Edgar Allan Poe 18091849

1
Edgar Allan Poe 1809-1849
2
Edgar Allan Poe

• The boundaries which divide Life from Death are
  at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where
  one ends and where the other begins?
• from The Premature Burial, 1844

3
Poes recurring motifs
4
Elements of a short Story

• Self-containedmust not depend on anything else
  to be understood
• Every event, every word, every detail must build
  toward a single effect upon the reader, whether
  the effect is horror, madness, irony or revenge
• This model became the standard for the American
  Short Story

5
Gothic Horror

• Horrific subject matter
• Exotic settings, medieval castles, dungeons, dark
  and unknown
• Subject matter that includes death,
  reincarnation, murder, mysterious illnesses, the
  use of a story within a story, the use of twins,
  family secrets, violent storms, secret
  passageways, and anything associated with the
  supernatural.

6
Irony

• The contrast between what appears to be and what
  really is
• VERBAL IRONY words imply the opposite of what
  they literally mean
• SITUATIONALY IRONY occurs when circumstances
  turn out to be the opposite of what is expected
• DRAMTIC IRONY occurs when the reader or the
  audience knows more about the situation than the
  characters do

7
(No Transcript)
8
The Fall of the House of Usher

• Type Gothic Horror
• Setting
• An Ancient English manor house probably 19th
  century
• Characters
• Unidentified narrator
• Roderick Usher
• Madeline Usher

9
Gothic Elements

• Dark surroundings
• Castle
• Ghostly symbols
• Terrible mental/ psychological illness affecting
  body as well terror affecting the mind.

10
Basic Plot

• Narrator visits
• Madeline sick
• Roderick and narrator bury sister
• Roderick grows increasingly mad
• Stormsoundsknocking at the door
• Madeline returns from the deadkills Roderick
• Narrator flees
• House crumbles

11
Things to know and find

• Examples of foreshadowing
• Examples of Gothic
• Examples of Romanticism
• Examples of doubling
• Twins
• Hearing sounds that mirror the ones in the story

12
(No Transcript)
13
The Cask of Amontillado

• Setting Early evening in an Italian city during
  carnival season right before Lent
• Characters
• Montressor a deranged man who seeks revenge
• Fortunato a haughty wine connoisseur who has
  wronged Montressor.

14
Basic Plot

• The invitation/ the the walk/ and the murder.
• Montressor takes Fortunato to his vaults or
  (catacombs) to see his wine
• They travel down the dark gloomy halls to the
  wine
• Montressor chains Fortunato to the wall
• Slowly he bricks him in
• Throws the torch in and leaves him to die

15
Theme

• Powerful tale of revenge
• It is important for Montressor that his victim
  knows what is happening to him

16
Irony

• The title CASK
• Fortunato's name
• Fortunatos costume
• References to Masons literally fraternity of
  freemasons but also a craftsman who builds with
  stone and mortar
• The Coat of Arms Nemo me impune lacessit
• We will go back. Your health is preciousyou are
  a man to be missed.
• The cough is a mere nothing it will not kill
  me.
• The toast with the wine To your long life

17
(No Transcript)
18
The Tell Tale Heart

• Characters
• Narratorderanged, unnamed person
• Old Man seemingly innocent man with an evil
  eye
• Three police officers

19
Setting

• Undisclosed location in openingflash back
  possibly a prison
• Story told in order to defend his sanity
• Believes the story will prove his innocence
• Story takes place over a period of 8 days

20
Plot

• Story of insane fear
• All the action is seen through the eyes of the
  narrator of the insane man
• Get an inside view of a murderer explaining his
  planning and execution of a hideous crime

• Action takes place at midnight and is repeated
  every night for several nights until finally the
  vulture eye is open and the crime is committed.
• Horror is accentuated by the fact that the
  narrator has no remorsedetached calmness details
  disposal of body

21
Themes

• A human being has a perverse side that is tempted
  to do evil things
• Fear of discovery can bring about discovery
• The evil within is worse than the evil without
• Human nature is a delicate balance of light and
  dark or good or evil

22
Evil Eye

• Dates back to ancient timesstill fairly common
  in Indiareferences are made to it in Jewish,
  Islamic, Buddhist and Hindu faith
• Idea that those who possess the eye have power to
  harm people or their possessions merely by
  looking at them
• Evil eye the cause of unexplainable illnesses and
  misfortunes
• In different cultures a variety of measures are
  taken .
• Most extreme is to destroy the evil eye.

23
(No Transcript)
24
The Masque of the Red Death

• Setting
• The castle of a princesuggests Italy
• Story covers about 6 months during the reign of
  The Red Death
• The Masque takes place in an imperial suite which
  consists of seven distinct rooms.

• Meaning of a Masque
• Renaissance Europe it was considered an elaborate
  entertainment with costumes and masks
• Masque refers to Prosperos ball and the actual
  mask of the Red Death
• Did Death himself lead the Prospero and his
  friends to their death so Death could have a
  ball?

25
Characters

• Prince Prospero the selfish, wealthy ruler who
  withdraws to his castle with his 1000 of his
  court to avoid the epidemic of Red Death
• Knight and Ladies members of the court present
  at the party
• Uninvited Masquerader intruder dressed like a
  corpse of a victim of the Red Death

26
Themes

• No man or woman can escape death often people
  resort to extreme measures to escape death
• Members of a communityespecially the leaders
  have a duty to help those in need

27
Figures of speech

• Words chosen carefully to give the overall effect
  of horror
• Stricken When the minute handmade the circuit
  of the face and the hour was to be stricken,
  there came from the brazen lungs of the clock a
  sound which was clear and loud and deep and
  exceedingly musical

28
Possible Interpretation

• Prosperos masked ball or dance reminds us of the
  dance of death portrayed in old paintings as a
  skeleton leading a throng of people to the grave,
  just as the Prince leads his guests to the Red
  Death

29
Irony

• Princes name
• Locked in the castlewalled off from society to
  stay away form death. Tries to create a sanctuary
  and ends up with a prison
• Have the ball to celebrate their healthdeath
  comes as the uninvited guest
• Sends someone after deathand all are killed
• Clockmusic stops with the chimesmidnightclock
  takes on human characteristics

30
Themes

• The seven rooms are laid out from east to west
  reminding us of the suns course
• The rooms are lighted from without
• Only in the 7th room the color of the window does
  not correspond with the color of the room a
  deep blood color
• Poe links the black room with the red light to
  death and time
• Death not an outside antagonist, but part of each
  of us
• Death holds an illimitable dominion over all

31
(No Transcript)
32
The Pit and the Pendulum

• Setting 16th century Toledo, Spain during the
  Spanish Inquisition
• Characters Narrator Inquisitors
• General LaSalle

33
Themes

• The terror a human being experiences when
  confined and subjected to mental and physical
  torture
• The cruelty of unjust treatment suffered by
  individuals who dissent form established beliefs

34
Plot

• Different than many of Poes stories in that the
  character struggles against the threat of
  insanity and prevailsuncharacteristically
  happy for Poe
• Main character persecuted in a number of
  wayshis mental strength and intelligence save
  him, but ultimately he needs an outside force to
  keep him form death

35
(No Transcript)
36
Hop Frog

• Considered one of Poes least well written

37
Plot

• A dwarf is subjected to constant punishment from
  the king
• He is looking for revenge
• Incensed after his friend Tripetta is slapped by
  the king
• Hop-Frog plots the King and his courts demise
  during a part
• After putting the king and his companions un
  highly flammable costumes, he chains them
  together, hangs them from the ceiling and lights
  them on fire
• Hop-Frog and Tripetta return to their home land

38
Characters

• Hop Frog a crippled dwarf, cannot tolerate
  alcohol, stole from his homeland to be the court
  jester
• Tripetta also a dwarf and stolen form her home,
  used as a comical figure for the King
• The King and his court rude, abusive,
  fun-loving, corpulent men

39
Irony/Foreshadowing

• Hop-Frogs guttural grinding of his teeth
• Dressing the King and his men as apes/monsters
• Locking all the doors and leaving the key with
  Hop Frog
• Masquerade Ball
• Circular room
• Bringing the torch into each mans face
• As for myself, I am simply Hop Frog , the
  jester, and this is my last jest.

40
Themes

• Revengewhat comes around goes around
• There is never an excuse to mistreat people

41
Poe Quotes

• Poe was not concerned with any specific
  scientific concept but mostly explored different
  realities.
• In his supernatural fiction Poe usually dealt
  with paranoia rooted in personal psychology,
  physical or mental enfeeblement, obsessions, the
  damnation of death, feverish fantasies, the
  cosmos as source of horror and inspiration,
  without bothering himself with such supernatural
  beings as ghosts

42
Poe Controversies

• An attempted suicide?
• Excessive drinking
• Gambler
• Habitual drug user
• Rabies
• Unknown cause of death
• Who brings roses and cognac to his grave?