Psycho Analysis

Edgar Allan Poe is a distinguished American wordsmith, versifier, editor, and literary analyst,
whose compositions are favored by readers around the world. The eternal subjects of Poe’s tales and
the trials of his personas remain pertinent in contemporary times. His blend of mortality, affection, and
anguish is an immortal amalgamation. His concise tales and poems are drenched in obscurity,
torment, enigma, and fixation with the inevitable demise, which stimulate and exhilarate. His writings
were an expression of his actual life circumstances and entities, as well as a reflection of his
imaginative psychological realm. Poe’s existence is intertwined with his literary works. His most
identifiable and exceptional opus is unquestionably a narrative poem called The Raven.
Edgar Allan Poe is deemed as one of the most captivating writers for critics and psychologists
due to his dramatic life story. Many details from his life are considered to be fabricated and fictitious.
Some of the myths were created and disseminated by Poe himself. Upon examining his biography, it
should be noted that there is an incident in Poe’s childhood that affected his works – the death of his
mother Eliza Poe. The theme of a woman’s loss is prevalent in Poe’s fiction, including The Raven.
The narrator mourns for the lost Lenore (Poe, 1), and memories of her haunt him, making it difficult to
forget.
Poe’s lack of libido can be attributed to losing his maternal love as a child. On the other hand,
the loss of Virginia, his wife who died of tuberculosis in 1847, may have inspired the character of
Lenore. When Poe wrote the poem, Virginia was gravely ill, and there was a fear of losing the
consummation of their marriage. After her death, Poe spiraled into depression, resumed drinking, and
died in 1849. Virginia was not only his wife but also his mother figure, and without her, Poe could not
continue his life. This confirms that he relied on her for both inspiration and care. The narrator of the
poem may have dissociative identity disorder, and the raven may represent the narrators dissociative
personality. According to Freud, this can be referred to as the Id. The Id is a part of the personality
structure responsible for instinctual drives and emerges at birth. The Id operates on the principle of
satisfying a persons primary desires and wishes. The Id contains primitive instinctual desires,
emotions, memories, forgotten childhood images, injuries, hostility towards parents, and non-
incarnate sexual desires. The conscious mind rejects these desires as inappropriate. The primary
components of the Id are sexual and aggressive desires that require immediate fulfillment. Therefore,
the raven symbolizes the narrators drive towards death. The raven may also be a figment of the
narrators imagination, representing the rational part of his mind that knows he will never be reunited
with his lost Lenore, nevermore.
After reading the poem, one thing I can conclude is that the narrator feels miserable,
melancholic, depressed, and in mourning. The melodic structure of the poem conveys sorrow and
helps to convey the emotions and feelings of both the author and narrator.