Romanticism
Jenny Florentino
The Raven
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
Nameless here for evermore.
The Devil and Tom Walker
Tom Walker: The protagonist of "The Devil and Tom Walker." Described as "a meagre miserly fellow," he is probably Washington Irving's most despised (or least likeable) character. Despite his many unsavory characteristics, he is also memorable. Initially, Tom Walker rejects Old Scratch's offer, but he eventually gives into the Devil's "conditions"--with conditions.
Fall of the House of Usher
"I shall perish," said he, "I must perish in this deplorable folly. Thus, thus, and not otherwise, shall I be lost. I dread the events of the future, not in themselves, but in their results. I shudder at the thought of any, even the most trivial, incident, which may operate upon this intolerable agitation of soul. I have, indeed, no abhorrence of danger, except in its absolute effect -- in terror. In this unnerved -- in this pitiable condition --I feel that the period will sooner or later arrive when I must abandon life and reason together, in some struggle with the grim phantasm, FEAR."