Page 24 - DENG202_ELECTIVE_ENGLISH_III

Unit 2: A Dream within a Dream by Edgar Allan Poe

A Dream within a Dream deals most precisely with the disturbing idea that reality is Notes
temporary and nothing more than a dream.

Poe frequently uses the idea of a double, where the narrator has a doppelganger that stand
for his primal instincts or subconscious.
As a writer, Poe was part of the American Romantic movement of the early 19th century,
when authors redirected their thoughts to nature so as to attain a purer and less evil state,
away from the negative impacts of the society.

A large portion of Poe’s fiction contains musings on the nature of death and on queries
about the afterlife.
Poe explores the variety of human emotions such as despair and hope with his writings.

A common theme within Poe’s work is that of a woman who has died at the height of her
youth and beauty, leaving a bereaved lover behind to grieve.
Poe focus on the competences of the human mind most openly.

Published in 1849 A Dream within a Dream, is a conversation poem. It is a farewell poem to
a beloved and in concurrence with their assertion.

2.11 Keywords

Gothic: Belonging to or suggestive of the Dark Ages and significantly horrifying or gloomy.
Supernatural: Accredited to some force beyond the laws of nature or scientific understanding.

th
Surrealism: A movement of the 20 century in art and literature, which was launched to release
the creative potential of the unconscious mind.
th
Symbolism: A 19 movement in art and literature, which focussed on the use of symbolic images
and indirect suggestions to describe state of mind, emotions and mystical ideas.

2.12 Review Questions

1. Write in brief about the poet Edgar Allan Poe.
2. What are the various themes explored by the Poe?

3. Write a brief note on Poe and his contemporaries.
4. What effect does the rhyme have on the poem’s content? Does it make it seem more or less
serious?

5. Does the speaker really believe all of life is a dream within a dream, or does he seem
doubtful? How can you tell?
6. Write about Poe and his personal life. Do you think that his personal life served as a source
of inspiration for him?
7. What is the theme of the poem ‘A Dream within a Dream’?
8. Give a detailed analyses of the lines, “Is all that we see or seem/But a dream within a
dream?”
9. Critically analyse the poem A Dream within a Dream.
10. Why do you think the woman is in this poem? What effect does she have on its themes and
message? Is she just a metaphor, or is she a real figure?

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