Edgar Allan Poe, Morella

Slobodan Sucur (University of Alberta)

Ed. by Stephen E. Meats, Pittsburg State University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.2: American (US) Writing and Culture: The Nineteenth Century, 1783-1900.
Vol. editors: Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1835

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Story

Resources

“Morella” (1835) is described by T.O. Mabbott as “one of the great stories in Poe’s early Arabesque manner” (Poe 2:221). The tale makes use of the theory of “metempsychosis”, also of the “superstition that gods and men must answer when their right names are spoken” (2:221). The name of the narrator’s wife is taken from that of a real person, Juliana Morella, celebrated in Spain in the first half of the 17th century for her powers of mind; she knew fourteen languages and eventually entered the convent of St. Praxedia at Avignon (2:221-2). The lady is now known, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia (1911), as the “Venerable Mother Juliana Morell&…

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4069 words

Citation: Sucur, Slobodan. "Morella". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 November 2018 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38907, accessed 22 November 2024.]

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