The Oval Portrait

"The Oval Portrait" is short story by Edgar Allan Poe involving the disturbing circumstances surrounding a portrait in a chateau. It is one of his shortest stories, filling only two pages in its initial publication in 1842. The tale begins with an injured narrator seeking refuge in an abandoned mansion in the Apennines, with no explanation for his wound. He spends his time admiring the works of art decorating the strangely-shaped room and perusing a volume which "purported to criticize and describe" the paintings. He eventually discovers a painting which shocks him with its extreme realism, which he refers to as "absolute life-likeliness of expression." He spends a moment ("for an hour, perhaps," the reader is told) in silent awe of it until he cannot bear to look any more, then consults the book for an explanation. The remainder of the story is a selection from this book discussing how the painting was created — a story within a story. The book explains that the picture was...