THE OVAL PORTRAIT THROUGH THE LENS OF LIBERAL HUMANISM

Liberal Humanism is a traditional approach to English Studies that stems from the works of I.A Richards, William Empson and F. R Leavis. Liberal Humanists highlight the agency and value of human beings, both individually and collectively. They believe human beings essentially possess ‘free will’ and perceive themselves as well as thers based on experience. There are some underlying aspects of liberal humanism which have been made into the ‘ten tenets’. They serve as the guidelines and the core for studying a text from a liberal humanist viewpoint.

The text in question is Edgar Allen Poe’s, ‘The Oval Portrait’, is a classic

short story that narrates a tragic tale of a young girl. What’s interesting though is that there is no context given to the story. The narrator doesn’t identify himself, the chateau is non-descriptive nor does he dwell on the circumstances that got him there. The story makes sense in itself and doesn’t require the elaborate process of placing it within a context. This serves as one of the fundamental tenets of liberal humanism where a text should make sense in isolation. The socio-political, literary-historical circumstances and the autobiographical details or influences of the author need not be known for the text to make sense. Though some critics emphasize on the need to study context, liberal humanists counter it by stating that the ‘words on the page’ should be self sufficient and induce what’s called ‘on-sight close reading’, which allows for focus on nuances in the story.

The absence of a particular time-frame that allows it to be placed in any epoch and the use of understandable, everyday language makes it relatable to the audience no matter where and when they read it or what their beliefs or values are. This brings us to the next tenet that states that what marks a true literary piece is its timelessness or the fact that it can be read generations later and it would still make sense and be relatable to the reader. The story is gothic with a sense of eeriness that brought forward by the dark setting. The story talks about fear, beauty, love, passion and death. These are emotions which are universal and, for the lack of a better term, eternal. Thus, the story sits well with the tenet that “human nature is unchanging” and “continuity in literature is more important than innovation”;i.e. the storyline may change and new topics maybe discussed but they all should deal with the same human emotions that’s what makes the story relatable and impactful.

The story also brings out contrast between life and art. As liberal humanists put it, literature has the power within it to enhance human life and evoke powerful emotions that can move them but literature is not a means for propaganda. The story captures how art drives a character to madness, and a damsel whose love compels her to sacrifice her life with every stroke of her lovers brush. It brings out emotions of empathy and a diabolic exchange of life and death.

The story thus, fits well into the liberal humanism viewpoint. Though it can be studied from multiple viewpoints and the approach has been criticized by some, such as the structuralists, it stands on strong grounds and it can’t be refuted that it is one of the first and major ways of studying literary texts.