Edgar Allen Poe is an American writer, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, both exhibiting the dominant style of Gothicism. One of Poe’s most famous work portraying the styles of Gothicism is “The Raven.” “The Raven,” a nightmare narrative written in the first-person point of view, is a ballad consisting of eighteen six-line stanzas. The ballad tells the story of a young man, the speaker himself, who grieves the death of the woman he loves, Lenore. The speaker also finds himself in acquaintance with a mysterious, black ebony bird who often utters the repetitive word of “Nevermore.” The black bird itself symbolizes death, darkness, and the supernatural. As the poem progresses, the speaker is frequently found questioning his own mentality and insanity. The speaker also tends to contemplate on the reappearing theme of death, torturing himself in the process. In fact, the raven itself also has a self-destructive meaning behind it. In “The Raven,” Edgar Allen Poe demonstrates Gothic style through the recurring elements of isolation, the supernatural, and psychological and physical torment.

In “The Raven,” Edgar Allen Poe often demonstrates the recurring Gothic element of isolation. Isolation is frequently displayed by examples such as the setting and self-seclusion felt by the speaker himself. The poem opens with the line “Once upon a midnight dreary” and continues to describe the speaker’s remembrance of the “bleak December” night (Poe 330). The setting provides a representation of “the last moment of a spent day in the final month of the year. Internally and externally, it is a time of death and decay” (“The Raven” 206). The speaker starts off by speaking on his memory of the “bleak December.” The word “bleak” is defined as an area of land lacking in vegetation and exposure to other elements. It is used as a way of describing the setting as “a time of gloom and depression” for both the environment as well as the speaker himself (“The Raven” 206). After speaking on his remembrance of the “bleak December,” the speaker goes on to say that each separate dying ember had “wrought its ghost upon the floor” (Poe 330).  December, as the speaker has described, is “a time of death and decay” (“The Raven” 206). When the speaker speaks of these dying embers “wroughting its ghost upon the floor,” he connects the line to the theme of death. Death itself is a symbol of seclusion from the outside world and solitude. Death is associated with isolation through the way it affects both the atmosphere as well as the speaker himself. When one experiences death or emotional death, he or she feels left alone, abandoned, or isolated for that matter. The readers are able to relate this to the speaker’s point of view for he himself feels lonely and isolated due to the loss of his beloved Lenore. Next, the poem goes on to speak of a setting which is “contained and claustrophobic—a single room” (Gioia). The setting’s description of an excessively small space reflects the speaker’s feeling of being “trapped in his richly furnished prison” (Gioia). The speaker feels as if he is being held hostage in his own self-seclusion and loneliness. He continuously hopes for “an afterlife with Lenore while experiencing the terrifying vision of eternal nothingness” (Gioia). This idea of “eternal nothingness” compares to the “deep void which he is left with after the death of his beloved Lenore” (Gioia). As the poem progresses, the speaker continues to lose his composure. Through this, the readers are able to recognize the amount of effort it takes for the speaker to suppress any memory of his beloved. The speaker addresses his beloved as “the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore” (Poe 330). The speaker then continues to introduce her as “Nameless here evermore” and indicates the idea of choosing loneliness and isolation over any memory of her (Poe 330). In “The Raven,” Edgar Allen Poe often demonstrates the recurring theme of isolation through the use of a bleak and remote setting and self-seclusion.

In “The Raven,” Edgar Allen Poe often demonstrates the recurring Gothic element of the supernatural. The raven itself serves as the poem’s most prominent example of a supernatural occurrence within itself. In the poem, the raven is described to the readers as “a dark, demonic, scary bird” with “eyes that have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming” (“The Raven” 207). The appearance of the mysterious bird represents the ideas of death, wonder, and the unworldly. In fact, the bird, in general, portrays a supernatural image. Another example of a supernatural occurrence in the poem is the action of the raven bird itself. The bird is first found in the poem beating against the shutters. When the bird enters the room, “it flies up to the perch on the highest object in the room as any other bird would behave” (“The Raven” 207). Although possessing normal-like behavior, the raven does, in fact, “cross the line between natural and supernatural in being the ability to speak a word that a human is able to understand” (“The Raven” 207). This repeated word is “Nevermore” (Poe 331). The repetition of the word “nevermore” is significant for a normal bird does not possess such mystical qualities. Moreover, “The Raven” also contains hidden events which prove the presence of supernatural forces. One example is the “rustling of each purple curtain” and the “tapping of the chamber door” which is said to have “thrilled him with fantastic terrors never felt before” (Poe 330). The speaker is frightened by the presence and occurrence of these supernatural forces. It is as if the speaker’s own fear intensified the sounds which one would consider to be soft into something unworldly.  Furthermore, the speaker is found repeating the word “nothing more” which provides that there is a presence of doubt from the speaker (Poe 331). The speaker is beginning to lose trust in his sanity, and becomes lost in his sense of reality. Therefore, it affirms the speaker’s belief in the presence of these supernatural elements. In “The Raven,” Edgar Allen Poe often demonstrates the recurring theme of the supernatural through elements such as the raven and the sound or description of natural objects such as the curtains.

In “The Raven,” Edgar Allen Poe often demonstrates the recurring Gothic element of psychological and physical torment. In the poem, the speaker suffers great grief from the loss of his love. Grief creates a source of internal pain. When one experiences grief, he or she is tormented daily by the loss of either a loved one or the loss of one’s self. The greatest grief faced by the speaker is the loss of Lenore. During the night, the speaker hears a sound “outside his chamber door” (Poe 330). Through instinct, he whispers “Lenore,” the name of his beloved (Poe 331). The speaker continues saying “And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor, Shall be lifted—nevermore!” (Poe 334). The speaker believes that due to Lenore’s death, he will never find true happiness again. To escape his heavy mood of grief, the speaker is frequently found reading books “as a vain attempt to find something in his books that would take his mind off the sadness he feels about his lost love, Lenore” (“Plot Summary: ‘The Raven’”). Instead, He reveals that Lenore has died when he says that the “angels call her by name” (Poe 330). The grief of having to bear the loss of his beloved was too much for the speaker handle. As an attempt to delay the grief, the speaker is often found doing different activities in order to prevent himself from inner torment. Moreover, this time the word "evermore" is used as a source of the refrain (Poe 330). From this, the readers are able to notice the speaker’s need to want to block out the memories of him and Lenore. In addition, the utterance of "Nevermore" by the raven is said to have also wound the lover emotionally (Poe 331). Through the use of “nevermore,” the speaker has come to realize that he will never be happy nor will he see Lenore again. This gives him more grief and doubt, adding to his inner torment. In “The Raven,” Edgar Allen Poe often demonstrates the recurring Gothic element of psychological and physical torment through examples such as the raven and his grief for Lenore.

In “The Raven,” Edgar Allen Poe exhibits Gothic style through the use of elements such as isolation, the supernatural, and psychological and physical torment. First, Poe often demonstrates the recurring theme of isolation through the use of a bleak and remote setting and self-seclusion. According to “The Raven,” the poem begins at midnight in December which is referred to as the last moment of a spent day in the final month of the year. December represents a time of death and decay which bring readers to the idea of the speaker’s seclusion and solitude from the outside world. The poem also goes on to speak of a setting which is contained and claustrophobic. Second, Edgar Allen Poe often demonstrates the recurring theme of the supernatural through elements such as the raven and the sound or description of natural objects such as the curtains. The raven itself serves as the poem’s most prominent example of a supernatural occurrence within itself. Although possessing normal-like behavior, the raven does, in fact, cross the line between natural and supernatural in being able to speak a word that a human is able to understand. “The Raven” poem also contains hidden events which prove the presence of the supernatural forces. One example is the rustling of the curtain and the knocking of the chamber door. The speaker is frightened by the presence and occurrence of these supernatural forces. Lastly, Edgar Allen Poe often demonstrates the recurring theme of psychological and physical torment through elements such as the raven and his grief for Lenore. In the poem, the speaker suffers great grief from the loss of his love. When the raven first enters the poem, the readers are able to observe how the bird's presence allows the lover to begin to forget his sadness or inner torture. However, the raven’s repetition of the word “Nevermore” is said to have wound the lover emotionally. “The Raven’s” use of isolation, the supernatural, and psychological and physical torment demonstrates Edgar Allen Poe’s use of Gothic style and contributes to the tone and suspense found throughout the poem.