EDGAR ALLAN POE’S GOTHIC PARADOX: THE DEATH OF INNOCENCE AND THE ABSENCE OF CHILDREN
EDGAR ALLAN POE’S GOTHIC PARADOX: THE DEATH OF INNOCENCE AND THE ABSENCE OF CHILDREN

Summary/Abstract: Edgar Allan Poe’s entire literary creation is known for being imbued with imagery of death and decay since the father of the macabre and Gothic fiction master dedicated his career to rendering the theme that pursued and tormented him his entire life, namely the psychological disintegration and the distorted fragmentation of the mind and soul. In contrast to the saturation of horrific elements, there is one striking and recurrent feature that does not seem either incidental or generic, but solidly rooted in his aesthetic creed and biographical background: the minimal presence of child characters. At a close reading the omission to include characterizations of figures traditionally associated with innocence and rebirth appears to be intentional. The present study aims to demonstrate that Poe’s personal experiences with death and dying shaped his view oriented toward mourning and extinction rather than futurity and hope. In this context, the absence of children gains a special meaning as it leads to an imagined Poesque world where innocence is ethereal or completely erased.

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