Passion, Perversity and Poe - An Introduction

Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre. Credited to be the inventor of the detective fiction genre, Poe has been regarded as one of the earliest American practitioners of the genre of short story. He has also significantly contributed to the then emerging genre of science fiction now known also as Sci-fi literature. The first well-known American writer who endeavored to earn bread and butter by writing alone, Poe had to live a financially difficult life and career. He was born as Edgar Poe in Boston, Massachusetts; he was orphaned young when his mother left for heaven shortly after his father abandoned the family. Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan, of Richmond, Virginia, but he had never been formally adopted by them. He studied at the University of Virginia for one semester but had to leave due to financial scarcity. His publishing career commenced modestly, with an anonymous collection of poems, ‘Tamerlane and Other Poems’ (1827), credited only to "a Bostonian".

Poe channelized his attention to writing prose and spent the next numerous years working for literary journals and periodicals. Gradually he managed to earn repute for his own style of literary criticism. His work compelled him to be a wanderer by moving among several cities, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. In Baltimore in 1835, he tied wedlock with Virginia Clemm, his 13-year-old cousin. Later, in January 1845 Poe published his poem, ‘The Raven’ which became an immediate hit. His wife died of tuberculosis two years after its publication. He began planning to produce his own journal, The Penn (later renamed The Stylus), though he died before the journal could see the light of day. On October 7, 1849, at age 40, Poe died in Baltimore; the cause of his death is unidentified and has been variously attributed to alcohol, brain congestion, cholera, drugs, heart disease, rabies, suicide, tuberculosis, and other agents. The mystery surrounding Poe’s death has led to many myths and urban legends. The reality is that no one knows for sure what happened during the last few days of his life. From alcoholism to rabies, myriad possibilities have been checked for his death time and again. His life was finally an enigma. No wonder why Poe’s stories pertain to mysteries of life and death.

Thematic concerns in his stories range from abnormalities of human behavior, untimely and enigmatic death of characters, physical and psychological abnormalities, guilt-ridden conscience, incest, cryptic messages, horror caused by ghostly appearances, inexplicable incidents like the collapse of a house, hallucinations, detection of crime and culprit, perversion, so on and so forth.

1. ‘The Tell-tale Heart’

It is a horrific tale of an old man with a ‘vulture eye’ who is murdered; yet, his heart seems to keep on beating. To the reader’s utter shock, he assassinates the old man to get rid of his evil eye. It can be interpreted as the voice of his tormenting conscience which doesn’t allow him a breath of relief. Ultimately, he fails to suppress the crescendo of his nagging soul and blurts out his crime inadvertently.

2. ‘The Black Cat’

It is a story of guilty murderer who breaks down and reveals himself. It is the height of human perversion that the man who once loved animals so dearly gets infuriated by a tiny gesture of a cat and kills the poor innocent creature. Caught in the tentacles of his own devilish soul, he brings another cat and ultimately he can’t help but brutally murder the cat as well as his own wife. The first person narrative gives it a touch of authenticity. Poe’s signature style of gruesome acts and macabre atmosphere makes it one of his most memorable stories.

3. ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’

The story has a narrator who is invited to see his old childhood friend at his isolated abode. What follows is a series of fantastic ideas – such as Usher believing everything in the house to have ‘sentience’, coupled with the impending death of his sister. Critics have focused on the possibilities of the theme of incest in this story.

4. ‘The Purloined Letter’

It is an early forerunner of the modern detective story. It tells the tale of a woman of royalty who is blackmailed by a cabinet minister.

5. ‘The Cask of Amontillado’

It is about Fortunato who has insulted the narrator and now he is out to avenge it. He cajoles Fortunato to come to his home as a connoisseur to check the veracity of a rare brand of Amontillado. The narrator leads Fortunato deeper and deeper into the graveyard, getting him drunker and drunker along the way. The narrator chains Fortunato until he begs for mercy. After Fortunato cries out Montresor’s name, Montresor walls Fortunato alive. Then Montresor finishes the job and leaves him there to die. What we hear at last is Fortunato’s cry for help and the recurrent mention of Amontillado. It is a startling story of how much one can get offended by a friend’s taunting remarks and to which extent one can go to avenge his humiliations.

6. ‘The Gold Bug’

It is a story of William Legrand who was stung by a gold-colored bug. His servant, Jupiter, doubts that Legrand is probably turning insane and seeks help of Legrand’s friend, an unnamed narrator. He consents to come to his old friend’s home. Legrand pulls the other two into a thrilling enterprise after decoding a secret message that will lead to a buried treasure. With the theme of cryptography, the story is a forerunner of the genre which is now known as detective fiction.

 Edgar Allan Poe is considered a father figure for the genre of short story as he was one of the earliest writers of short fiction. Despite being a poet, editor and literary critic, his prime contribution has been to the formation of short story in America. Generations after generations of writers in the world have been inspired and influenced by his theory of short story and by his stories as well. His most recurring themes deal with questions of death, including its physical signs, the effects of decomposition, concerns of premature burial, the reanimation of the dead and mourning. Poe's early detective fiction tales featuring C. Auguste Dupin laid the groundwork for future detectives in literature.

 Pre-Thinking Task:-

With this information in mind, it's time to take a plunge into our mind. Close your eyes, take a deep breath and ponder over your behavior patterns, brightest and darkest sides of your personality etc and answer the following questions with utmost sincerity, brutal honesty and absolute objectivity.

Questions:-

01. Recollect a moment of your life when you were at the height of ferocity (anger) on someone with/without some specific reason. What did you feel like speaking to or doing with that person?

02. Have you ever felt tremendous drive to hit or murder someone? When? Why? How? Elucidate.

03. Have you ever felt like committing suicide? Was it just a passing thought or you were serious? What propelled you to think so? Describe your experience (although momentary) of suicidal tendency.

04. Write about the scariest of your dreams. Have you ever cried or screamed by a bizarre and horrible nightmare? Elaborate.

05. Do you believe in ghosts? Have you ever undergone any experience of supernatural elements? Explain.

Prepare a blog for the given task and share your link in the comment section. The deadline for this task is 19^th September 2018 before 11 AM.

All the best!!!!