Poe and the Decomposing Eden

Poe and the Decomposing Eden

Molley K. Robbey argues in her article “Poe and Prophecy: degeneration in the Holy Land and the House of Usher” that The Fall of the House of Usher is actually a religious text, fulfilling a prophetic role in describing the fall of the hegemonic Islamic world and the subsequent rise of Judaism in the Middle East.  Besides noting Roderick Usher’s prophetic abilities as proof of the religious overthrow, Robbey argues that “Poe’s representation of decay . . . depends upon not only the word ‘Arabesque’ but also the word ‘Hebrew’” (62). The distinction drawn between these two words places Robbey at odds with scholars such as Travis Montgomery, and Cecil Moffitt, who show that the arabesque in Poe’s writing refers to an Eden or paradisiacal state of artistic possibilities achievable through our imagination in the dichotomy of imagination and reason.  Jacob Rama Berman notes in his analysis of Poe’s writings on interior decorating that “[b]y imaginatively incorporating arabesque into American domestic space, Poe grants controlled access to the exotic and thus a domesticated experience of the sublime” (Berman 136).  One cannot deny the connection Robbey sees In The Fall of the House of Usher between the arabesque and decay, but I argue that the singular use of the word “Hebrew” does not support a reading of Usher as a prophetic text of Middle-east politics.  Rather, the occurrence of “Hebrew” shows Poe’s consistency in using the arabesque to describe “the ideal beauty” or paradise our imaginations can create (Hess 177).

Through the scholarship of Moffitt and Montgomery I will explain the proper parameters of arabesque, and show that a distinction drawn between the word “Hebrew” and the other arabesque descriptions inappropriately divides the category.  I will then review the interpretations of the arabesque by Berman and Hess to show how an understanding of a mitigated sublime changes our perception of the arabesque as a signifier of destruction to an evidence of a paradisiacal state achieved through imagination.  From here I will show how Yothers’ applies a mitigated glimpse of the sublime to other Poe stories. Lastly I will apply this hybrid theory—made up from Moffitt, Montgomery, Berman, Hess and Yothers—to Robbey’s reading of The Fall of the House of Usher and show Usher not as a political or religious text of upheaval, but an interpretation of the consequences suffered when reason is used to limit ones imaginative or artistic side. 

In Robbey’s reading of The Fall of the House of Usher the word “Hebrew” takes an oppositional stance against the arabesque and the descriptions included within this category.  For Robbey these terms are exclusive and describe two different things, because the Jewish population has been at odds both politically and culturally with the Arab, or Islamic world.  Cecil Moffitt addresses the scope of the arabesque.  She begins by looking at the dictionary entry for arabesque from the 1842 Encyclopedia Britannica.  This entry notes that it “is the etymological meaning . . . [for] Arabian [and] Arabic” (Moffitt 57).  It makes sense that Robbey would pick up on this aspect of the definition, because of the etymological similarities.  However a “much older” use of the word describes the word as “Arabian or Moorish in ornamental design” (57).  This ornamental design includes non-symmetrical lines, curves, flowery patterns, and shapes that have an organic quality to them.  Moffitt, like Robbey recognizes and allows for the obvious connection between arabesque and Arabic, but this does not prohibit the term from being more inclusive of a broader cultural base.  In fact the use of the word “Moorish” opens the doors to let the arabesque include more then just Arabs, and describes a culture, though Islamic by religion, actually maintains a geographical area separate from Arabia but including; Northern Africa, Spain and Portugal.  If the 1842 definition of the word isn’t broad enough to allow for the inclusion of more then one culture, Moffitt then explicates that “the boundaries of Poe’s Arabia are even more extensive” then the countries political boarders.  “From Libya . . . he circles the eastern end of the Mediterranean . . . embracing Egypt, Arabia, Syria, Persia, Palestine, Turkey, and Greece.  Among the cities he names are . . . Jerusalem . . .and Babylon.”  Geographically this region encompasses almost every land touching the Mediterranean Sea.  Furthermore the arabesque is used to describe cultures from lands as far away as Japan and Mongolia (58-59).    Moffitt further shows that Poe’s arabesque was a veritable cocktail of cultures.  The deities—alone—include Christian, Islamic, Greek and Roman Pagan, assorted mythological characters, and Hebrew figures. Through this description we see that the term arabesque is supremely vast including almost anything that wasn’t Europe.  The arabesque is not a descriptive tool that pits the Judeao-Christians against the Islamic religions.  More accurately it differentiates between the structure and formality of the European and Western cultures including France, Britain, Germany, and America from the rest of the world. 

Travis Montgomery looked at Metzengerstein, The Visionary, and Bernice, and like Moffitt noted the broad geographical and cultural range encompassed by the term arabesque. In Montgomery’s analysis of The Visionary he notes that the hero’s dwelling was infused by the arabesque, including references to Egypt, as well as “Tyre, an ancient Syrian city” (Montgomery 15).  From Moffitt and Montgomery we can see that the arabesque is an exceptionally broad term.  The term is not to be used to pit the Judeo-Christian world against the Islamic world, as Robbey would argue.  From these two scholars we can clearly see that Poe did not differentiate between Hebrew and Arab when he used arabesque, because the Hebrews were culturally, geographically and religiously included in the term; just as the pagans, the Hindus the Buddhists and the Muslims were. 

Poe’s use of the arabesque did not just influence his tales of fiction, but was so complete that it even influenced his writings of non-fiction.  Poe wrote an article for Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine in which he gives advice on interior decorating.  This is what Jacob Berman looks at when discussing Poe’s use of the arabesque as it pertains to domestic space.  In Poe’s article he describes a chamber “with whose decorations no fault can be found.”  To which Berman notes, “Prominent among these faultless decorations is the arabesque” (129).  The furniture in one’s room is meant to allow one to philosophize, and thus obtain or understand the sublime.  Berman notes that, “the arabesque allows Poe to tease out the latent terror quotient of the sublime image specifically through an abstracted Eastern figure” (Berman 131).  Berman further describes a sort of terrifying quality to the arabesque.  The arabesque was able to “integrate “outside elements” into its “formal world.”  These outside elements, in the European context, were “primitive” designs, and aspects of tribal culture; masks, weapons, etc.  This primitive aspect was considered grotesque, or uncivilized in relation to the formality associated with European and American norms.  Berman explains that the arabesque elements used in the home created a sanctuary apart from world, “establishing the psychic comfort of man’s ability to rationalize the unfathomable . . . By imaginatively incorporating arabesque design into American domestic space, Poe grants controlled access to the exotic and thus a domesticated experience of the sublime” (136).  In Berman’s analysis of the domestic space the arabesque elements are not just a tool to understand aesthetic furniture, they are also indicative of the presence of the sublime.  Berman further explains that incorporating the arabesque “is not without its consequences” (137).  The consequence comes because these tribal influences are closer to the earth.  The people and cultures from which they come are less removed from nature, or from Eden then we are as civilized society.  Because of the order and formality associated with the American domestic space; by incorporating arabesque elements one is creating a space in “proximity to the grotesque, primitive, and monstrous.”  This “destabilizes the sanctity of home with its degenerate potential” (137). 

 The arabesque—with all its accoutrements—signifies the sublime, and the sublime in turn is meant to bring us closer to the perfection we associate with paradise or the Garden of Eden.  It does that by presenting something we’re not familiar with in our rigid, symmetrical, western thought.  It presents something that is exotic, foreign, and primitive.  This primitive aspect is so close to nature that it embodies the sublime, and allows us to escape our structured environment. 

Jeffrey Hess addresses the idea that the sublime is in nature in describing Poe and his connection with the Garden of Eden.  He explains that the Garden of Eden represents the perfect world.  “Poe believed that the artist could achieve this vision of ideal beauty only by means of his poetic and intuitive imagination” (Hess 177).  Hess continues by noting that this ideal is often not reached by any of Poe’s characters.  Though dealing with a different set of stories, Montgomery also noticed that characters rarely achieve the ideal.  Montgomery states “For Poe, preserving the sanctity of the imagination, figuratively associated with the Middle East, was paramount, and ‘Metzengerstein’, “The Visionary”, and ‘Bernice’, all of which employ Gothic and Oriental devices, dramatize artistic failure, the betrayal of genius resulting in imaginative decay or death” (5).  Montgomery continues saying, “In such a world writers had to subordinate creative preferences to market considerations” (6).  What Poe dealt with, and what Hess and Montgomery noticed in his work was the problem of being true to art, or being true to what the consumer wanted art to be.  This dichotomy between artistic integrity and commercialism was described in Poe’s stories through the arabesque, which represented this Eden like paradise.  Hess argues that, “Poe always viewed artistic success as something necessarily “provisional” and “relative,” largely because the artist could never “fully communicate the supernal truth and beauty of his intuitive vision”” (178).  Artistic success was provisional for several reasons including the need to make money.  If the artist isn’t allowed to describe what is truly sublime because his art needs to sell, then he is limited, and his ability to achieve that sublime state is relative and dependant on the consumer.  As a further example of the provisional nature of the sublime Hess looks at Poe’s “The Domain of Arnheim” a story that involves a journey along a river to Arnheim, which is a beautiful castle and garden similar to Eden or Heaven.  The story is saturated with the non-regular lines and intricate shapes and designs that epitomize the arabesque, and once the view of Arnheim proper is presented to the reader we are given the overt references associated with the arabesque including “the phantom handiwork” of all manner of mythological beings.  Ellison, the creator of this supernal getaway is not limited—like many artists—by the restraints of finances.  Having inherited improbable amounts of money, he is able to spend every penny required to create not only the castle and garden of Arnheim, but also the meticulously manicured landscape for miles around.  While the narrator is able to enter this modern Garden of Eden no description is given to the reader beyond the passing glimpse viewed through the front gates.

Through this scholarship we see that the arabesque figures prominently as a sign of one’s proximity to the sublime.  Whether it is in one’s furniture, décor, etc, or the landscape surrounding paradise, the arabesque represents nearness with perfection.  As one allows their imagination to flow freely the arabesque figures more prominently in their life, and this in turn signifies their ability to reach the perfect state.  On the other hand, the more one gives in to reason and logic the further one is distanced from perfection.  Since perfection is portrayed as Arnheim, or the Garden of Eden, then logic and reason would be the antithesis and be described by rampant decay and destruction.

When Robbey argues that the “Hebrew” is a sign or portent of a political overthrow in the Middle-East, she fails to recognize that “Hebrew” cannot be used against the broader arabesque because it would then stand on both sides of the juxtaposition. Through scholars such as Moffitt and Montgomery we are able to understand just how many different cultures contributed to this device.  The scholarship of Berman, Hess and Montgomery allow us to look at the arabesque and understand how this device differs from other western motifs, namely that it includes aspects that are primitive, closer to nature, and perhaps even wild in relation to the clean lines and structure of reason.  These scholars also help us to understand that when we recognize the arabesque we are seeing something that is sublime and as close to the perfection of Eden as we can get.  This sublime will be touched by decay and destruction because of the battle between our imagination and reason.  This allows us to see Robbey’s interpretation of The Fall of the House of Usher and ignore the idea that this is a piece of literature engaged in modern Middle-eastern politics because that wasn’t something that Poe cared about.  Instead, we can look at The Fall of the House of Usher and see the decay and destruction surrounding the Usher family and their property, as a sign of their having turned away from imagination.  While Roderick does posses some vestige of arabesque, namely a “Hebrew” nose, these traits are found in a lesser measure then they should be.  As a result of Roderick’s turning away from his imagination the house and land literally implode, swallowing himself and his sister.  This leads us to wonder how the story might have been different if Roderick and his family hadn’t turned away from their imaginations whether the landscape would have been in closer proximity and appearance to Arnheim, or even the Garden of Eden.

Works Cited

Hess, Jeffrey A. “Sources and Aesthetics of Poe’s landscape Fiction.” American Quarterly 22.2 (1970): 177-189. Jstor. Web. 27 sept. 2011.

Moffitt, Cecil. “Poe’s “Arabesque”.” Comparative Literature 18.1 (1966): 55-70. JSTOR. Web. 27 September 2011.

Montgomery, Travis. "Poe's Oriental Gothic: 'Metzengerstein' (1832), 'The Visionary' (1834), 'Berenice' (1835), the Imagination, and Authorship's Perils." Gothic Studies 12.2 (2010): 4-28. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 19 Sept. 2011.

Poe, Edgar Allen. “The Philosophy of Furniture.” Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine May 1840: 243-45. 

-- -- --. The Fall of the House of Usher. Ebook. 

Rama-Berman, Jacob. "Domestic Terror and Poe's Arabesque Interior." English Studies in Canada 31.1 (2005): 128-150. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 27 Sept. 2011.

Robey, Molly K. "Poe and Prophecy: Degeneration in the Holy Land and the House of Usher." Gothic Studies 12.2 (2010): 61-69. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 19 Sept. 2011.