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True love requires sacrifice.

The actions of each and every character in “The Oval Portrait” are motivated by the necessity to sacrifice themselves for what they love. There is evidence of this in the opening lines of the story. Pedro commits the crime of breaking and entering because he cares deeply for the narrator and cannot allow him to spend the night outside in his wounded condition. In addition, Pedro never leaves the narrator’s side, hinting at a sense of duty borne out of love. As for the narrator himself, he has a deep and abiding love for the arts. His allusions to the literary settings of author Ann Radcliffe, and the noted style of painter Thomas Sully, reveal as much, as do his observations of the chateau’s architecture and the paintings in the bedroom. Despite not sleeping for days and badly needing it, the narrator’s devout examination of the paintings and their descriptions prove that he relishes sacrificing his health for his love of the arts.

The narrator’s investigation into the origins of the oval portrait in particular serves to drive home the point about sacrifice, and forces him to reckon with it. He learns that the artist and the subject of the painting were both expressly motivated by a sacrificial impulse. The young lady is so in love with her husband that she sacrifices her time, her comfort, and ultimately her life for him. The artist contributes to this of course, even if he’s unaware of her suffering, by sacrificing the life of his wife in service of his art. After reading this account, the narrator is left to contemplate his own troubling relationship with the things about which he is most passionate.

There is a fine line between love and obsession.

The narrator’s night in the chateau and the story behind the oval portrait reveal the fine line between devout love and destructive obsession. The narrator demonstrates how much inspiration he draws from his love of art by describing the chateau and its interior with a sense of reverence and awe. When he sees the oval portrait, he is so struck by it that he is re-awakened after beginning to feel drowsy. This suggests that his love of art has the power to energize and motivate him. However, when a person’s love is so intense that it transforms into an obsession, it can become destructive, and the line is a fine one. For just as the narrator’s love of art has the power to energize him, when he becomes obsessed and pours over the portraits and their histories all night, he deprives himself of much-needed rest. The same relationship between love and obsession plays out for the artist and the young lady. 

There is no doubt that the artist’s love for his art provides him with joy and catharsis. It inspires him to create works that in turn inspire joy and awe in others. Yet the artist goes too far and becomes obsessed, to the detriment of himself and his young wife. The young lady for her part is deeply in love with the artist; as a result, she is devoted to him and supports him in his craft, despite her jealousy. However, the positive effects of love turn destructive when her love for her husband and her jealousy of his art borders on fanatical. By obsessively devoting herself to him and his work in the hopes of outcompeting his art for his love, the young lady destroys herself. 

Creative works outlast their creators and inspire future observers.

Through the eyes of the narrator, the antiquity and beauty of the chateau, as well as the art therein, demonstrate how creative works outlast their creators and inspire future observers. Both the exterior and the interior of the chateau suggest that it is a very old structure. The narrator notes that these kinds of homes have “so long frowned upon the Apennines.” There is at least one turret in the building, where the narrator chooses to rest, and the bedroom contains a variety of “armorial trophies.” These observations hint at the chateau’s medieval origins. Thus, the builder of this grandiose home can be presumed long dead, but the structure itself still inspires awe these hundreds of years later. The same goes for the paintings in the bedroom, though they are more modern. The volume that the narrator pours over was written to contextualize the paintings for future observers, intended to survive long after the collector, the artists, and the subjects are dead. Indeed, they achieve that purpose in the story, inspiring the narrator through the night. The oval portrait especially serves as an example of this; through the combination of the arresting power of the painting itself and the stunning context provided by the book, the narrator finds himself captivated. Moreover, the specific lesson the narrator must take from the painting lends itself to introspection and the narrator might take it upon himself to change, and temper his obsessive impulses.

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