Summary of The Oval Portrait
“The oval portrait is a horror story which was
written by a famous American writer, poet, literary critic, and editor Edger Allan Poe. This is
an example of a frame narrative because there is a story within a story. The
story primarily deals with the relationship between life and art are
inseparable because life creates art. After the art is created life becomes
immortal through it.
The narrator enters the chateau, a large village
house with the help of his servant because he is wounded in his leg though we
don`t know what kind of wound he has. It was nighttime, so they have to use
candlelight in the room. They go to a corner of the building in a small room
where there is enough decoration but the room is abandoned. The narrator sees
many paintings on the wall. As he wants to take a rest on a bed, his eyes fall
upon a painting.
The narrator wants to observe the painting by
bringing a candelabrum near the painting. But he cannot understand the painting
clearly. He sees a history book on the pillow that describes the painting and
trophies on the wall. This particular painting is about a young woman who is
ripening into womanhood. In painting, she sits on the sofa patiently. There is
a man beside her who seems to be painting a portrait of a woman in an
oval-shaped frame. After reading a book, he gets the information that it is
about paint and his wife.
The woman in the painting was the painter`s wife.
She was very beautiful, perhaps the most beautiful in the world. Her evil time
started when she got married to the painter. The painter wanted to capture her
beauty in his painting. As he painted her portrait, he forgot his real life and
dedicated his time to the painting. In one sense, he got married to the
painting. Her rivals were her portrait and the brushes that were used to paint
the portrait. She was extremely disappointed by his changed attitude but she
thought that it could disturb the work. She remained silent but she grew pale
and feeble. She became sick. She hide her desire and waited for her husband to
love her back. As he was filling the colors in the painting and finishing his
work, her colors were removed from the body. At last, he was shocked to know
that she was dead. He realized his mistake and regretted it but was too late.
In this way, the story shows the relationship
between art and life. Life becomes immortal through art. But life is always
more important than art. The painter was wrong to focus on the art ignoring his
real life.
Also Read : The Oval Portrait Exercise
“This is the short story( The oval Portrait) written by Edger Allan Poe. In this article you will find the short summary of the story which is useful for the class 11 NEB student. You can give feedback in the comment section. We will implement further in the upcoming article.”