25 English -- The Oval Portrait

Describe the portrait that the narrator saw in the room.

Describe the portrait that the narrator saw in the room.

In Edgar Allan Poe’s story “The Oval Portrait” suddenly notices a portrait in a corner of the room when he tries to adjust the candelabrum. It is a portrait of a girl who is in the threshold of womanhood. The painting has overwhelming effect on the narrator who impulsively feels the need to close his eyes to wonder what it is about the image that he finds so startling. The picture is in an oval frame. It is a “vignette” that depicts the head and shoulders of a young woman. The oval frame is covered in gold filigree in the Moorish style. The narrator acknowledges that the painting is very well executed and its subject is beautiful. He feels that there is something else about the portrait that fascinates him. He looks at it for an hour and feels that the painting is very lifelike. He eventually finds the fact appalling and decides to move the candelabrum so that he cannot see the painting.

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