Friday, January 29, 2016

... appreciating required-Poe...



“Oh, outcast of all outcasts most abandoned!
—to the earth art thou not forever dead?”
~Poe


Preparing to kiss the Poe statue in 2009-- which I didn't actually do because I don't want to ruin art with my lipstick!
As I’ve been discussing the *fun reads* that I have been catching up on prior to the semester, I started thinking that perhaps I’m giving the impression that what I teach isn’t so fun. That isn’t the case at all; it’s just not new-to-me.

As a professor, I tell my students that my syllabi are completely biased because I select the pieces that I want them to read; and, I love to re-read my favorite works. I think it’s important to have a great deal of enthusiasm about the pieces that I select. How else can I encourage others to love literature?!? 

Teaching the introduction to literature course is one of my favorites because not only do I get to teach Dracula by Stoker but I also get to select some of my favorite prose including the short story that I have my class read.

"William Wilson" is probably my favorite short story by Edgar Allan Poe. If you haven’t read it, you can read it here. It isn’t the most popular but even Poe believed it was “[his] best effort”, or at least when he wrote to Washington Irving asking for endorsement, he specifically requested a response to this short story.  

First published in The Gift, Christmas 1839, “William Wilson” is certainly one of his masterpieces even if it is not the most popular. It isn't a Christmas story! I just noted the publication date because, well, I'm still focusing on the Christmas season.

“William Wilson” is a first-person narrative narrated by a character for whom death is imminent and who is distinctly interested in controlling the impression he makes upon the reader.  The basic premise of the story is that the narrator who calls himself William Wilson begins school with another boy with the same name, the same birthday, the same appearance. In fact, they’re exactly the same except that the double appears to be good while our narrator does some pretty awful acts beyond the card-sharking, drinking and lusting that are noted within the piece. And, the double can only whisper.

While the story focuses on the doppelgänger, or the supernatural double, the motif of light and dark are throughout the piece. William Wilson sneaks into his double’s dorm room and takes a close look at his features while at Dr. Bransby’s school. “When the bright rays fell vividly upon the sleeper, and my eyes, at the same moment, upon his countenance. I looked;—and a numbness, an iciness of feeling instantly pervaded my frame.” This is the last time our narrator gets a good look at his double’s features. For the rest of the text, the double lurks in the shadows or hides his face. But I don’t want to discount the length that Poe goes to add obvious doubles. The character uses the name William Wilson (W-W… doubling) and if you sound out the name in English, the first letter W (double-you). Yeah, Poe was a smart, intentional fellow.

There are three German films based on this short story. All of the films are called The Student of Prague. I have my students watch the 1926 version even though the film isn’t that similar to “William Wilson”. The point is to compare the double in the story and in the film. The portrayal is quite different. You can actually view the film in its entirety, albeit you have to watch nine separate YouTube posts. They begin here and you should be prompted to the next clip in order. 

For audiobook fans, I'm including this version below:

9 comments:

  1. "As a professor, I tell my students that my syllabi are completely biased because I select the pieces that I want them to read; and, I love to re-read my favorite works. I think it’s important to have a great deal of enthusiasm about the pieces that I select. How else can I encourage others to love literature?!? " - THIS! I had a teacher in High School who was a real ass. He passed me because I rolled up my skirts and was pretty. I hated Shakespeare because of him. In my senior year of Hish School, I had a teacher who loved drama AND litterature. He made me fall in love with Shakespeare. Having went to most of the schooling system in French, he also got me into Poe. He knew I would like it! He even changed his course around a little bit so we could read the The Tell Tale Heart. He even lent me a collection of his stories and poems. He told me about Shakespeares "Dark Lady Of the Sonnets" and after that, i was reading all his works, trying to find clues! Teachers like you are a real gift. I never really noticed it back then, being so young and all but a lot of my teachers help shape the person I am today. Thanks to my art teacher in High School, I developed a love for van Gogh and frequent museums as much as possible today. Teachers don't just teach, they are muses! Thank you for being so passionate about your work, I bet there are many students who changed or discovered hidden passions because of you! There are not enough teachers like you and you guys don`t often get the recognition you deserve! P.S I said it before and I say it again, i would love to take one of your classes :)

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    1. Awesome! Your teacher sounds great.

      Thank you; I try :)

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  2. Oh! "William Wilson" was so good! I'm a fan of Poe - and have been since I was a little girl - but I don't think I've read this one before. The descriptions of each scene and each action are so fraught with tension. *swoon*

    One of my undergrad courses was "Literature and the Occult," and we also had "Dracula" as required reading, along with S. King and a multitude of other authors. It was wondrous. You've chosen a good Poe story to assign to your class. I'll be they have a blast reading and discussing it.

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    1. Read it and let me know what you think. :D

      Literature and the Occult... I would have taken that :D

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  3. Yup, one of Poe's true classics! I'm going to have to read it again. :-)

    I had a high school Shakespeare teacher who was AWESOME. He would sit in front of the class and just read a scene from the book, and the characters would walk across the room in Technicolor! He had a bulldog named Falstaff, and I think he didn't just enjoy Shakespeare, he adored him. I had always LIKED Shakespeare's work; this teacher made me LOVE it. Glad to know there are still teachers like that in the world! Keep it up!! :-)

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    1. Oh my, the bulldog's name made me giggle! My late pup had a literary name (Aslan) but he was given to me with that name so I can't take credit ;)

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  4. I simply loved this post! Do you use adaptation theory or other specific theories when you reflect the differences of the film and the short story in class? :)

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    1. Thanks :D I use Freud's theory of the uncanny for this work. It's part of a gothic novel discussion that leads into our study of _Dracula_. Because this is the intro to literature studies course, I don't go into too much detail about film theory especially since the majors take a Lit & Film course.

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  5. Off topic:Do you have a Magnetic Bat Curtain?? https://www.catalogfavorites.com/itemdy00.aspx?ID=1,399&T1=V37106. : )

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