Imagination in literature

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.

In my thesis I will argue that the source of the major conflict in Jude the Obscure - the traumatic relationship between Sue and Jude - is Jude's viewing of his cousin's photograph early in the novel. Because of his tendency to idealize the individuals around him, Jude projects a desired image onto a photograph of Sue before meeting her in real life. This projection takes on an aspect of reality for Jude which he can not escape, despite Sue's efforts to disillusion him and introduce him to her actual self. Since his projection starkly contrasts to Sue's actual being, not only does Jude believe that the two are compatible when they are not, but he believes that Sue's attempts to disillusion him are in fact deceitful. Thus the initial impetus of the photograph eventually leads to their conflicted relationship and the tragedy of the novel overall.