Summary of The Oval Portrait-- Writer: Edgar Allan Poe

The Oval Portrait

Main Characters of the Story :

1.The Narrator : (Name not given) badly injured, takes shelter in an abandoned chateau (castle) with his servant

2. Pedro : The servant of the narrator

3. The Painter : a man who paints his wife, but he is so absorbed with his work that he fails to notice that his wife's condition was getting worse, and finally she dies

4. The Woman in the Portrait : wife of the painter,  she becomes the subject of his painting, and finally dies at the end of the story

Short Summary : 

The story starts with the narrator (name not given) who was badly wounded and injured. With his servant (Pedro), he takes shelter in an abandoned chateau (castle) in the Apennines (mountain range in Italy).They settled in the smallest room which was full of many paintings. 

He took interest in the paintings on the wall, looking at them in candle light. There he also found a book on the pillow which gave full information about the paintings there. 

After looking at the paintings for a long time, he adjusted his candelabra (a large branched candlestick) to be able to read better. Then suddenly he discovered a particular painting (The Oval Portrait) which he had not noticed till then. 

It was an oval shaped painting of an extremely beautiful young lady. Only the head and shoulders were painted. The narrator was too much attracted by it, and kept watching it for about an hour. He felt the painting had an 'absolutely life-likeness'. Then he started reading information about the painting given in the book. 

The book described a tragic story regarding the painting and the woman.

She had loved and married the painter. But he used to care for more about his art than anything else in the world including his wife.

One day he asked her to be the subject for his painting and to sit for it, and she agreed to it. He started the painting, and it took weeks to complete it. During all this period the painter was so involved in making his painting a 'life-like' portrait that he didn't even notice the health condition of the lady. 

Her health condition was continuously declining. But she never complained about it or didn't even let him know about her ill health. 

As he neared the end of his work, he didn't allow anybody to enter the room. He continued with his work. Finally he finished it. And, by the time he looked over at his wife, to his surprise he discovered that she had died. 

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Detailed Summary (Pointwise Breakdown of the Story) :

1. The Forced Entrance : 

The narrator and his valet (servant) were going somewhere. The narrator was in a wounded condition and it was night. It was not good for them to pass night in open air. So the valet made a forced entrance with his master into a chateau (a castle) among the Apennines (a mountain range in central Italy).

(Apennines)

2. The Chateau :

(Chateau)

The chateau was abandoned (left/no body living in). The narrator and his servant entered in one of the smallest rooms. It was rich in decorations. Mostly things were antique (ancient). The room was mostly decorated with armorials trophies and great number of modern paintings.

3. Narrator's Interest in the Paintings :

The narrator was quite interested in the paintings in the room. There on the bed, he found a book which gave full information of the paintings. 

He asked his valet to close the shutters of the room, to light the candles  and to throw open the curtains. He wanted to watch and think about the paintings deeply. He spent a long time watching them and reading about the paintings in the book.

4. Sudden Discovery of a Particular Painting :

Then, at about midnight, when he adjusted the candelabrum (a large branched candlestick), suddenly he noticed a particular painting, which he had not noticed before. It was a portrait of very young and beautiful girl.

(Candelabrum)

5. The Oval Portrait :

It was a portrait of a very young and beautiful woman. It was only head and shoulders, and the rest of the body was unseen. The frame was oval. it was a very good piece of art.

6. Narrator goes back to book:  

After watching the painting for quite a long time, he finally returned to the book for detailed information about the painting (The Oval Portrait).

7. Information Given in the Book : 

She was an extremely beautiful girl. She loved and married a painter. 

But the painter was more interested in his art than in his wife. It was as if painting was his first love and wife. He always kept himself busy in paintings. For this reason the lady almost hated art and things like colours, brushes etc. because they stopped her husband from even looking at her.

One day he asked her to be the subject of his painting. He wanted to make her painting. As she was a very obedient lady, she sat for that for weeks and weeks .

There was very little light in the room. The painter continued his work hours after hours and weeks after weeks.

During all this time she became weaker and weaker. Her physical and psychological condition  was continuously declining.

But the painter was so absorbed in his work that he  did not not notice the degrading health condition of his wife. The lady loved him so much that she didn't tell him about her condition. She always gave a smile without any complain on her lips. 

Thus many weeks had passed. Finally the painting was finished. It was a very beautiful painting and he became very glad. And only then when he looked at his wife, he found that she was already dead.

(She was already dead !)

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Analysis and Interpretation of the story:

1. Writer: 

(Edgar Allan Poe : 1809 -1849)

2. Genre: Horror Short Story

3.Publication: 1842

4. Frame Narrative:  A frame narrative contains a story within a story. This story is an example of 

 frame narrative. 

 In this story also there are two stories: an outer story, which is narrated by the narrator, an inner story, in which we find  information about the painting in the book. 

5. Setting: A chateau in the Apennines (a mountain range in central Italy)

6. Structure : The writer has used narrative techniques, like backstory and foreshadowing in this story. Through backstory he has provided the audiences with all the important information earlier than the narrative of primary interest.

Through foreshadowing he has given indications and hints of what is to come later in this story. Through this technique he has also been able to create suspense and curiosity in the audiences.

7. The portrait: The portrait depicts a very beautiful young woman who comes to a tragic end due to her husband's obsession with painting a portrait of her and also due to her submissive attitude towards her husband.

8. Mood : The story has a dark, gloomy and depressive mood.

9. Tone : The story begins with an annoying mood and ends with a shock.

10. Themes : The story has more than one themes. Some of them are :

• Life v/s Art. : This is the primary theme of the story. Here we find a confusing relationship between art and life.
• Narcissism
• Vampirism
• The woman's beauty condemns her to death
• The submissive nature of the lady. She is uncomplaining about her health
• Dangers of privileging art over life

11. Irony : The major irony is that audiences believe that the painter is deeply in love with his wife, and can do anything for her. But in fact he doesn't care for her. He only cares for his art.

12. Conflict : The major conflict of the story is the struggle of the woman keeping her husband happy by letting him paint the painting for a long period of time without even complaining about her health.

13. Major Symbols : The writer has used several symbols in this story.

He has used darkness to symbolize reality and light to symbolize dream or illusion.

The painter is the symbol of fanaticism, obsession and vampirism. 

14. The Lady : A Passive Figure: The entire story surrounds the painting of a woman. The woman in the portrait is the central character. In spite of that she is essentially a passive figure. She is beautiful, docile, and loving. But  she shows no existence of herself. 

She is similar to canvas of the portrait, both are manipulated by the male painter. She is not an observing character, she is only observed by the painter and the narrator. 

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Some Important Questions-Answers

Understanding the Text:

Answer these questions:

a. Question: Where did the narrator and his servant make forcible entrance?

Answer : As the narrator was badly wounded, they needed a safe place to pass the night. So his servant made a forcible entrance into a chateau (castle) among the Apennines.

b. Question:  Which special picture did the narrator notice in the room ?

Answer : Among many of the paintings in the room, the narrator particularly noticed a picture of an extremely beautiful girl just ripening into womanhood.

c. Question: Describe the portrait that the narrator saw in the room ?

Answer : It was a portrait of a very young and  beautiful girl. It was only head and shoulders (not the whole body). The rest of the body was not painted and its frame was oval. 

d. Question: What is the relationship between portrait painter and its subject?

Answer : The relationship between the two is that they are husband and wife. The husband was a painter and the beautiful lady was his wife.

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Reference to the context:  

a. Question : What is the central theme of the  story? Who is the woman depicted in the oval portrait?

Answer : Although there are several themes of this story, the central theme is Life v/s Art (the relationship between life and art). The inner story of it reveals the theme more clearly. No doubt the portrait was very attractive and beautiful, but the couple's story was not happy. 

The husband was so obsessed with with his art, that he didn't notice that his wife was dying. He was perusing Art at the cost of his wife's life. The painter mistakes his art for reality.

So in conclusion, getting lost in art, mistaking it for reality is dangerous, and may have cost of a life.

The writer puts forward the dark side of art. Art might make artists disconnect from reality.

b. Question : "The Oval Portrait" is a short horror story by Edgar Allan Poe involving the disturbing disturbances surrounding a portrait in a chateau. Elaborate.

Answer : The story presents the narrator's horror about a painter who was too preoccupied with his paintings to notice his wife's decaying health.

It starts when the narrator enters the chateau. The isolation of the place, the strong gothic atmosphere and the decoration of the walls and the gloomy atmosphere make it more disturbing. 

The most disturbing part is that the painter is so absorbed with his work that he fails to notice that his wife was slowly dying. 

c. Question: "The Oval Portrait" suggests that the woman's beauty condemns her to death. Elaborate.

Answer : This is true that the woman's beauty condemns her to death. She was extremely beautiful. Her husband wanted to make a painting of hers. He wanted to immortalize her beauty. He became successful, but at the cost of her life. 

So, if she had not been so beautiful, perhaps the husband would not have thought of making her the subject.

But, however, it might also be said that she  came to this tragic end because of her obedience. She could have told her husband that she was not feeling well, or that she would continue another day.

d. Question: Discuss the story as a frame narrative (a story within a story).

Answer : In a frame narrative we find a story within a story. A frame story leads readers from one story to another within it.

This story is a frame story because here also there is story with in a story. It has an outer story and inner story. 

In the outer story we meet the narrator and his friend taking shelter in a chateau. There, among many paintings the narrator discovered the oval portrait and reads about it in a book. From here we enter the second story, which gives us information of the painting.

The first story is from the narrator's point view and the second story is from the point of view of the book's writer.

e. Question: The story is told in a descriptive style, with plenty of imagery and symbolism. Which images and symbols do you find in the story?

Answer: This story is written in a descriptive style. Through several imageries the writer has given the information about the setting, turret and its gloomy atmosphere, and the physical and mental situation of the narrator himself.

The framed portrait of the woman shows a type of her imprisonment. The physical frame is like the walls of a prison where her outer beauty is imprisoned. 

We also find the use of darkness and light. Symbolically, darkness shows reality and light shows dream and illusion. 

The painter is the symbol of obsession to his work. He is also the symbol of a vampire who sucks the lady's life for the perfection of his art. Lastly, the lady is the symbol of the victim of the the artist's obsession.

f. Question: What does the expression "She was dead!" mean?

Answer: The expression is the painter's surprise at the look of his dead wife. This also means that he was so busy with painting that he could not notice his wife gradually dying. Finally when he made his painting like a real life, she was dead. It means that her outer beauty was transferred in his work, whereas her real self went unnoticed. It was a flow of life from the woman to the portrait.

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Reference Beyond the Text:

a. Question: Do think there is life in art?

Answer: People are divided into two groups in this matter. Some people think yes, and some no. It is only a matter of how you look at the thing.

I believe that there is life in art. Life and art are inseparable. Art is a testimony of all human conditions. It encompasses all the different human aspects, like hardships, emotions, life, hatred etc. 

Art should not be thought of paintings only. Music , dance, films, prayers are the different forms of art. We can not think our lives with art. Life itself is an art. We also think of art of good living. We are all artists in some way. 

So it is not the question of life in art, it is life itself is an art. In conclusion we can say 'art imitates life, and life imitates art'. 

b. Question: As a thing of art nothing could be more admirable than the painting itself. Explain.

Answer: Among different forms of art, painting is superb and most admirable one. One important quality of painting is that it captures a certain moment or situation or something else for ever and ever. If a painting is by a very skilled painter, it (painting) almost speaks. 

In this case, the painter arrested her beauty for ever. One can look at it several times, from several angles, and every time it will reveal something new. With her death the lady's beauty is gone. But it was her painting that puzzled the narrator. Every stroke of brush reveals her beauty.

So, in conclusion, the way a painting captures something, and immortalizes it, makes painting the most admirable thing.

c. Question: A more intense look at the painting reveals the illusion. Have you noticed any such painting?

Answer: A painting creates the illusion of a real object or scene. They present a figure in such a realistic way, that they seem alive. 

But when we look the painting intensely, illusion is revealed and every thing becomes clearer. 

Recently I noticed the painting 'Baptism of Christ' on Wikipedia with white dove of the holy ghost in the sky.

[Baptization of Jesus Christ]

When I had had an intense look at it (with my friend), every stroke of brush and every tint of colour became clear and then we could enjoy the whole painting.

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(Image credit: Google images)