Who Lenore is
Lenore is the woman whose loss fills the speaker's lonely room with grief.
She never appears in the poem, and Poe tells us little about her. The focus stays on the man who mourns her and the questions her absence leads him to ask.
Lenore and the others in the story
Lenore is central to the speaker's thoughts before the strange bird enters his chamber. When he opens his door onto darkness, he whispers her name and hears only an echo.
The Raven becomes the listener to questions rooted in his longing for Lenore. As his curiosity gives way to darker thoughts, he seeks comfort and asks about holding her again in another world.
Questions
Who is Lenore in The Raven?
Lenore is the lost woman mourned by the poem's speaker. Her absence is the source of his grief.
Does Lenore appear in the poem?
No, Lenore never appears. The reader knows her through the speaker's mourning and his questions about her.
What does the poem tell us about Lenore?
The poem gives her name and tells us that she is gone, but offers little else about her. Its attention rests on the sorrow of the man who has lost her.