On the Aesthetic Thought of The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe_英语论文

摘要

埃德加·爱伦·坡是美国浪漫主义文学的先驱，也是美国文学史上极具代表性的诗人。对于诗歌创作，他有自己独特的美学理论。他的诗作《乌鸦》就是能够体现他的美学思想的重要作品之一。通过对《乌鸦》的分析，读者一方面可以理解这首诗本身的美学价值，另一方面能够对诗人的美学思想有一个更加深入的了解。 本文选取《乌鸦》一诗为对象，从音乐性，戏剧性，绘画性三个方面来分析其中蕴含的美学思想。其音乐性主要表现在诗的声音，韵律和节奏上；其戏剧性体现在整首诗所蕴含的戏剧冲突，戏剧行为和戏剧语言上；其绘画性展现在其空间构造，形象塑造和意境的创造上。

本文的第一章分为三个部分，第一部分是对爱伦·坡的简介包括爱伦·坡的生平，作品创作与背景等。第二部分通过具体作品来介绍爱伦·坡的美学思想。第三部分介绍《乌鸦》的主要内容，写作特点和意义。第二章为关于爱伦·坡和《乌鸦》的国内外文献综述。第三章分析《乌鸦》的音乐性，即诗人如何运用首韵，尾韵等来突出韵律，加强节奏。第四章探讨《乌鸦》的戏剧性，分析主人公的心理变化和情节的推动等。第五章通过分析空间、形象、意境等的描写来重现《乌鸦》的绘画艺术。

最后，本文指出，《乌鸦》一诗充分的体现出爱伦·坡的美学思想。通过细细品读此诗，读者能够更了解爱伦·坡本人和其美学思想，也能够提高自身的文艺鉴赏能力。

关键字：爱伦·坡  《乌鸦》  音乐性  戏剧性  绘画性

Abstract

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the pioneers of American Romanticism. He is also among the most representative poets in the history of American literature. His poems embody his unique theory of aesthetics, which is very much reflected in one of his most well-known poems---The Raven. By fully understanding The Raven, readers are able to understand its aesthetic value as well as get a glimpse of Poe's aesthetic thought. This essay explores Poe's aesthetic thought expressed in The Raven by concentrating on its musical effect, dramatic features and painting beauty. Its musical effect is mainly revealed by sound, rhyme, and rhythm while dramatic features are embodied in the depiction of dramatic conflicts, dramatic actions and dramatic language and painting beauty can be seen in the spacial design, images,and perceived setting.

The first chapter of the thesis is divided into three parts. The first part is a brief introduction of Edgar Allan Poe, which contains his career, major works and writing background and so on. The second part is a generation of Poe's aestheticism by referring to some of his major works.The third part pays attention to The Raven itself, giving a simple presentation of its content, analyzing its poetic characteristics and meaning. The second chapter is the literature review about Edgar Allan Poe and his poem The Raven consisting of information and materials from both home and abroad. Furthermore, the third chapter explores the musical effect in the poem,discussing how the poet reinforced the sound, rhyme and rhythm. The fourth chapter inquires into the psychological change of the hero and the development of plots to illustrate the dramatic features. And the fifth chapter reproduces the painting beauty in the poetry mostly based on the portrayal of space, images and setting.

At last, The essay points out The Raven is the best illustration of Edgar Allan Poe's aesthetic theory. Readers can get a chance to probe into the inside of the poet and his aesthetic thought as well as improve their literary appreciation ability. 

Key words:  Allan Poe; The Raven; musical effect; dramatic features; painting beauty

Contents

1  Introduction 1

1.1 Edgar Allan Poe 1

1.2 Poe’s Aesthetic Thought in Poetry 2

1.3 The Creation of The Raven 3

2  Literature Review 4

2.1 Studies on Edgar Allan Poe and The Raven Abroad 4

2.2 Studies on Edgar Allan Poe and The Raven at Home 5

3  The Music Effect in The Raven 7

3.1 Sound 7

3.2 Rhyme 8

3.3 Rhythm 9

4  The Dramatic Features in The Raven 11

4.1 Dramatic Conflict 11

4.2 Dramatic actions 12

4.3 Dramatic language 13

5  The Beauty of Panting in The Raven 15

5.1 Spacial design 15

5.2 Images 16

5.3 Perceived setting 17

6  Conclusion 19

Bibliography 20

Acknowledgments 22