The raven symbols and allusions
Symbols and allusions in the raven
By Edger Allan Poe
Introduction
• An allusion is a reference in a literary work that shows something without mentioning it directly.
• Symbolism is a figure of speech that uses an object, person, situation, or word to represent something else like an idea.
Symbols
• Lenore symbolizes idealized love, beauty, truth, or hope in a better world. Being rare and radiant represents heaven.
• The raven’s darkness and the way it enters the room imperiously symbolizes death. Symbols
• The phrase “ Night’s Plutonian Shore” shows all the negative aspects related to death. Night is a symbol for death and emptiness. Shore represents the mysterious ocean and all its mysterious inhabitants. • Nepenthe symbolizes the narrator’s need for something that will remove his pain and suffering.
Symbols
• The bust of Pallas represents wisdom of the bird because it rests on this specific place.
• Midnight symbolizes darkness because it is the darkest time of the night. • December symbolizes death and it’s the time of winter that nothing lives in. Allusions
• In line 41 Poe refers to Pallas Athena and he also mentioned his lost love Lenore; these were the only two women that he talked about in the poem. It is like he was comparing them to show that he worshiped his love in the same way that ancient
Greeks worshiped Athena.
• The other Greek reference he did in the poem was in line 47 that has to do with Plutonian Shore. The shore may also refer to the river Styx, where Charon the ferryman piloted the souls of the dead across into the underworld. This mirrors the narrator's mental state, which is worrying about death.
Allusions
• In line 80 the narrator references the Bible by referencing Seraphim, six-foot tall winged creatures whose job in biblical lore was to fly around God's throne and praise him by repeating
"Holy" over and over. These Seraphim are similar to the raven in the fact that they can only say one word. It is also interesting to note
By Edger Allan Poe
Introduction
• An allusion is a reference in a literary work that shows something without mentioning it directly.
• Symbolism is a figure of speech that uses an object, person, situation, or word to represent something else like an idea.
Symbols
• Lenore symbolizes idealized love, beauty, truth, or hope in a better world. Being rare and radiant represents heaven.
• The raven’s darkness and the way it enters the room imperiously symbolizes death. Symbols
• The phrase “ Night’s Plutonian Shore” shows all the negative aspects related to death. Night is a symbol for death and emptiness. Shore represents the mysterious ocean and all its mysterious inhabitants. • Nepenthe symbolizes the narrator’s need for something that will remove his pain and suffering.
Symbols
• The bust of Pallas represents wisdom of the bird because it rests on this specific place.
• Midnight symbolizes darkness because it is the darkest time of the night. • December symbolizes death and it’s the time of winter that nothing lives in. Allusions
• In line 41 Poe refers to Pallas Athena and he also mentioned his lost love Lenore; these were the only two women that he talked about in the poem. It is like he was comparing them to show that he worshiped his love in the same way that ancient
Greeks worshiped Athena.
• The other Greek reference he did in the poem was in line 47 that has to do with Plutonian Shore. The shore may also refer to the river Styx, where Charon the ferryman piloted the souls of the dead across into the underworld. This mirrors the narrator's mental state, which is worrying about death.
Allusions
• In line 80 the narrator references the Bible by referencing Seraphim, six-foot tall winged creatures whose job in biblical lore was to fly around God's throne and praise him by repeating
"Holy" over and over. These Seraphim are similar to the raven in the fact that they can only say one word. It is also interesting to note