allan Poe has been worldly considered as the master of horror fictions. He combined death with horror, presented a terrifying world through his meticulous descriptions. Nevertheless, we can still have a feeling of beauty in the world that he built for us. The aesthetics of death is found easily in Poe’s short stories especially his horror fictions. He created stories about life and death, dream and reality, soberness and madness, which bring a different sense of beauty to us.

Firstly, this paper will give a brief introduction to the aesthetics theory and the aesthetic of death. Afterwards, it will illustrate the creation conditions of Poe’s aesthetics of death and the reason why his aesthetics of death comes into being through the analysis of his age and his life experience. Later on, it will make a brief introduction about Poe’s aesthetic views on short stories.

To make my statement clear, after the explanation of Poe and aesthetic theory, I will divide my opinion into two parts. In the first part, I will expatiate Poe’s special aesthetic perspectives through the analyze of the death elements in his short stories. In these stories, approaches to death can be split into: suicide, homicide, die of illness. Different approach to death reflects different aesthetic view of Poe. In the second part, I will share my discoveries about the themes, emotions that Poe wants to express to us. It finally comes to the conclusion that through Poe’s gripping, gory and macabre stories, we can also appreciate and enjoy a special kind of beauty. The treasure Poe leaves for us is really beyond measure.

Key words: Edgar Allen Poe; Death; Aesthetics; Short stories 

Contents

1  Introduction 1

2  Aesthetics theory and Edgar Allan Poe 3

2.1 Aesthetics theory 3

2.1.1 Aesthetic theory 3

2.1.2 Aesthetics of death 3

2.2 Edgar Allan Poe 4

2.2.1 Cultural background of Poe’s age 4

2.2.2 Poe’s life experience 6

2.2.3 Poe’s aesthetic views on short stories 7

3  Death，The unique viewpoint of beauty 10

3.1 Suicide 10

3.2 Homicide 11

3.3 Death due to illness 12

4  Beauty, the ultimate goal of death 13

4.1 The beauty of life 14

4.2 The beauty of moral 14

4.3 The beauty of rationality 15

4.4 The beauty of love 15

5  Conclusion 16

Bibliography 18

Acknowledgements 19