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Edgar Allan PoeA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Hop-Frog is the protagonist of the story and, by its conclusion, is presented as an anti-hero. He’s taken from his home country and given to the king as a present. The king names him “Hop-Frog” because he’s a little person (or “dwarf”) with unusual bodily proportions and has an additional disability that affects his gait. However, his considerable muscle mass allows him to “perform many feats of wonderful dexterity” (Paragraph 7), such as climbing and rope work, and he has incredible wit. Back home, this may have been a strength or just an average trait, but in the story’s kingdom, his cleverness isn’t valued as an attribute, and the king doesn’t view him as an equal or even as a man. The king merely values Hop-Frog’s wit as a jester; his size and disability make him the butt of jokes, further dehumanizing him.
Poe’s depiction of Hop-Frog builds empathy for him because it demonstrates the abuse that he and Trippetta endure under the king. Even so, Hop-Frog is an anti-hero. Although the king’s treatment of him is reprehensible and his escape seems entirely justifiable, he escapes via morally questionable means: deception and murder. Poe uses intense
By Edgar Allan Poe
A Dream Within a Dream
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Annabel Lee
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Berenice
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Ligeia
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Tamerlane
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The Black Cat
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The Cask of Amontillado
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The Conqueror Worm
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The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
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The Fall of the House of Usher
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The Gold Bug
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The Haunted Palace
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The Imp of the Perverse
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The Lake
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The Man of the Crowd
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The Masque of the Red Death
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The Murders in the Rue Morgue
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The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket
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The Oval Portrait
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The Philosophy of Composition
The Philosophy of Composition
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