The Spectacles [short story]
by Edgar Allan Poe
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The narrator, 22-year old Napoleon Buonaparte, changes his last name from "Froissart" to "Simpson" as a requirement to inherit a large sum from a distant cousin, Adolphus Simpson. At the opera he sees a beautiful woman in the audience and falls in love instantly. He describes her beauty at length, despite not being able to see her well; he requires spectacles but, in his vanity "resolutely refused to employ them." His companion Talbot identifies the woman as Madame Eugenie Lalande, a wealthy show more widow, and promises to introduce the two. He courts her and proposes marriage; she makes him promise that, on their wedding night, he will wear his spectacles...(Excerpt from Wikipedia) show lessTags
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While reading the novel Asta's Book, a character referenced the Edgar Allan Poe short story, "The Spectacles." The reference wasn't fully explained, so I dropped my novel and immediately retrieved by huge book of Poe's work from my shelf.
The story features a rather vain young man who is too proud of his looks to wear the glasses he so desperately needs. Instead, he makes do without them and the consequences, in this story, are hysterically funny. When our young man spots a beautiful woman at the opera, it is love at first sight. He contrives to meet the woman, who professes her own immediate love for him, and they are quickly married. It isn't until after the wedding that our young man, in deference to his new wife's demand, dons a pair show more of spectacles. Imagine his horror and surprise to finally see his new spouse clearly: she is 82 years old. HA!
There's another twist at the end which furthers the humor of the entire situation, but I can't reveal that part without spoiling it. It's a short story....10-15 pages at the most.....read it. You'll laugh. :) show less
The story features a rather vain young man who is too proud of his looks to wear the glasses he so desperately needs. Instead, he makes do without them and the consequences, in this story, are hysterically funny. When our young man spots a beautiful woman at the opera, it is love at first sight. He contrives to meet the woman, who professes her own immediate love for him, and they are quickly married. It isn't until after the wedding that our young man, in deference to his new wife's demand, dons a pair show more of spectacles. Imagine his horror and surprise to finally see his new spouse clearly: she is 82 years old. HA!
There's another twist at the end which furthers the humor of the entire situation, but I can't reveal that part without spoiling it. It's a short story....10-15 pages at the most.....read it. You'll laugh. :) show less
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Author Information
3,802+ Works 107,325 Members
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19, 1809. In 1827, he enlisted in the United States Army and his first collection of poems, Tamerlane and Other Poems, was published. In 1835, he became the editor of the Southern Literary Messenger. Over the next ten years, Poe would edit a number of literary journals including the show more Burton's Gentleman's Magazine and Graham's Magazine in Philadelphia and the Broadway Journal in New York City. It was during these years that he established himself as a poet, a short story writer, and an editor. His works include The Fall of the House of Usher, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Mystery of Marie Roget, A Descent into the Maelstrom, The Masque of the Red Death, and The Raven. He struggle with depression and alcoholism his entire life and died on October 7, 1849 at the age of 40. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Work Relationships
Is contained in
The Works of Edgar Allen Poe in One Volume: Poems, Tales, Essays, Criticisms with New Notes by Edgar Allan Poe
The Best Known Works of Edgar Allan Poe in One Volume: Poems, Tales, Essays, Criticisms by Edgar Allan Poe
The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe with Selections from His Critical Writings by Edgar Allan Poe
The annotated tales of Edgar Allan Poe edited with an introduction, notes, and a bibliography by Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe: Collected Stories and Poems (Collector's Library Editions) by Edgar Allan Poe (indirect)
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Spectacles [short story]
- Alternate titles
- The Spectacles; or, Love at First Sight [short fiction]
- Original publication date
- 1844-03-27
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Statistics
- Members
- 24
- Popularity
- 1,107,070
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.70)
- Languages
- English, French
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 10
- ASINs
- 1
