I am not sure if Poe's statement in "The Philosophy of
Composition" is an example of the sexual objectification of women. Is Poe's statement
that the death of a beautiful woman is "the most poetical topic in the world" equivalent
to saying that a woman is merely an object to be used for a man's sexual gratification?
Or is he saying that a beautiful woman's death is catastrophic because of the totality
of her beauty, both physical and spiritual?
In "Annabel
Lee" the descriptions of the beauty of the narrator's lover are brief and rather
unremarkable. She is twice referred to as "beautiful," and there is a mention of her
"bright eyes." This hardly sounds like objectification to
me.
What we do find is a strong spiritual love between
Annabel Lee and the narrator. They loved each other "with a love that was more than
love." Their love was so strong that the "winged seraphs of Heaven / Coveted" them.
The love of these two youths for each other was "stronger by far than the love / Of
those who were older."
For further information, take a look
at the second link below. You will find there a list of factors that can be used to
determine if a person is being objectified.
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