Aesthetic Desire: Edgar Allan Poe, Nikolaos Episkopopoulos and the Death-of-a-Beautiful-Woman Motif

Abstract

The purpose of the present paper is twofold: firstly, it aims to shed light on the influence Edgar Allan Poe exerted on the work of Nikolaos Episkopopoulos by providing evidence of the Greek writer having read Poe’s short fiction. Specific attention is given to the development of the aesthetic tradition in Greece, a tradition to which both Poe and Episkopopoulos are closely tied. Secondly, it explores the possible intertextual relations and parallels between Poe’s female ideal and Episkopopoulos’ fictional representation of women as this is exemplified in Episkopopoulos’s “Ut Dièse Mineur” (1893). The side-by-side examination of the female heroine appearing in Episkopopoulos’s “Ut Dièse Mineur” reveals significant links between Episkopopoulos’ tales and Poe’s, highlighting the similar manner in which both writers develop the image of a sensuous female persona.

Keywords

• aestheticism
• american short story
• greek intertextuality
• e. a. poe