Answer to Question #190887 in English for Lawrence

Question

Discuss only the exposition stage of the plot structure of Edgar Allan Poe's "Eleonora"

Answer 1

Literary Analysis on “Eleonora” by Edgar Allan Poe Could anyone ever forget their first love, and live a happy life? Is it everlasting love or is it just for the moment? Edgar Allan Poe’s “Eleonora” published in 1852, is a short story that is quite different from his other works since it is unusual to see a happy ending in his stories. Poe is considered a dark, gothic writer; however, he gives a dreamlike, beatific touch to the overall magical atmosphere of the story. This story portrays Eleonora as a blissful human being and describes her as being the most beautiful woman. By looking at the author’s use of motifs (life, death, love, beauty) and literary devices, such as sublime, imagery, setting, and repetition he was able to interpret one.

According to Butler, it is the revival of a cherished one, signifying “that the romantic idealist may, mad though he be, finally achieve some success in his quest for a higher meaning” (Butler 4). Therefore, Butler explains how the possibility of one’s own reincarnation may lead to the narrator’s realization of his freedom which is given to him by his everlasting love, Eleonora. At the beginning of Poe’s short story, the narrator was not in love with Eleonora as he stated, “hand in hand about this valley, for fifteen years, roamed I with Eleonora before Love entered within our hearts” (Poe, par. 7). As soon as he falls in love with his cousin, he begins describing her as the most beautiful woman in the whole entire world and compares her to an angel symbolizing compassion and purity. Later throughout the story, Eleonora dies, leaving the narrator with lament and was left alone in the valley that becomes quite the opposite of “many-colored grass.” The narrator becomes fatigued by all the melancholy and relocated himself to a neighboring royal city where he establishes himself in court and loses himself to decadence (Chambers, par. 8) He is taken with a courtly lady, Ermengarde, and falls in love again.