THEME OF POE'S SHORT STORY

2015ROLL NO.: 3014101029

Edger Allen Poe• Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 

1849) was an American writer, editor, and literary critic.

• Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. (Poe, The Black Cat)

His short stories are:

• “The Fall of the House of Usher”(1839)• “The Gold Bug” (1843) • “The Tell-Tale Heart” (1850) • “The Purloined Letter” (1845)• “The Cask of Amontillado”(1846)  • “The Black Cat” (1845) 

THEME OF POE'S SHORT STORY

• Insanity versus rationality• Obsession• Man's relationship with death• The double self• Love and hate• Curiosity• The power of human resolve• Darkness of human nature and reality• The power of death over the living

INSANITY VERSUS RATIONALITY• The Insanity is inflicts the main characters in the story to commit the

acts that they do.

• For example: it is the madness of the narrator in “The Tell Tale Heart” that allows him to murder his beloved employer.

• Irrational desire for kill.

• The actions that Montresor committed against Fortunato are beyond barbaric.

• Poe's rational characters, who are capable of consciously setting aside their own emotions in order to logically solve their problems.

• For example: C. Auguste Dupin's skill lies in being able to empathize with others in order to solve seemingly impossible cases.

“True-nervous- very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?” (Poe)

LOVE AND HATE

• Psychological complex of two opposite emotion.

• Poe explores the similarity of love and hate in many stories, especially in “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “William Wilson.”

• Love for himself and hatred for rival.

• Poe's protagonists are particularly detestable because they involve in the death of someone whom they formerly loved.

For Ex: “The Tell-Tale Heart”, The narrator tells the reader how he loves the old men but hates his “vulture” eye.

Love Hate

DARKNESS OF HUMAN NATURE AND REALITY

• Human are not ready to accept reality.

• Victim are the protagonist.

• Evil of mind is ultimate reality.

• Negative side is suppressed.

• Law mentality of people , power politics and weak mindset.

                ‘One has to think like thief’

• The concept that humanity’s darker side can represent a source of empowerment and liberation, was not unique to Poe.

•  The Black Cat perhaps examines the dark side of humans most  effectively as it involves sadistic actions and even murder.

• a

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP WITH DEATH

• Death often realize the them as he is sinner.

     For Ex : Heart beat.

• Death is overpower on human mind.

• Victim are the protagonist of poe’s stories.

• Death character are somewhere their relatives.

• Due to murder alive has to suffer.

• Dead character becomes ghost like figure in the mind  of person.

THE DOUBLE SELF

• The use of literary doubles, or doppelgängers, is a common theme in the works of Edgar Allan Poe. 

• Poe approaches the concept of a double self in two ways. 

                    1. Destructive model.

                    2. Receptivity

•  A struggle between the two sides of the character, in which only one side can be the victor.

•  The battle, but his victory comes at the cost of his soul.

• The second model of split identity is best characterized by C. Auguste Dupin, who is able to reconcile his two sides successfully. 

• plots in stories such as “The Cask of Amontillado”, “Ligeia”, and “The Fall of the House of Usher” revolve around the conflict between a protagonist and his alter ego or double side.

THE POWER OF DEATH OVER THE LIVING

• Poe often gives memory to the power to keep the dead alive

• He distorts this otherwise common place literary theme by bringing the dead literally back of life, employing memory as the trigger that reawakens the dead, who are usually women.

For Ex:

            “Ligeia” (Ligeia & lady Rowena)• “Ligeia” breaks down the barrier between life and death

• The memory of the dead shows the power of love to resist even the permanence of death.

             “The Black Cat”

             “ The Tell-Tale Heart”

• Works Cited• Poe, Edger Allan. The Black Cat. United state: United States Saturday Post, 1943.

• —. The Tell-Tale Heart. Pioneer: James Russell Lowell, 1843.•

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