In the ruined chateau, the narratorof “The Oval Portrait” finds a book which provides explanations for the various paintings contained in the building, including a particularly mysterious portrait of a young woman. The book uses personification in its description of the subject of the painting:
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.
The book uses distinctly human language to describe the abstract concept of “Art.” In the book, art is characterized as a rival to the young woman for the affection of her husband, an artist. Though the young woman has married the artist, he already has “a bride” in his art, and even the “rarest beauty” of the young woman is not enough to distract him from his artistic vocation. The young woman herself recognizes that art is “her rival,” which deprives her of the affections of “her lover.” Poe’s language here imagines the concept of art in distinctly human terms.
