Edgar Allan Poe

You have learned in this unit that Romanticism stresses strong imagination, emotion, and a certain freedom from classical style and social conventions.

The next Romantic author you will study is Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849). In his writing, he explored exotic, supernatural, and gothic elements.

Poe's conflicts are usually between good and evil, psychological effects of guilt and sin, and madness.

Poe is known as the father of the horror / detective story. Recurring ideas in his stories deal with problems of death, its physical signs, concerns of impulsive burial, the reawakening of the dead, and grief or lamentation over the guilt.

The death of a beautiful woman "The death of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world." from "The Philosophy of Composition" was a common topic of Poe's works because he lost three important women in his life to tuburculosisa contagious bacterial infection that involves the lungs . Some say that the death of his wife Virginia pushed him over the edge. Although he lived a short yet tragic life, Edgar Allan Poe remains one of the most beloved mystery writers of all times.

"The Black Cat"

In "The Black Cat," Poe uses first person point of viewthe narrator is a character in the story . Readers can easily identify this type of point of view because of its use of first person pronouns, such as, I, me, we, us. Point of view is the vantage point or perspective from which the narrator tells a story. A work of literature can be told in first person, third person, third person, and omniscient.

Read the first four sentences from "The Black Cat" and highlight the words that suggest first person point of view.

FOR the most wild, yet most homely narrative, which I am about to pen, I neither expect nor solicit belief. Mad indeed would I be to expect it, in a case where my very senses reject their own evidence. Yet, mad am I not--and very surely do I not dream. But to-orrow I die, and to-day I would unburthen my soul.

The first sentence in "The Black Cat" allows the reader to know it is written in first person. The story could certainly be written in any point of view, but first person shows the reader how mad and insane the narrator truly is; it gives a bias a prejudice in favor of or against something or someoneto the story. The story begins with the narrator writing from his prison cell the day before his execution, trying to tell people that he isn't crazy and this isn't a dream.

 

An interesting strategy for effective readers is to picture the story in your mind as you read. This happens whether you are cognizant of it or not; however, by practicing this method only strengthens your reading comprehension.

As you read the short story "The Black Cat," you will select a picture that you believe represents what you are thinking about during that part of the story. Now that you may be intrigued by the circumstances of the story, select the button below to read the short story.


Wow! Did you see a deranged narrator?

The reader doesn't know the narrator's name, but he tells the reader the cat's name is Pluto, "Pluto - this was the cat's name - was my favorite pet and playmate."

Is it a coincidence that the cat's name is Pluto? Probably not. This is called an allusion, a reference to a person, place, thing, or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance.

So, is the reference to the planet? No, it's a reference to Greek mythology.

Pluto, formerly known as Hades, was the ruler of the underworld or the god who presides over the afterlife. Thus, the cat symbolizes the narrator's death.


Think back to when you learned about rhetoric devices, especially the use of anaphora.
Poe incorporates the use of anaphoraa repitition of a word or expression at the beginning of a phrase or clause in the following lines.

Select the words you think are examples of anaphora.


  • "I blush, I burn, I shudder, while I pen the damnable atrocity."
  • "I was this unfathomable longing of the soul to vex itself-- to offer violence to its own nature-- to do wrong for the wrong's sake only--"
  • "I experienced a sentiment half of horror, half of remorse for the crime of which I had been guilty;"

Poe's style and choice of words helps create a sense of terror within his readers. Read the sentences below and select the words that create a sense of trepidation within the reader.
In the meantime the cat slowly recovered. The socket of the lost eye presented, it is true, a frightful appearance, but he no longer appeared to suffer any pain. He went about the house as usual, but, as might be expected, fled in extreme terror at my approach.

What is the tone of the short story?

  • Light and amusing
  • Suspenseful and terrifying
  • Cheerful and lighthearted