Edgar Allan Poe

Melanie Foster

English 1102

Professor Owens

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• About The Author

• Influential Factors

• Styles and Themes

• Selected Works

• “The Tell-Tale Heart”

• “The Black Cat”

• “The Raven”

• Credits

Edgar Allan Poe

• Born in Boston on January 19, 1809

• Classic Literature genre

• Critic, editor, poet, author who wrote

many poems, tales, and short stories

• Mainly known for his

dark, depressing, gothic writings

• Died on October 7, 1849

Influential Factors

• Poe’s father, David Poe, was an alcoholic and

left his mother and siblings

• Poe’s mother, Elizabeth Poe, died in 1811 from

tuberculosis

• Edgar Allan Poe was continuously humiliated

throughout his life

Influential Factors

Continued

• Excluded from society because of being

poor and his debt

• He began gambling and binge drinking in

1826

• Married his cousin, Virginia, in 1836

– She also died from tuberculosis in 1847

Style and

Themes

Styles:•Gothic appealing

•Dark romanticism

genre

•Dark

•Dramatic

•Some works

incorporated humor

Themes:•Untimely death

•Insanity

•Gore, gruesome

violence

•Depression

•It is highly common for readers to view the narrators

in Poe’s works as harsh, hateful, and heartless because of

the cruel, violent acts that take place in some works.

Selected Works:

• The Tell-Tale Heart

• The Black Cat

• The Raven

The Tell-Tale Heart

The Tell-Tale Heart• Untimely death, insanity, and gore are all

seen throughout this tale

• The narrator is annoyed by an old man’s eye– This leads the narrator to plan the death of the old

man

• Some critics believe Poe could be referring to the “evil eye”– Those with the evil eye are believed to have

the power to harm others

– The only way to destroy the evil eye is to destroy the person

The Tell-Tale Heart• The narrator’s obsession with the eye, or fear

of the eye, leads to the horrific murder

• Insanity plays a role because the fear and

obsession with the eye grows so strong

– Leads to the narrator’s dark side being triggered

• Gore, gruesome violence is seen when the

narrator uses rays from the lantern which

results in a slow, painful, agonizing

occurrence

The Tell-Tale Heart• Gore, insanity, and death are all also seen

when the narrator describes how he continues

to kill the old man

– “In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and

pulled the heavy bed over him. I then smiled

gaily, to find the deed so far done” (Poe 5).

The Black Cat

The Black Cat• The Black Cat revolves around the narrator’s wife

and two cats

• This short story also involves the themes

death, insanity, and gore

• Insanity is evident in that the narrator used to be

very passionate and kind towards

others, especially animals, in his younger years

– His personality and mood changes are, what many

critics believe, directly related to the narrator’s use of

alcohol

The Black Cat• The intoxicated narrator is furious when the

cat, named Pluto (who is his favorite pet), does not approach him when getting home; therefore, cuts one of the cat’s eyes– This comes as a shock because the narrator is

supposed to love Pluto more than he does humans and is a pet that means a lot to the narrator

– Many critics, such as Silverman believe that the narrator acts in such a manner because he feels betrayed by the his playmate (qtd. Piacentino 6)

– Critics also link these actions of the narrator’s to Poe’s actual life where he was excluded from society and taunted by people, even his closest friends

The Black Cat• The narrator eventually kills Pluto with no

remorse by hanging him from a limb on a tree using a noose

• Critics believe the narrator is becoming more insane and notices another, very similar black cat and is hallucinating

– This cat also only has one eye and eventually leads the narrator over the edge

• Enraged with the second cat getting in his way, the narrator tries murdering the cat

The Black Cat• The narrator’s wife then blocks the axe from

hitting the cat

– Critics, such as Piacentino, believe that the events following this is because the narrator is jealous since his wife shows sensitivity and passion by interfering with the cat’s death

• The wife is then violently murdered by the narrator “burying the axe into her brain” resulting in an immediate death

– This symbolizes a gore, gruesome death due to the narrator’s own insanity

The Raven• “The Raven” also revolves around

death, insanity, and gore.

• The narrator is experience much

grief, sorrow, and depression due to his lost

love, Lenore

• Insanity is highly evident throughout “The

Raven” because the narrator is very much so

depressed

• Depression that the narrator experiences from the

lost of his love leads to an unstable mental state

The Raven• An actual raven visits the narrator

and in turn he makes himself

believe that the raven somehow

has communications with Lenore

• The narrator gets highly angry and

upset when asking the raven

questions and the narrator says that

it replies by saying “nevermore”

• This makes the narrator angry

because he wants to find out more

about his lost love

The Raven• However, at the end of the poem the narrator

expresses how he cannot get the raven to go

away so he leaves it alone where it still sits

above his chamber door

• Critics, such as Michel, question whether or

not the occurrence of the raven is actually real

or if the narrator is making all of it up in his

head due to his delicate mental state

CreditsFling, Jake. “The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe Literary Analysis.” Web. 13 Nov. 2013.

<http://personal.psu.edu/jcf5074/literaryanalysis.html>.

Michel, Selma. “A Sadness that Maddens the Soul: A Literary Analysis for The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe.” Web. 13 Nov. 2013. < http://myelectrofolder.weebly.com/literary-analysis.html>.

Miksanek, Tony. “Literature Annotations of Poe, Edgar Allan: The Tell-Tale Heart.” The Gold-

Bug and Other Tales, 1991 ed. Literature, Arts, and Medicine Database. 18 Oct. 2004. Web. 07 Nov. 2013. < http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Annotation?action=view&annid=12295>.

Piacentino, Ed. “Poe’s ‘The Black Cat’ as Psychobiography: Some Reflections on the

Narratological Dynamics.” Studies in Short Fiction 35.2 (1998): 153-167. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 09 Nov. 2013. < http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=302c201d-eacf-45cb-82da-77d97721840e%40sessionmgr4001&vid=1&hid=4209&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=f5h&AN=6297585>.

Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Major Tales and Poems. Michigan: Edward Brothers,

2006. 3-7. Print.

Poe Museum. “Poe’s Life: Who is Edgar Allan Poe?” Richmond, VA: Author. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.

<http://www.poemuseum.org/life.php>.

Womack, Martha. “Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Tell-Tale Heart.’” Web. 07 Nov. 2013.

< http://www.poedecoder.com/essays/ttheart/>.