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Eleonora (short story)

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After Eleonora's death, however, the Valley of the Many-Colored Grass begins to lose its lustre and warmth. The narrator chooses to leave to an unnamed "strange city". There, he meets a woman named Ermengarde and, without guilt, marries her. Eleonora soon visits the narrator from beyond the grave and
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The passion which had for centuries distinguished our race... together breathed a delirious bliss over the Valley of the Many-Colored Grass. A change fell upon all things. Strange, brilliant flowers, star-shaped, burst out upon the trees where no flowers had been known before. The tints of the green
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Eleonora, however, was sick — "made perfect in loveliness only to die". She does not fear death, but fears that the narrator will leave the valley after her death and transfer his love to someone else. The narrator emotionally vows to her, with "the Mighty Ruler of the Universe" as his witness, to
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in the beginning of the story, though he believes it has not been determined if madness is actually the loftiest form of intelligence. This may be meant facetiously, but it also may explain the excessively paradise-like description of the valley and how it changes with their love and, later, with
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The abrupt ending, with the narrator's new love only named in the third to last paragraph, is somewhat unconvincing if this is Poe's attempt at justifying his own feelings. Poe considered the tale "not ended so well as it might be". Perhaps, it is in the vagueness of the reason which will only be
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There are also sexual themes in the story. The narrator's name, Pyros, implies fire and passion. As he and Eleonora grow, their innocent relationship turns to love with descriptions of the changing landscape being erotic or sexual — animal life and plant life sprouting forth and multiplying.
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The story follows an unnamed narrator who lives with his cousin and aunt in "The Valley of the Many-Colored Grass", an idyllic paradise full of fragrant flowers, fantastic trees, and a "River of Silence". It remains untrodden by the footsteps of strangers and so they live isolated but happy.
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Eleonora's death serves as a symbolic end to ideal romantic love which is soon replaced with the less passionate married love for Ermengarde. Eleonora embodies many typical traits in Poe's female character: she is young, passive, and completely devoted to her love.
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revealed in Heaven for permission to break his vow. Even so, compared to the endings of other Poe tales where the dead lover returns from beyond the grave, this is a "happy" ending, free of antagonism, guilt or resentment. In "
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Many biographers consider "Eleonora" an autobiographical story written for Poe to alleviate his own feelings of guilt for considering other women for love. At the time of the publication of this very short tale, his wife
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had just begun to show signs of illness, though she would not die for another five years. The narrator, then, is Poe himself, living with his young cousin (soon-to-be wife) and his aunt.
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that translates to "Under the protection of a specific form, my soul is safe." The original publication named the narrator Pyrros.
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Ruffner, Courtney J. and Jeff Grieneisen. "Intelligence: Genius or Insanity? Tracing Motifs in Poe's Madness Tales" collected in
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Ruffner, Courtney J. and Jeff Grieneisen. "Intelligence: Genius or Insanity? Tracing Motifs in Poe's Madness Tales" collected in
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grants her blessings to the couple. "Thou art absolved", she says, "for reasons which shall be made known to thee in
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After living like this for fifteen years, "Love entered" the hearts of the narrator and his cousin Eleonora. The
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Eleonora's death. His admission of madness, however, excuses him from introducing such fantastic elements.
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A woman returning from beyond the grave to visit her former love is a device often used by Poe. See also "
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Benton, Richard P. "Friends and Enemies: Women in the Life of Edgar Allan Poe" collected in
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Kennedy, J. Gerald. "Poe, 'Ligeia,' and the Problem of Dying Women" as collected in
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shrank away, there sprang up in place of them, ten by ten of the ruby-red
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Fisher, Benjamin Franklin. "'Eleonora': Poe and Madness" collected in
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Fisher, Benjamin Franklin. "'Eleonora': Poe and Madness" collected in
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The term "Valley of the Many-Colored Grass" was inspired by "
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It is unclear why the trio lived in isolation in the valley.
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never bind himself in marriage "to any daughter of Earth".
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The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present for 1842
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The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present for 1842
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The story was first published in the 1842 edition of
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The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present for 1842
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Weekes, Karen. "Poe's feminine ideal," collected in
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of "Eleonora" at the Edgar Allan Poe Society online
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Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance
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New York: Checkmark Books, 2001. p. 78. 173:reflected the beauty of their young love: 348: 330: 328: 148: 316:called it "one of his finest stories." 133:in Philadelphia in the literary annual 1416: 874:The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion 304:praised "Eleonora" for being nearly a 206: 1385:Edgar Allan Poe: Once Upon a Midnight 613: 546:Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography 412:Bloom's BioCritiques: Edgar Allan Poe 392:Bloom's BioCritiques: Edgar Allan Poe 325: 141:and has a relatively "happy" ending. 1177:Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque 1049:The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar 492:Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy 295: 137:. 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Index

Short story
Edgar Allan Poe

Romance
Short story
1842
short story
Edgar Allan Poe
1842
autobiographical

Byam Shaw
London
valley
daisies
asphodel
flamingo
Heaven
Broadway Journal
Raymond Lull
Virginia
Morella
Ligeia
madness
Adonais
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Ligeia
Morella
Thomas Holley Chivers
prose poem

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