THE THEME OF TRAGEDY IN EDGAR ALLAN POE'S TALES OF TERROR
Although most readers would not immediately recognize it, a number ofthe so-called "Tales of Terror" by American author Edgar Allan Poe, born inBoston in 1809 and the youngest son of Elizabeth and David Poe. Jr.,contain central themes associated with tragedy and tragic drama. With adetailed reading of such tales as "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Pit and thePendulum," "The Black Cat," "The Cask of Amontillado" and "The Fall of theHouse of Usher," the dark presence of tragedy can be strongly sensed, forit not only permeates the plotlines but also the various characters thatbring the tale to life as though each was experiencing the sensations andemotions that make up a true tragic figure, replete with misery, denial,fabrications, and death. Ironically, Poe's own life was based on a tragicdrama, for it was influenced by many events that were beyond his control,such as the early death of his wife Virginia in 1847 from tuberculosis. Inessence, it could be said that Poe had his own "fatal flaw" that finallyled to his own death in October of 1849 at the age of forty. The Greek philosopher Aristotle defines tragic drama as "a powercapable of raising pity and fear, or terror. . . to purge the mind of
Similarly, the protagonist in "The Cask of Amontillado," one of Poe'smost anthologized tales, concerns the Montresor and his attempts to lurethe drunken Fortunato down into the family vaults to partake of a new caskof Amontillado. This also shows that "the Montresormust somehow atone for his crime, and figures that the best way is to admithis guilt directly to the reader" (Gargano, 122). tragedy gnaws at one's emotions,thus bringing about a release, or purgation, when the tragic figure istriumphant or victorious over his oppressors or the object of hisfrustrations. In all ofthese tales, as described by Bernard Grebanier, the fears and hostilitiesof the protagonists are brought to a diminished or final climax produced bya tragic flaw which "dooms them. However, as previously pointed out, certain literarycritics insist that tragic drama must involve a hero that ultimatelycreates havoc and misery for all the other characters. On occasion, the characters sufferfrom real threats in their daily lives and confronts these threats withingenuity and courage, at times even overcoming their fears by retaliatingagainst an innocent victim, either through violence or mental torture. Afterwards, the characters feels remorse for their actions and areemotionally forced to atone for their guilt through confession or byexposing themselves to official punishment or self-inflicted agony. The Montresor thenannounces to the reader "My heart grew sick. Thisthen indicates some type of moral inadequacy in the characters, for "withintheir limits as human beings, they are incapable of dealing with certaintasks and situations which others view as unimportant or trivial" (Lesky,7). As a result, he proceeds to vent these fears upon an innocent"old man. " The unknownnarrator in this tale attempts to comfort Usher by suggesting his fears areunfounded, but Usher is convinced that death is imminent, whereby Madelineabruptly dies ("the lady Madeline was no more").
Common topics in this essay:
Black Cat,
Tales Terror,
Ironically Poe's,
House Usher,
Pit Pendulum,
Madeline Usher,
Fortunato Montresor,
Poe's January,
Evil Eye,
Hamlet Othello,
tales terror,
tragic drama,
pit pendulum,
cask amontillado,
tell-tale heart,
black cat,
house usher,
fall house usher,
fall house,
poe's tales,
fatal flaws,
poe's tales terror,
tragedy tragic drama,
tales terror described,
usher fall house,
|
Acceptance Essays
