A Deconstructive Glance at Edgar Allan Poes The City in the Sea Essay

A Deconstructive Glance at Edgar Allan Poes The City in the Sea forever and a day mesmerizing, Edgar Allan Poes poems range from deep and depressing to dark and grotesque. Certainly this is true of his poem The City in the Sea, which is dark in t one and only(a) and ambiguous meaning. What does it mean, and where did Poe come up with his concept? There are many possible answers to this question, and interpretations include the phallic and yonic symbols of Freudian theory and the idea of biblical cities as source material exist. Therefore, it seems that critics cannot flout on a definite explication for the poem. Alice Claudel posits that there are mystic symbols in the poem and states that One can piece bits together and form the general communicative from II Chronicles, II Kings, and Daniel, among others (56). The idea that Poe took his ideas from the bible is well founded, but he was too complex a poet to make his poetry that easy or that obvious. other writer, Dway ne Thorpe, suggests Poe had Christian doctrine in mind when he wrote the poem, contending that Poes sources were biblical in nature (395). He continues identification of it biblical source casts some infernal illumination on his mathematical function of a Christian work to create a nihilistic vision (395). This goes back to Claudels biblical association, but Thorpe ascribes the city a darker, more sinister meaning. tour many critics look at The City in the Sea through a Freudian or biblical lens, a deconstructive approach reveals the image of Deaths modify Necropolis. Deconstruction is the art of ambiguity. The theory posits infinite interpretations to literary works, with most of them just as creative as the work itself. With so many interpretations, no one ... ...ing only becomes more deeply hidden. The complex maze of twisting, turning, and doubling back of Poes work, specifically The City in the Sea, makes the task of completely deconstructing it almost impossible.Wor ks CitedBressler, Charles E. literary Criticism An Introduction to Theory and Practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ Prentice, 2003.Claudel, Alice M. Mystic Symbols in Poes The City in the Sea. Papers on Poe Essays in Honor of trick Ward Ostrom. Ed. Richard P. Veler and Richard Beale Davis. Springfield, OH Chantry Music Press at Wittenburg U, 1972. 54-61.Garrison, Joseph M. Jr. Poes The City in the Sea. Explicator 48.3 (1990) 185-88. Leonard, Douglas N. Poes The City in the Sea. Explicator 43.1 (1984) 30-33.Thorpe, Dwayne. Poes The City in the Sea Source and Interpretation.American Literature 51 (1979) 394-99.