"Berenice" by Edgar Allen Poe
Michael Morrison
Morrison Marketing
Review of the work of Edgar Allen Poe
This is by far the most disturbing short story that I have ever read. Published in 1835 It goes into deep meaning and shallow consciousness. The feeling of the story strikes a deep nerve at sounding so believable. The suffering of the character Egaeus is similar to Poe's experience and I see Poe in him so vividly. The birth of Egaeus in the library itself is a representation of the pursuit of knowledge. Poe proceeds several times to show us that this man is quite the intellectual recluse. He goes over his anti-social patterns and his lack of feeling. He goes over his love of a female, and of course in a Poe story the female must die a horrible death.
This story was written specifically to sell copies for the magazine I think. It is quite acidic and was considered by many literary critics at the time of being trash and vile. Poe was not celebrated for his stories, but more as a critic himself and as a poet in some sense.
This story is considered pretty evil by religious circles, Poe was not one to be read in religious settings and was excluded from many libraries for this tale. And it is easy to see why, there is grave-digging,mental disease, death, depression and incest. The story was later censored by Poe by changing the end to a less controversial one and must have been done so with a smirking Poe.
Depression feels to set in with so many verses in this story. The falling of the light on a floor, showing the day trailing by, the characters deep intensity and painful meditation that he frequents about. To read this story is to enter that of a very depressed man, Poe was writing on a very vivid field and he took his thoughts directly from his imagination uncensored, but edited so perfectly and manages to touch me in this poem, the monotony, the love of knowledge and the suffering unite me and Aegis in a way. The regard of a beautiful woman full of life is attractive to me also.
Teeth seem to have a special meaning to Poe, he makes many references to them in his work. I wonder is he spent much time reviewing his in the mirror. The character in this tale is fixated enough to, in the end, have removed Berenice's teeth after her death. He did not even remember it, another occurring theme in his stories. Poe also includes another Latin phrase, "Dicebant mihi sodales si sepulchrum amicae visitarem, curas meas aliquantulum fore levatas," at the head of the text may be translated as: "My companion said to me, if I would visit the grave of my friend, I might somewhat alleviate my worries." This quote is also seen by Egaeus in an open book towards the end of the story.
And of course, the center of the story is one of the female characters in his life that outline all of his fictional characters. Berenice was figurative of his cousin Virginia that he married, younger, grew up with Poe ("Yet differently we grew") and a object not of sexual desire, but of study. This reflected Poe's feeling to his cousin as some strange mix of family and romantic love. The man in this story represents the "Scholarly Poe", while reflecting some works that Poe himself without a doubt studied. In Berenice there is reference to Latin and French literature.
This was one of Poe's earlier releases and was published in a magazine. From a marketing standpoint Poe might have been trying to literally scare the hell out of anyone reading, as most artist are very hungry in their first works and most alike their readership, being them self a consumer of such literature that they produce.
The story was a success and Poe was getting some fame as a short story writer, he was not compensated with money as much as fame. Berenice scared many people into believing that Poe was of the usual craziness. Devil worshiping, criminal and all else to assassinate his character were employed, though only to his advantage. America was changing at the time towards an re-adoption of the literature of ages like "The Black Death", "Gothic French/German works" and most importantly the adoption of the scientific breakthroughs. The restraints of literature proclaiming the afterlife as being something assured of and positive, many new theories were emerging making the point of death scarier and scarier. America was a violent country, specifically the areas Poe frequented, and this coupled with Poe's personal situation and set a restraint on the "Happy" aspects in Poe's writing, for he had experienced little in his own life.
Overall this is one of my favorite stories by Poe so far. I have found a good recording of it on You-Tube by a Southern Gentleman and he pauses and excites his voice at precisely the right time. I enjoy it very much and feel as though I am sharing in a secret treasure while listening to it, as my generation shows little interest in anything complex and shuns anything that has words like I am currently typing in.
And of course, the center of the story is one of the female characters in his life that outline all of his fictional characters. Berenice was figurative of his cousin Virginia that he married, younger, grew up with Poe ("Yet differently we grew") and a object not of sexual desire, but of study. This reflected Poe's feeling to his cousin as some strange mix of family and romantic love. The man in this story represents the "Scholarly Poe", while reflecting some works that Poe himself without a doubt studied. In Berenice there is reference to Latin and French literature.
This was one of Poe's earlier releases and was published in a magazine. From a marketing standpoint Poe might have been trying to literally scare the hell out of anyone reading, as most artist are very hungry in their first works and most alike their readership, being them self a consumer of such literature that they produce.
The story was a success and Poe was getting some fame as a short story writer, he was not compensated with money as much as fame. Berenice scared many people into believing that Poe was of the usual craziness. Devil worshiping, criminal and all else to assassinate his character were employed, though only to his advantage. America was changing at the time towards an re-adoption of the literature of ages like "The Black Death", "Gothic French/German works" and most importantly the adoption of the scientific breakthroughs. The restraints of literature proclaiming the afterlife as being something assured of and positive, many new theories were emerging making the point of death scarier and scarier. America was a violent country, specifically the areas Poe frequented, and this coupled with Poe's personal situation and set a restraint on the "Happy" aspects in Poe's writing, for he had experienced little in his own life.
Overall this is one of my favorite stories by Poe so far. I have found a good recording of it on You-Tube by a Southern Gentleman and he pauses and excites his voice at precisely the right time. I enjoy it very much and feel as though I am sharing in a secret treasure while listening to it, as my generation shows little interest in anything complex and shuns anything that has words like I am currently typing in.
Michael G. Morrison II
Morrison Marketing
Augusta, Georgia, USA
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