Previous
The Artist
The artist’s wife appears in the flesh only in the inner story, but her image—an “immortalized” painted portrait of her mortal self, remarkable in its lifelikeness—startles and appalls the narrator in the narrative’s outer story. The guide book that the narrator reads describes her as vivacious and full of love for everything but the painter’s vocation, which she regards as a rival for his affections. Her dominant character traits are meekness and submissiveness. Although she intensely dislikes the being painted—a process with deteriorates her physically and psychologically—she never protests about it because she loves the artist and doesn’t want to stand in the way of the pleasure he takes in his work. In the end, this unconditional love results in her demise, as she dies while the artist is completing her portrait. The artist is subtly portrayed as a sort of metaphorical vampire in the way that he sucks the youth and health out of his wife in order in order to immortalize her, although her immortalization is, of course, a figurative one on canvas. Poe uses the wife’s character to critique the subjection of women in the patriarchal society of his day, and also to emphasize the potentially dehumanizing effects of the male gaze. Her character is somewhat of a two-dimensional one, and this may be a deliberate ploy on the part of the Poe, as an attempt to represent the way women were often perceived in his day.
The Artist’s Wife Quotes in The Oval Portrait
The The Oval Portrait quotes below are all either spoken by The Artist’s Wife or refer to The Artist’s Wife . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Oval Portrait Quotes
The portrait, I have already said, was that of a young girl. It was a mere head and shoulders, done in what is technically termed a vignette manner; much in the style of the favorite heads of Sully.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Having shifted the position of the candelabrum to view the painting in his room, the narrator finally notices the story’s titular portrait—a vignette—and proceeds to give a brief description of it. Effectively severed from the rest of her body, the girl’s head and shoulders serve as a decorative object intended to appeal to the (male) eye. It could be argued that, having failed to represent the entirety of the girl’s body, the painter has, by extension, failed to represent her true nature as well—she has become a proverbial pretty face, existing exclusively for male gratification. The ornate frame in which Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Q
I had found the spell of the picture in an absolute life-likeliness of expression, which, at first startling, finally confounded, subdued, and appalled me.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
The narrator is utterly mesmerized by the portrait of the artist’s wife in his chamber room at the chateau. Although the image of the girl never literally comes to life, as might be the case in other works of Gothic fiction, the narrator perceives it as absolutely lifelike—a notion that will take on particular significance once the reader learns, along with the narrator, that the model’s vital energies were progressively drawn out of her and into the canvas throughout the painting of the portrait. The narrator is rendered powerless at the sight of the portrait, paralleling the powerlessness of the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamu
She was a maiden of rarest beauty, and not more lovely than full of glee. And evil was the hour when she saw, and loved, and wedded the painter. He, passionate, studious, austere, and having already a bride in his Art; she a maiden of rarest beauty, and not more lovely than full of glee; all light and smiles, and frolicsome as the young fawn; loving and cherishing all things; hating only the Art which was her rival; dreading only the pallet and brushes and other untoward instruments which deprived her of the countenance of her lover. It was thus a terrible thing for this lady to hear the painter speak of his desire to portray even his young bride. But she was humble and obedient, and sat meekly for many weeks in the dark, high turret-chamber where the light dripped upon the pale canvas only from overhead.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
The narrator is reading the guide to the paintings in the chateau, and learns, together with the reader, about the painter and his wife. Both exist largely as archetypes—the artist’s wife represents beauty and innocence, while the artist represents objectification and creative obsesion. Zealously passionate about his work, which he values more than anything else, the painter is the quintessential Romantic artist. Significantly, his “Art” is personified by dint of the capital “A”—it takes on the form of a quasi-human “bride” that the wife regards as an adversary and a competitor for his affections. The wife herself, meanwhile, is the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi ea
[…] [T]he painter had grown wild with the ardor of his work, and turned his eyes from the canvas rarely, even to regard the countenance of his wife. And he would not see that the tints which he spread upon the canvas were drawn from the cheeks of her who sat beside him
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
According to the guide book, the painter eventually becomes wholly engrossed in painting the portrait of his wife, so much so that he barely looks up to engage with the living reality of his wife—a reality that has been eclipsed, in his eyes and mind, by the image he’s creating on the canvas. This paint-and-canvas simulation now seems to take precedence over the flesh-and-blood original for him. Furthermore, as evidenced by the second sentence in the quote, the simulation is actually displacing the flesh-and-blood original: its colors do not merely mimic the coloring of the girl’s flesh but are “drawn” Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis conse
And then the brush was given, and then the tint was placed; and, for one moment, the painter stood entranced before the work which he had wrought; but in the next, while he yet gazed, he grew tremulous and very pallid, and aghast, and crying with a loud voice, 'This is indeed Life itself!' turned suddenly to regard his beloved: She was dead!
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
The narrator continues to read the guide book, which now describes the model’s tragic end. The artist, in his creative frenzy, hasn’t noticed that his wife has been suffering, physically and psychologically, and with ever greater intensity, during the painting of the portrait, and it therefore comes as an utter shock to him that she has died just as the portrait is finally completed. The vampirism theme is brought to its logical conclusion here: since the portrait, filled with the vital energies of the model, has reached a height of perfection, the model herself must necessarily succumb to death. This Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui digniss
Get the entire The Oval Portrait LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
The Artist’s Wife Character Timeline in The Oval Portrait
The timeline below shows where the character The Artist’s Wife appears in The Oval Portrait. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Oval Portrait
...notices a painting that has so far escaped his attention. It’s a portrait of a girl who is “just ripening into womanhood.” The painting exerts an immediately overwhelming yet ambiguous effect...
(full context)
...“vignette” painted “much in the style of the favorite heads of Sully.” It depicts the girl’s head and shoulders, with the rest of her body unseen. The narrator admires the painting’s...
(full context)
The guide book contains an account of the portrait’s painter and its subject, who turn out to be husband and wife. The former, a renowned portrait painter, is...
(full context)
The painter begins work on the portrait—and the physical and psychological state of his wife immediately begins to decline, her health and spirits “withered” by the process. The painter, however,...
(full context)
