Discussion Was edgar allan poes poem, The Raven, censored? Do you think the guy actually killed himself in the original?

[JeyJeyOfJeypore]

So quick recap

The story is basically one of those anime student-teacher romances gone wrong

Girl ends up dead, so the guy tries to distract himself by doing... things

He ends up imagining a bird shows up that can only say one word. A fancier version of "no", probly because hes heard it said one too many times to him by girls

And he ends up obsessively asking it questions about the good times he had with the girl cuz hes a masochist; knowing what the answer will be

The story ends with him... just depressed... thats it.


So back to the topic. Do you think the actual ending was the guy killing himself, but poe censored to make it more palatable to the public?

Tried searching it and found nothing, probly cuz anything related to it was censored if it was so

 

[momentomori00]

imo I doubt he's a masochist as much as he was someone who was in the depths of despair and grief, he wanted someone to tell him that he'd be reunited with his lover-- even if it was a raven. Based on Poe's history (sick wife, no money, drinking, yada yada yada) maaybe, but then also he literally admitted he wrote the poem to make money/get fame. He wanted it to appeal to as many audiences as possible, and suicide at the end likely wouldn't have made that possible + Poe really likes to write about entrapped obsessive characters, so the ending being endless psychological torture fits that pattern.