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

A Deconstructive Glance at Edgar Allan Poes The City in the ocean Always mesmerizing, Edgar Allan Poes poems range from deep and depressing to dark and grotesque. for certain this is true of his poem The City in the Sea, which is dark in lumber and ambiguous meaning. What does it mean, and where did Poe come up with his concept? There are legion(predicate) possible answers to this question, and interpretations include the phallic and yonic symbols of Freudian theory and the idea of scriptural cities as source material exist. Therefore, it seems that critics stick outnot agree on a certain(prenominal) 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 narrative 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 involved a poet to make his poetry that easy or that obvious. Anoth er writer, Dwayne Thorpe, suggests Poe had Christian doctrine in mind when he wrote the poem, contending that Poes sources were biblical in temperament (395). He continues identification of it biblical source casts some infernal illumination on his rehearse of a Christian work to create a nihilistic fancy (395). This goes back to Claudels biblical association, but Thorpe ascribes the city a darker, more glowering meaning. While many critics look at The City in the Sea through a Freudian or biblical lens, a deconstructive antenna reveals the image of Deaths inverted 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 tortuous maze of twisting, turning, and doubling back of Poes work, specifically The City in the Sea, makes the confinement of completely deconstructing it almost impossible.Works CitedBressler, Charles E. Literary Criticism An Introduction to speculation 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 John Ward Ostrom. Ed. Richard P. Veler and Richard Beale Davis. Springfield, OH Chantry harmony 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.