Edgar Allan Poe has wrote many different poems and short stories, and because of these works of literature, and the qualities each of them have, defines him as a Gothic author. He has demonstrated all of the qualities to be a gothic writer in a numerous amount of stories. For example, “The Black Cat” which showed horror in many ways, “The Black Cat” also showed a character can start off normal then very quickly become dark and full of hate,“The Tell Tale Heart” showed how a setting that started normal than changed into a dark place, and lastly in “Annabel Lee” he showed the romance aspect of a gothic story even if it lead to sorrow and death.
To start off with, “The Black Cat” is one of the many reasons that Edgar ALlan Poe should be considered a gothic fiction author because it showed horror in a numerous of ways. For example, in paragraph 11 it states “The
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There was a rope about the animal’s neck.” Which means that the man in “The Black Cat” had killed the cat by hanging it with a rope on a tree branch. Second of all, not only did “The Black Cat” show horrors, it also told of a man who started off normal and then as the story went on he became full of evil and hatred. To better demonstrate, in paragraph five it says “Pluto -- this was the cat’s name -- was my favorite pet and playmate,” then later in paragraph it says “One night, returning home, much intoxicated, from one of my haints about town, I fancied that the cat avoided my presence. I seized him.” This shows how a man can start off loving his cat, than when under the influence of something else he can easily become violent and abuse, eventually kill, someone he loved. The third reason that Poe should be considered a gothic fiction author, is because in “The Tell-Tale Heart” it showed how a setting can change from normalish to dark. This means, that at the beginning it was the home of a friendly old
Poe carefully details the most brutal scenes of his stories, a quality shared by many of his works. Within “The Black Cat,” three situations stand to illustrate Poe’s message: when the narrator stabs out Pluto’s eye, when the narrator hangs Pluto, and when the narrator murders his wife. Before the first violent act described in the story, the narrator is known to be a drunkard who abused his wife. No matter how despicable this may be, he is still a somewhat ordinary man. Nothing majorly sets him apart from any another, relating him to the common man. However, his affinity towards alcohol, led to “the fury of a demon” (2) that came over him as he “grasped the poor beast by the throat” (2) and proceeded to “cut one of its eyes from the socket.” (2) Poe’s gruesome description of the narrator as a destructive demon, one who was awakened by alcohol, connects his behavior to the common working-class man. Alcohol is a legal drug that can be obtained by many, and when consumed in excess leads to the uncontrollable madness that ensued. The descriptions of the act plants fear into the hearts of the readers, especially those who have consumed alcohol, of ever becoming such a
In “An Edgar Allan Poe Reader” several stories and poems are revealed but only a few will be considered. In the stories “The Black Cat” Poe writes irony in the story. This certain story is a first person narrative. The narrator shifts from a happy, animal loving, married man. One night the narrator gets drunk and believes that Pluto is not listening to him. So he takes the cat eyes out and hangs the cat. After the cat hanging he decides to kill the cat with an axe. But his wife would not allow it so he buried the axe in the brain. Poe says, “I withdrew my arm from her grasp and buried the axe in her brain”, (245).
Poe uses the narrator’s perverse desires to harm the cat to emphasize his masculine declination. The narrator blames the cat for his actions rather than taking responsibility for his own perverse desires. The narrator states that “the hideous beast whose craft had seduced me into murder, and whose informing voice had consigned me to the hangman” (2501). The narrator is unable to place the blame on himself because he does not possess masculine qualities, which would allow him to take responsibility for his actions. The cat is used to symbolize feminine desires as a black cat is commonly associated with witches, sorcery, and evil. Women were commonly associated with witches and black cats in the eighteenth century. The narrator feels inferior to his wife, which contributes to his increasing feminine qualities. Thus, the cat adds to the narrator’s perverse desires which propels him to lose masculine
The two short stories of “The Tell Tale Heart” and “The Black cat” by acclaimed author Edgar Allen Poe are a great example of what exemplifies the darkness a person can succumb to in certain situations. Both of these marvels share important realizations of thought and subconscious guilt’s to which are used as an example of how two different people in two different situations can have the same outcome in the way of committing murder. Anger and hatred become major factors in simultaneous tells. Thus, the topic for this discussion is to present the similarities and differences of these two short stories. Could there be more to what actually happens? Do both characters of these stories experience real supernatural events which cause them to lose
Key Elements of Gothic Literature Jasmine Giles People enjoy reading gothic literature due to its heart rate exciting nature. Without having to engage with any real danger, it is common for the reader to feel anxiety and impaitence when reading gothic fiction. In order for the reader to feel these emotions, the author uses certain elements, such as a gloomy setting and old-fashioned dialoge. In the stories “The Black Cat” and “The Tell Tale Heart”, by elgar allen poe, and “The Landlady”, by Roland Dahl, there are many similarites that remanticize the idea of horror and mystery. Some elements, however, bring out the disbolical horror of gothic literature: the setting, characterization, and the motif of suspense.
The. Poe, Edgar A. & Co. “The Black Cat.” Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. Ed.
Furthermore, Poe’s plot development added much of the effect of shocking insanity to “The Black Cat.” To dream up such an intricate plot of perverseness, alcoholism, murders, fire, revival, and punishment is quite amazing. This story has almost any plot element you can imagine a horror story containing. Who could have guessed, at the beginning of the story, that narrator had killed his wife? The course of events in “The Black Cat’s” plot is shockingly insane by itself! Moreover, the words in “The Black Cat” were precisely chosen to contribute to Poe’s effect of shocking insanity. As the narrator pens these he creates a splendidly morbid picture of the plot. Perfectly selected, sometimes rare, and often dark, his words create just the atmosphere that he desired in the story.
for dark, mysterious, and bizarre works of fiction. His works sometimes reflected his life experiences and hardships he tried to overcome. Examples of the troubles in his life include alcoholism, having his works rejected over and over, being broke, and losing his family, even his beloved wife to tuberculosis. There is no wonder why his works are so dark and evil, they were taken from his life. A theme is defined as the major or central idea of a work. Poe’s short story, “The Black Cat”, contains six major themes that are discussed in this paper. They include the home, violence, drugs and alcohol, freedom and confinement, justice and judgement, and transformation.
What makes Poe 's story Gothic according to Nicole Smith is the killing of the old man and the way the narrator hides the body after murdering him. Even the way the narrator goes on to describe the eye as “pale blue that constantly follows him” is weird and unnatural. Edgar Allan Poe also briefly includes a scene of the supernatural. On the first page second paragraph of the novel the narrator talks of hearing voices before he goes to the old mans room “I heard all things in the heavens and in the earth. I heard many things in
Edgar Allen Poe’s short story The Black Cat immerses the reader into the mind of a murdering alcoholic. Poe himself suffered from alcoholism and often showed erratic behavior with violent outburst. Poe is famous for his American Gothic horror tales such as the Tell-Tale Heart and the Fall of the House of Usher. “The Black Cat is Poe’s second psychological study of domestic violence and guilt. He added a new element to aid in evoking the dark side of the narrator, and that is the supernatural world.” (Womack). Poe uses many of the American Gothic characteristics such as emotional intensity, superstition, extremes in violence, the focus on a certain object and foreshadowing lead the reader through a series of events that are horrifying and grotesque. “The Black Cat is one of the most powerful of Poe’s stories, and the horror stops short of the wavering line of disgust” (Quinn).
The romanticized view of Gothic literature has influenced many by its gloomy atmosphere of metaphorical elements. Gothic Literature, also known as Gothic Horror, combines elements of horror, romanticism, and supernatural events. The beginning of Gothic Literature began in the 18th century “during the medieval times” where it was “a strong source of inspiration” , which influenced many of the authors setting choices such as the use of castles and monasteries. Horace Walpole, author of The Castle of Otranto, is known to be the first author of Gothic Romance making “use of the medieval Gothic architecture styles and design” (Lad 1). Differentiating from other genres of novels, Gothic novel express emotions of isolation, fear, despair, and suspense. The authors Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, and H.P. Lovecraft displayed these dark elements through their writings and impacted history’s literature (Lad 1).
The second black cat acts as a symbol for guilt in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat.” The cat helps express the theme that guilt is inescapable and that shame and conviction will always follow a person until justice is reconciled. Even though guilt needs retribution, guilt still gives the narrator two choices; he could continue to live in sin or repent for his wicked deeds. The narrator decides to stay in his wickedness,
In conclusion, Gothic literature is a literature that has been around for over two hundred years and still continues to flourish today. Gothic literature consist of many gothic elements to make each novel more superior than other literatures such as romance and horror combined, as well as a dark and gloomy remote setting. Authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Bronte and Bram Stoker have different styles of writing to accomplish each story they compose. Each novel uses similar gothic elements to create a tale that generates a love and horror story combined.
Gothic Tradition was said to have started in Europe. Gothicism came from the Romanticism in the early 19th century (Book Rags). Two people who are said to have started the gothic writing movement are Ann Radcliffe and Horace Walpole. They started this style with their stories: “The Mysteries of Udolpho” and “The Castle of Otranto” (Book Rags). The gothic movement also came about because it was related to the art and architecture during the Renaissance era. Edgar Allan Poe three main elements romance, horror, and supernatural events are used in his short stories and poems. A few of his most famous short stories are “The Raven”, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, “The Tell-tale Heart”, “The Black Cat”, “Eleonora”, and “Annabelle Lee” (Book Rags). Some of his writing is dark and gloomy while others have romance and comedy.
One of the staples of Poe's writing is the dramatic effect it has on the reader. Poe is known for his masterful use of grotesque, and often morbid, story lines and for his self-destructive characters and their ill-fated intentions. "The Black Cat" is no different from any of his other stories, and thus a Pragmatic/Rhetorial interpretation is obviously very fitting. If Pragmatic/Rhetorical criticism focuses on the effect of a work on its audience, then "The Black Cat" serves as a model for all other horror stories. One of the most intriguing aspects Poe introduces into the story is the black cat itself. The main character initially confesses a partiality toward domestic pets, especially his cat. Most readers can identify with an animal lover, even if they themselves are not. It is not long though before the reader learns of the disease that plagues the main character - alcoholism. Again, the reader can identify with this ailment, but it is hard to imagine that alcoholism could be responsible for the heinous actions made by the main character. In a drunken rage the main character cuts out one of the cat's eyes with a pen knife, and act at which he even shudders. Then, only after the cat's slow recovery from that attack, does the man hang the cat from the limb of a tree. ...