Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1995

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Kurjiaka, Susan K. H.

Abstract

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.

Extent

93 p.

Comments

FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1995.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Identifier

FADT15135

Format

pdf

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