The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe | Summary & Analysis

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Course Hero Literature Instructor Russell Jaffe provides an in-depth analysis of the plot, characters, symbols, and themes in Edgar Allan Poe's poem The Raven.

Download the free study guide and infographic for The Raven here: https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Ra...

Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" details the descent of its speaker into madness.

Mourning the loss of his love Lenore, he is visited one night by the inscrutable bird of the title. Suspecting that the raven is a supernatural being, he petitions it for information about Lenore but is only met with replies of "Nevermore." The bird's ominous repetition of the word slowly drives him into fury and despair.

The richly alliterative verse and internal rhyme of the short story lend it a sing-song musicality at odds with the Gothic literature subject matter, cementing its iconic status in popular culture, where it has been referenced in hundreds of films, songs, and novels.

Troubled American writer Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven was first published in January 1845. Part of its fame comes from the use of an unnamed narrator, the main character whose grief-stricken mental state over Lenore gradually deteriorates over the course of the poem stanza by stanza.

The book contains many powerful themes, such as Pallas Athena representing rational thought, Pluto representing the unbridgeable gap between life and death and the profound effects of the loss of a cherished love. Other themes include death, loss, loneliness, nightmare, alienation and the supernatural.

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