: About Me

I'd like to propose a somewhat unusual interpretation of "The Raven." Consider the social milieu: Goethe, whom Poe admired, had recently published "Faust," the story of a man who sells his soul for knowledge of the occult and power over demons, and who, among other things, uses this forbidden knowledge to conjure the soul of Helen of Troy. The widespread revival of Christian values known as the "Great Awakening" had gripped the nation into the 1830's. Christian imagery permeated the whole nation, and there was very little doubt about the reality of God, angels, demons, heaven and the after...