The Oval Portrait

Befitting its status as a classic example of Gothic literature, the style of “The Oval Portrait” is mysterious and suspenseful. Poe includes various details that suggest that there is more than meets the eye in his description of the eerie chateau. The narrator’s description of a strange painting he finds in the chateau exemplifies this pervasive sense of mystery: 

I thus saw in vivid light a picture all unnoticed before. It was the portrait of a young girl just ripening into womanhood. I glanced at the painting hurriedly, and then closed my eyes. Why I did this was not at first apparent even to my own perception. But while my lids remained thus shut, I ran over in my mind my reason for so shutting them. It was an impulsive movement to gain time for thought—to make sure that my vision had not deceived me—to calm and subdue my fancy for a more sober and more certain gaze.

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