Edgar Allan Poe was the very first professional American author. Before him, none of the writers tried to live their craft. He endlessly ruled and rewrote his texts, so every word in Poe's stories is at least the result of the third or fourth revision. He knew the value of art very well. Of course, if you do not read in the original, you will lose a lot of pleasure from reading the story “Oval Portrait”. A brief summary of it will make it possible to note that the work is being built according to the unusual scheme of “story in story” for that time.
Plot
The narrator, being wounded, finds himself in a chateau left by people. The one on whose behalf the narration is being conducted cannot be considered a completely reliable source, since he is ill, he is tormented by fever, and reality seems a little distorted. The house has a lot of decorations and paintings. The narrator finds a notebook in which the story of the creation of many paintings is described. Suddenly he pays attention to the portrait of a beautiful girl-woman who for a moment seems to him absolutely alive, and not painted. The summary of the story “Oval Portrait”, which you read, will allow you to penetrate into the secret of the portrait.
Who is this girl? The narrator learns about this from the notebook. Drawn on canvas was a girl of rare beauty, characterized by great cheerfulness and energy. She, for love, married an artist who created an oval portrait depicting her. The summary does not allow to describe in detail the features of how impressive the creation of the artist looked. For him, the creator paid a huge price. But more on that later.
The artist is not just a genius, he is an assiduous genius who devotes long hours to his craft. He loves him no less than his young wife. But over time, that one has an aversion to the artist’s work and his tools, because a woman has to compete for her husband’s love with his brush and paints. Although, in general, negative feelings are not peculiar to her, she is naturally kind and cheerful.
What else is described in the story “Oval Portrait”? The summary includes a description of the history of the portrait. One day, not at all a wonderful day, the husband wants his wife to pose for him to create a spectacular picture. She doesn't like the idea. But she is obedient and loves her husband, and therefore agrees to spend long hours in a dark tower, where he decided to draw her. By the way, it is in this tower that the wounded narrator of the main story sleeps, reading the story of the creation of the portrait.
When it is almost finished, the artist and his wife lock themselves in a tower and try to adequately complete it. He is so obsessed with his passion for drawing that he does not notice that his wife looks worse and worse. The portrait becomes bright and full of life, while the spouse turns pale and weak. He completes his work and exclaims "Yes, this is life itself." And he suddenly realizes that his wife died when he made the last movement with a brush.
Thus ends the creation of Po Oval Portrait. The summary cannot convey all the features of the language and details, so you should read it in full, especially since the story is not large in size. A frequent motive for Poe is characteristic of this work - the destruction of a loved one. The story "Oval Portrait" tells of the betrayal of life and love in the name of art.