What IS THE INCITING INCIDENT OF THE RAVEN?

The inciting incident of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" occurs when the narrator, mourning the loss of his beloved Lenore, hears a tapping sound at his chamber door. Initially dismissing it as a visitor, he becomes increasingly anxious and intrigued. When he opens the door and finds nothing, he returns to his lamplight, only to be confronted by the raven that eventually enters and perches itself on a bust of Pallas Athena, marking the beginning of the poem's descent into despair and madness.