Please would some one help me with this question. "Why is Annabel Lee a more tragic love story than Romeo and Juliet?" I read both of them in school and I was just wondering why. My teacher said they were but I didnt get it. Could you please help me. (this is not a homework assingment just for my own understanding) Thank you so much. Krystal (sunshine_22@chickmail.com)

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2000

Answers

The question OUGHT to be: "IS 'Annabel Lee' a more tragic tale than 'Romeo and Juliet' and, if so, why?"

In order to compare these two works, it seems (to me) to be necessary to strip them both of their rhyme and meter, and render them both in the uninspired prose of a "Cliff Notes" synopsis. After all, in order to make the sort of value judgement that we're talking about, here, we've got to find a way of "comparing apples to apples". In their original forms, the five-act play probably has an advantage over the six-stanza poem; the play has a lot more time to develop the characters and instill within the audience a certain degree of concern for the fortunes of the young lovers. In order for the poem to achieve a similar effect, the reader must be a willing participant; s/he must pore over the poem, and ponder it, and allow a true appreciation of its message to materialize in the silence.

My 20-year old memory of "Romeo and Juliet" involves two lovers who marry despite their parents' opposition. With the collusion of the young man's priest and the young woman's servant, the couple develop a plan to escape from their parents' sphere of influence, to live happily ever after in a distant town. But the plan miscarries, with the result that both partners die needlessly. The tragedy, here (it seems to me), is not only that two young people die as the result of a misunderstanding, but that the parents of those young people must continue to live with the knowledge that their own blind hatred set in motion the string of events that led to that death. Indeed, if I recall correctly, both the Capulets and the Montagues will come to an end, as a result of the play's events, because the heirs of both families are dead. So it is not merely Romeo and Juliet who die, but their entire families, as well.

In "Annabel Lee", on the other hand, we have two (young?) lovers whose love is so bright and beautiful that the angels in Heaven wish that they could feel such a powerful force in their own hearts. Now, remember that angels are typically depicted as spirits so filled with love for God that they deem no occupation more worth-while than the singing of His praises in chorus before His throne. The idea that these same angels might find their own love to be inferior to that of two mortals for one another is surely a testament to the quality of that very human love.

What is the tragedy, in "Annabel Lee"? Surely, it is tragic that Annabel dies. And, surely, it is even more tragic that her lover must go on living without her, never again to feel the warmth of her embrace. Indeed, the poet tells us that he lays himself down to sleep, each night, beside the body of his beloved, IN (not beside) the sepulchre in which she is entombed. In other words, the only comfort that the poet has, in his life, is provided by his proximity to a corpse. Surely, this sort of living death is tragic.

But let's consider another point. Why did Annabel Lee have to die, anyway? According to the poem, she died BECAUSE the angels struck her down, jealous of the love that she shared with the poet. In other words, the death of Annabel Lee is an indictment of God's own angels. I'm not talking about the "fallen angels" who were cast out of Heaven with Lucifer, the ones who became known as demons. Instead, I'm talking about those paragons of virtue whom God Himself maintains in His Presence. According to the poem, these angels, not content with immortality and the bliss that can only be found in Heaven, snuff out the life of one mortal and condemn another to a life of misery. And they do this on purpose, out of JEALOUSY.

So, what we have in "Annabel Lee" is not only a tragic tale but a horrible one, as well. For the poem paints a picture, not only of the suffering of a bereft lover, but also of a Universe ruled by sadistic and vindictive creatures, unable to countenance the existence of human happiness. For the death of Annabel Lee demonstrates that, where such happines manifests itself, the very angels of God conspire to visit suffering and death upon any who presume to taste of that happiness.

Which scenario do YOU think is more tragic?

-- Anonymous, March 16, 2000

ANNABEL LEE is a more tragic love story than Romeo & Juliet because Shakespeare was a much inferior writer to Poe. This is not only due to the facts that none of Shakespeare's work was original but was indeed plagiarised from earlier stories, or that the vast majority of his plays were written by other people, but Shakespeare was an upper- class snob who had no idea what real life was like, whereas Poe's life was characterised by poverty, depression and family crises, allowing him more fully to understand, and write, on the subject of human misery.

-- Anonymous, July 23, 2000

What words refer to death in this poem of Annabel Lee? How did Annabel Lee die? How does the poem illustrate the concept of eternal love? What is meant by the "kingdom by the sea"? What is meant y the lines, "But our love it was stronger by far than the love/Of those who were older than we-/Of many far wiser than we-"? What are some examples of words, phares, or lines that appear more than once in the poem "Annabel Lee"? How does this device help to create a mood? What is the mood pf the poem? What part of the poem indicates taht the poet is still grieving for his lost love? How do metaphors improve writing? Thanks.

-- Anonymous, November 29, 2000

i dont kno i never heard of ANNABEL LEE but i kno a really sad story u might be interest in....... it may have some misspell but i really like it.. i think it name rinostory..im not sure but i got it from a friend friend...if u do know the story, then please tell me the author name cause i dont know.

if u want to read the love tragic misunderstand story just email back but if u know the author then tell me please

-- Anonymous, September 05, 2002

YOU FOOLS!!!! ALLOF YOUR ANSWERS ARE INCORRECT! WHY? BECAUSE IN THE FIRST PLACE, THE QUESTION ALSO INCORRECT!!!!!! ROMEO AND JULIET IS NOT A TRAGIC STORY(OR DRAMA) it IS A comedy!!!! why? well, to give you a hint. The couple killed themselves and that's foolishness

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2004

I belive that Annabel Lee is more of a tragic tale because in Romeo and Juleit because in R & J they both seem to have reunited after death. where as in A.L. she is dead and the auther (mostly veiwed as Poe writing in honor of his dead wife Virginia) is left alone and does not bring himself to kill himself. So the lovers are seperated.

~Maddie

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2005