Grade-11 ( English) 1.2 The Oval Portrait - by Edgar Allan Poe ( Short Stories) Part-2

 Grade-11 ( English) 1.2 The Oval Portrait - by Edgar Allan Poe (Short Stories) Part-2

About the story “The Oval Portrait” (cG8fsf/ ?klrt|)

—  ‘The Oval Portrait’ was first/originally published as a longer version titled ‘Life in Death’ in Graham’s Magazine in 1842.

—  The shorter version, renamed ‘The Oval Portrait’ was published in the April 26, 1845 edition of the Broadway Journal.

—  The short horror story presents a beautiful relationship between art and life through an artist who wants to make a painting of his wife, but becomes so obsessed with it that he doesn’t realize his wife is dying meanwhile.

Setting-

—  The story has been set in a desolate Chateau (old Mansion)  located in the Apennines of the Mountain Range in Central Italy.

—  More specially a fantastic turret(decorated) room in the Chateau.

Symbols-

—  ‘The Oval Portrait’ symbolizes mortality of love and immortality of art.

—  The Painter- represents the symbol of fanaticism ( fantasy of art.)

—  The woman- depicted in the Oval Portrait symbolizes the victim of the painter’s fanaticism.

Characters:

§  The Narrator: the protagonist- an unnamed wounded person whose background information is not portrayed by the author.

§  Padro:  a supporting character and male servant of the narrator- helpful and managed each and everything inside the chateau for the narrator.

§  The painter: a well-known painter quite obsessed with his paintings-  lover and crazy of art- Self-centered- a recently married man.

§  The woman in the Oval Portrait- a recently married young girl and the wife of a painter- loves her husband very much- an obedient wife who never complained about her pains during his task rather loses her life posing on the chair.

§  The chateau: an old desolate mansion/Chateau located in the Apennines mountain range in the Central Italy-  looked as if it is temporarily abandoned- designed in old fashioned way with many small apartments and passages with so high tower-  many tapestries, trophies and paintings inside the room and bizarre architecture.

§  Mrs. Radcliffe (1764-1823)- an English author famous for Gothic romance novels with setting of gloomy castles.

 

“The Oval Portrait”- Summary or Main Points…

—  “The Oval Portrait”  opens in an abandoned Chateau (la/fg dxn), located in the Apennines of the Mountain Range in Central Italy with two people : the narrator who is wounded and his valet (male servant) named Pedro.(- Background information about the narrator and his condition is not mentioned.)

Arrival

—  The unnamed narrator and his valet Pedro arrive at an abandoned chateau in the Apennines which is a mountain range in Italy. The narrator is wounded. They choose one of the smallest and "least sumptuously furnished" apartments. The bedroom is adorned with many paintings. Pedro closes the window shutters against the night, lights a candelabrum, and opens the curtains of the bed so the narrator can study the artwork.

Bedtime

—  The narrator and Pedro settle in. The narrator finds a book that critiques each painting and describes its history and background. Pedro falls asleep, but the narrator stays up because he is captivated by the paintings and their descriptions.

The Painting

—  After hours of gazing at the paintings, the narrator adjusts the candelabra to be able to read better. The light shines upon a particular painting that had previously been in shadow. The painting of the head and shoulders of a young woman in an oval frame startles the narrator because it is so lifelike. Taken in by the artistry and the beauty of the young woman, he looks more intently.

The Painting's History

—  The narrator finds a rather lengthy background about the painting in the accompanying book. According to the history, an unnamed young girl who was “Just ripening into womanhood”(recently married),  is the subject of the painting married a painter and posed for him. He took a long time to paint her portrait. He locked himself and his wife into the tower away from visitors so that he could focus on his task of painting. As the weeks went on, she became frailer and more ill as she has to keep on smiling. The painter was so obsessed with painting a lifelike portrait that he failed to notice this. He did not realise that his wife grew paler as the portrait grew more life like.

Ending

—  Finally, when the painter completed the painting by brushing tints over eyes and mouth, he stepped back and stared at his painting and cried in loud voice,  “This is indeed life itself.” By the time the painter looked over at his wife, he discovered that she had died on that chair in a posing state.

The Oval Portrait: Plot

1. Introduction

Wounded, the narrator and Pedro arrive at an abandoned mansion.

2. Rising Action

The narrator spends the night looking at paintings and reading.

The narrator fixates on the portrait of the young woman.

 The narrator reads how the painting came into being.

3. Climax

The painter paints obsessively, ignoring the young woman.

4. Falling Action

The painter paints a portrait of the young woman who has died unknowingly.

5. Ending

The young woman was dead but the painting was alive.

Understanding the text…

Answer these questions.

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

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

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

§  The narrator and his servant made forcible entrance into an abandoned Chateau (la/fg dxn), located in the Apennines mountain Range in Central Italy .

§  The narrator noticed the Oval Portrait of  a young girl “Just ripening into womanhood” in the room.

§  The portrait that the narrator saw in the room was  the Oval Portrait- the painting of a young girl “Just ripening into womanhood” . He found the head and shoulders of a young woman in an oval frame attracted and startled  the narrator. She was beautiful and looked like a young bride in the portrait. The narrator found her so real and lifelike.

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

§  The relationship between the portrait painter and its subject is intermingled as they are the recently married couple. The painter is a well-known painter who is quite obsessed with his paintings or artistic works more than his wife or anything else. On the other hand, its subjected lady is the wife of the painter who loves her husband very much that she never complained about her pains during tasks and loses her life posing on the chair. Thus, the relationship between the portrait painter and its subject is closely attached to each other.

Reference to the context…

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

Ø The central theme of the story “The Oval Portrait” is the relationship between life and art. In fact, it is art that valorizes life and makes it immortal. But the story has displayed the destructive power of art and love which not only brings perfection but also destructive result  in the life like that of the painter. For instance, due to obsessed nature of artistic work of the painter, his wife has to become the victim of his artistic task. It also projects bad consequences of obsessed passion for something.

Ø The woman depicted in the oval portrait is a young girl “Just ripening into womanhood” or  a young  bride of the portrait painter.

 

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

Ø “The Oval Portrait” is a short horror story by Edgar Allan Poe involving the disturbing circumstances surrounding a portrait in a chateau. Some significant disturbing circumstances surrounding a portrait in a chateau are followings:

Ø The setting of the story “The Oval Portrait’ in a desolate mansion is itself horrorful.

Ø There are mainly two characters: the narrator and his valet in wounded condition enters into the old mansion at night also frighten the readers.

Ø He holes up in one of the rooms, and contemplates the strange paintings adorning the walls of the room.

Ø He reads a small book he had found on the pillow of the bed, which contains information about the paintings adjusting the candelabrum not the light (electric bulb) in the room.

Ø His eye catches a portrait he hadn’t previously noticed, in an oval-shaped frame, depicting a young girl on the threshold of womanhood, is captivated by this portrait, which seems so life-like.

Ø As he reads the entry detailing the history behind the oval portrait, he comes to know that the artist becomes more and more obsessed with capturing her likeness, hardly any time looking at her. She becomes weaker and weaker and when he has just about finished the portrait and turns to regard his wife, it is to find that she has died.

Ø Thus, the story is surrounded by several frightening instances which resembles it as a short horror story.

 

c.      “The Oval Portrait” suggests that the woman’s beauty condemns her to death. Discuss.

Ø  Obviously,  “The Oval Portrait” suggests that the woman’s beauty condemns her to death. It reminds us the very famous proverb- “ Beauty attracts everyone”. Consequently, the painter is attracted and obsessed by the beauty of his recently married young wife and he wants to portrait her beauty and innocence in the painting life like. He is so obsessed in his task in such way that he does not pay attention to his beautiful wife’s health condition to project her same beauty in the painting locking himself and his wife in the tower so that no one can interrupt him during his task.  As the work is over, he cries in his excitement and says, “This is indeed life itself!’ but as turns to his beloved finds: She is dead!.

Ø Thus, it is the beauty, perfection in her facial appearance and her innocence smile that lead her to death in the story.

 

“ The Oval Portrait” as a Frame Narrative    (a story within a story).

Ø A frame narrative is a literary technique used to insert an additional story within the main story to provide readers with context about the main narrative.

Ø It is also known as a framing narrative or a frame story.

Ø Through this, the narrator leads readers from the first story into another one, which is within the overall story.

Ø It offers the reader multiple points of view, multiple levels of meaning and a set of smaller narratives  within the same story.

Ø In the story “The Oval Portrait”, the narrator first talks about his own entrance in a desolate mansion with his valet and then he portrays about the oval painting that he finds on the wall through the perspective of the painter and the lady portrait in the painting. Thus, he presents a narrative within the narrative in this story.

 

Symbols and images in the story “The Oval Portrait”

—  ‘The Oval Portrait’ symbolizes mortality of love and immortality of art.

—  The Painter- represents the symbol of fanaticism ( fantasy of art.)

—  The woman- depicted in the Oval Portrait symbolizes the victim of the painter’s fanaticism or metaphorical imprisonment.

—  The chateau- symbolizes a deserted place.

—  Pedro- the valet of the narrator portrays the narrator’s helper and porter.

—  “This is indeed Life itself!” represents perfection of art, created by the painter.

—  “She was dead!” means she was lifeless and it also projects she was an obedient figure to her husband.

 

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

Ø In the story “The Oval Portrait”, the expression “She was dead!” means she was lifeless. Here, she refers to the recently married young lady to the painter portrayed in the oval portrait. She was a perfect wife to her husband  in every aspect.

Ø The artist paints a portrait of his wife, and becomes more and more obsessed with capturing her likeness, until he ends up spending all of his time gazing at the portrait of his wife, and hardly any time looking at her. She becomes weaker and weaker, dispirited from losing her husband’s love as he stops paying her attention and  becomes more and more preoccupied with the painting. When he has just about finished the portrait and turns to regard his wife, it is to find that she has died.

        Reference beyond the text…

a.     Do you think there is life in art?    Or Essay on Life and Art.

—  Obviously, there is life in art. It is art that projects life in itself and makes it immortal. Life and art are inseparable from each other and both are equally important. Without life there is no art and art is for life. Life without art is meaningless.  Art supports life and gives it immortality.  

—  Life creates art and art provides pleasure for life. It  includes activities like painting, drawing, playing music, singing, dancing, and writing literary works, and so on.  Literary works like poem, story, essay, drama and films provide us with intellectual diet and pleasure.  On the top of all, art immortalizes life. For example, the artists like Araniko, Shakespeare, Leonardo Da Vinchi,  Devota etc. died many years ago but we still remember them because of their work of art. Thus there is a strong bond between life and art.

—  In the story, “The Oval Portrait”, the painter desires to make his beloved immortal as he finds her extremely beautiful but his obsession to draw her life like takes life of his beloved. Thus, art not only brings perfection and immortality to life but also it leads life to destructive results.

 

b.     As a thing of art nothing could be admirable than the painting itself. Explain.

Ø Painting is a graphic representation of artwork on a sheet of paper.

Ø It can depict emotions.

Ø It is like meditation. Therefore, it is called a new form of yoga.

Ø It teaches patience and gives a border area for creativity. The patterns and vibrant colours allow the painter to think beyond restrictions and be playful enough to enjoy.

Ø It boosts self-esteem and inspires people to reach new levels  of skill.

Ø It also produces a relaxing, open environment where artists feed safe to explore their own creativity.

Ø It includes seven most common elements like line, shape, texture, form, space, colour and value with addition of mark making, and materiality.

Ø Thus, we can say that as a thing of  art nothing could be admirable than the painting itself.

 

(All Images Credit: Google Images)