Poe, Edgar Allan,--1809-1849--Criticism and interpretation

Lack of coherent meaning in Edgar Allan Poe's fiction reflects the fleeting nature of the moment between waking and sleeping. Poe believes that during this moment the imagination can reveal profound truths. He also acknowledges that in this liminal state the imagination has a destructive side that leads us to the abyss--a place of darkness that reveals no secrets. The majority of Poe's protagonists experience this moment--the hypnagogic state--and through these characters, Poe attempts to discover what lies within the abyss. Poe's critical works help us to recognize his ideas on the imagination and how it can lead us to this abyss. Many of his short fictions consist of fragments of hypnagogic journeys that end before the characters can discover "truths" within the abyss. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym contains Poe's only character to return from the abyss and tell his tale--yet not its secrets.

Using "The Fall of the House of Usher" as the principal, framework tale, this study illuminates Edgar Allan Poe's fictions from a perspective that focuses on homoerotic encounters. Since few prior studies have been directed at Poe's homosexual content, this thesis gives special attention to the benchmark criticism by D. H. Lawrence, which has long influenced readers' interpretations of sexual relationships in Poe's stories. This inquiry includes gender studies, especially the work of Leland S. Person, as well as queer theorist commentary on Poe and his contemporaries. It also deliberates on the definition of the queer aesthete provided by Alexander Doty and discusses how Poe's characters actually pre-date some assumptions about early appearances of the homosexual male in literature. Additionally, this thesis considers how writers who have been influenced by Poe tend to write texts that routinely provide fertile ground for the queer theorist.