2. The Oval Portrait by Edgar Allan Poe

The Oval Portrait

-          Edgar Allan Poe

The story, "The Oval Portrait” opens with the unnamed narrator and his servant, Pedro, making “forcible entrance” into an abandoned chateau in the Apennine Mountains. For reasons never made clear, the narrator is severely wounded, slightly delirious, and therefore incapable of spending the night in the open air. They went into a remote apartment whose decorations are “rich, but tattered and antique.” The room is full of “bizarre architecture.” It contains a number of tapestries, “armorial trophies,” and “an unusually great number of very spirited modern paintings in frames of rich golden arabesque.” The paintings arouse the narrator’s interest. He commands Pedro to light a tall candelabrum that stands at the foot of the bed. He also finds on his pillow a small book that provides an overview of the room’s pictures.

While Pedro sleeps, the narrator scrutinizes(=examines with great care) the paintings and reads this guide book, completely engrossed, until at length the hour of midnight comes. Dissatisfied with the position of the candelabrum, he moves it so as to shed more light on the book—and suddenly notices a painting that has so far escaped from his attention. It’s a portrait of a girl who is “just ripening into womanhood.” The painting makes him close his eyes and wonder what it is about the image that he finds so startling.

The narrator gives a brief description of the portrait. It is a “vignette” that depicts the girl’s head and shoulders, with the rest of her body unseen. The narrator admires the painting’s execution and the beauty of its subject. He finds the spell of the painting in an absolute life-likeliness of expression, which, at first startling, finally confounded (= confused \astonished ), subdued (=Conquered; overpowered) and   appalled (=  shocked \horrified) him. He gazes at the portrait for an hour, eyes riveted \fixed upon it, before returning the candelabrum to its previous position and turning to the relevant description in the guide book.   

The guide book contains an account of the portrait’s painter and its subject, who turn out to be husband and wife. The former, a renowned portrait painter, is a brooding(= Deeply or seriously thoughtful), passionate man who’s wholly devoted to his work, to the point that it seems like he already has “a bride in his Art.” The latter is “a maiden of rarest beauty, and not more lovely than full of glee.” She regards his art as a rival for his affections. She is also meek and submissive, and bends to the will of her husband, who’s eager to paint her portrait, because she knows how greatly he values his work.

The painter begins work on the portrait—and the physical and psychological state of his wife immediately begins to decline, her health and spirits “withered” by the process. The painter, however, fails to see this—he’s too engrossed in his art, and pays almost no attention to his wife. She, for her part, does not complain. As the painting reaches its completion and becomes ever more lifelike, the girl declines further, almost as if her vital energies are being drawn out of her and put into the canvas. Just as her image reaches a height of perfection, the painter finally steps back and cried saying "This is indeed Life itself!" Then he turned to look up at his wife but she was dead.   

 

 

Understanding the text 

Answer these questions.

a. Where did the narrator and his servant make a forcible entrance?

Ans:- The narrator and his servant Pedro made a forcible entrance in an abandoned Chateau which was in the Appennines of central Italy. The narrator was seriously wounded. His valet didn't want the narrator to stay in an open-air. He took the narrator inside Chateau forcibly without anyone's permission.

b. Which special picture did the narrator notice in the room?

Ans:- The narrator noticed an oval-shaped portrait of a young girl in the room when the candelabrum was moved its light fell on it. The portrait was unnoticed by the narrator before. The young girl in the portrait seemed just ripening into womanhood. She was so beautiful that she attracted the narrator's attention. He was totally engrossed in finding its background through the book which he had found in bed.

c. Describe the portrait that the narrator saw in the room.

Ans:- The portrait that the narrator saw in the room was quite artistic and life-like. The narrator saw it when the rays of candelabrum fell on it. The portrait was oval-shaped with a beautiful picture of a young girl who was just ripening into womanhood. Its frame was richly decorative. The narrator was completely startled to find the lady's shoulder and head with radiant hair so real. The brushwork of tints in portrait seemed so real in the portrait. It was a wonderful artistic creativity.

d. What is the relationship between the portrait painter and its subject?

Ans:- The relationship between the portrait painter and its subject is husband and wife. The husband of the subject (lady) is a passionate painter who has painted his wife’s portrait. He has Painted his wife’s portrait taking many weeks.

 

Reference to the context

a.  What is the central theme of the story? Who is the woman depicted in the oval portrait?

Ans:- The central theme of the story 'The Oval Portrait' is the relationship between life and art. This Story has presented the destructive power of art and love. Art and love can be destructive in our life too. The painter of this story has become successful through his artistic works but his wife has become the victim of his artistic tasks. She loves her husband extremely that's why she doesn't complain for her discomfort to him.  Excessive passion for something is bad. The woman depicted in the oval portrait is the wife of a passionate painter who has painted this oval portrait but his wife loses her life.

b.  "The Oval Portrait" is a short horror story by Edgar Allan Poe involving the disturbing circumstances surrounding a portrait in a chateau. Elaborate.

Ans:- This short story has presented a terrible and gloomy setting of a desolate Chateau in one of the mountains range (Appennines) of central Italy. The Chateau which we find here in this story is completely deserted and very old fashioned. The setting inside and outside seem very terrible.

The story "The Oval Portrait" is a short horror story with its dark setting and mood of the narration. It is set in a gloomy abandoned chateau. Although the mansion/castle is deserted, it contains objects of a dark and mysterious past - such as the oval portrait itself. The image of the remote abandoned chateau is given a hint of mystery and gloom. The interior where its walls are decorated with tapestry and manifold and multiform armorial trophies, and a great number of spirited modern paintings is tattered and antique. The dark setting and shadowy circumstances of the prior events provide the impression that the story has a bizarre twist. The reader’s anticipation of mystery is sustained by the appearance of a lifelike portrait of a woman in one of the darker nooks of the mysterious room.

 

c. "The Oval Portrait" suggests that the woman's beauty condemns her to death. Discuss.

Ans:- "The Oval Portrait" suggests that the woman's beauty condemns her to death. Here, the wife of the painter is so beautiful who has just stepped into womanhood. The painter wants to paint her portrait. He is a quite passionate painter who loves his artwork more than anything. He places his wife on the chair to pose for him. He is totally obsessed with his artistic work. The Painter takes weeks to paint her portrait. During his task, he doesn't notice his wife health condition who becomes quite weak. By the time he finishes the portrait, he finds his wife lying dead on the chair.

The references of the painting state that the young lady in the portrait is very beautiful. She loses her life because her husband compels her to sit for many weeks in an attempt to make the most beautiful portrait of her. Though the lady sits next to her husband, he is so immersed in his painting to create a beautiful portrait of his wife. But he doesn’t realize his wife's life withdrawing from her body slowly. It reveals the sad reality of the husband's failure to witness the beauty of his wife. As he was an artist, he wants to treasure it in the form of a portrait. In this way, her beauty condemns her to own death.

d. Discuss the story as a frame narrative (a story within a story).

Ans:- The frame narrative is a literary technique that reveals about a story within a story. It starts with a different plot and setting of story but later immerses out with the next story within it. Here, this technique reveals us how a single story involves the next story within it. The story starts with different information about the narrator and his valet with a different setting. The readers here move along with the Story's flow at first but later on the next story starts within it with an amazing description of oval portrait, its detail and background information. The readers reach up to the next level of the story. The technique of frame narrative works showing a single story and the next story within it.

The Oval Portrait is a frame narrative, or a story that contains another story. In the first part of the story, we encounter the unnamed narrator, who is injured and stranded at night for unknown reasons. He along with his companion and servant, Pedro, take shelter in an abandoned mansion. The narrator stays awake while his servant sleeps. He is captivated by the paintings on the bedroom wall and studies a book containing their history. Noticing a lifelike painting of a young woman, he reads about it in the book.

In the second section, the narrator tells how a beautiful woman marries a painter who is completely absorbed in his work. Although she doesn’t love this, she agrees to sit for a portrait, a process that takes many weeks. As the portrait nears completion, the lady grows increasingly weak. In placing the final touches of his masterpiece on the canvas, he suddenly realizes that she is dead.

e.  The story is told in a descriptive style, with plenty of imagery and symbolism. Which images and symbols do you find in the story?

Ans:- Here in this story, we find various images and symbols. The writer has used images to present his horror elements beautifully here in this story where there is immense use of darkness and light. The image of desolate Chateau in the Appennines has created beginning thriller for the audience. Similarly, the image of two visitors in the dark desolate setting has increased the reader's curiosity. Inside the Chateau, the writer has used many images to present the setting of apartments, torrent etc. Here, we find various images as dark rooms, wall tapestries, trophies, the oval painting among other paintings, candelabrum, book, rays of light etc. The historical background of the oval portrait also has presented the image of the painter and his wife in a high torrent of the Chateau. The perfect use of images has this story with gothic elements beautifully. Like images, the symbols also have played a vital role to understand this story in its deeper level. The oval portrait symbolizes mortality of love and immortality of art. This portrait has snatched the life of its main subject (painter's wife). Her love for her husband leads her to death whereas her husband passion for artwork has snatched her life and made him immortal in his artwork. Next symbol which we find here is the time during artwork. This time during artwork symbolizes the painter's obsession where he has forgotten everything around him and led his wife to the death.

The mansion is abandoned and worn-out. The turret room is in a remote section of the mansion. The room is rich in decorations, but they are tattered and antique. The walls are full of tapestries, trophies, and spirited modern paintings. This vivid description of the mansion provides the gothic image. Likewise, the descriptions of the portrait describe how real and beautiful it is. Although she is dead, she is painted so life-like in the portrait.

The dark gloominess of the abandoned house is a classic background for a gothic story. The painter is the symbol of the fanaticism. The woman in the oval portrait, is the victim of painter's passion for art. The oval portrait symbolizes the immortality of art. The frame is the symbol of the general objectification she faced as a physically attractive woman.

f. What does the expression “She was dead!” mean?

Ans:- The expression "She was dead" means the shocking moment of the death of the painter's wife on the chair. The painter was quite obsessed with his painting. He was totally engrossed in his task of painting. He forgot to inspect his wife's condition. He kept on painting his wife's portrait for weeks. When he turned his painting towards his wife being happy, he found his wife dead posing on the chair. Here, the artwork took the life of its main subject.

The expression ‘She was dead!’ means the painter’s realization of the death of his beloved because of his devotion to the portrait. His wife remains in an obedient pose for many weeks. As the work continues her health becomes increasingly poor. However, the painter does not notice the worsening condition of his wife, continuing to paint desperately, without taking his eyes off the canvas. Given the last brush stroke, the painter is delighted with the liveliness of his creation, but turning to his wife, he realizes that she is dead.