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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.
In the story, the reader does not know any biographical information about the unnamed “I” speaking to them except what they infer from context. He is in prison, but it is not clear where, when, or for how long he has been there. He is to be hanged for the murder of someone close enough to him that he inherited their estate, but the relationship to his victim is not revealed. It is clear that he is an educated, intellectual man capable of constructing elaborate theories. He also reveals that the public believes him to be “mad.” Poe’s use of the unreliable narrator is a trope of Gothic literature designed to unsettle the reader. The lack of biographical information enhances the atmosphere of unease, contributing to the horror of the story.
The narrator is a villain-protagonist. He confesses to being a murderer and shows no signs of remorse. He also displays a notable ability to dissect the experiences of his mind, but comprehension of his own behavior is limited by his self-centered interest. Ironically, while emphasizing his rationality and intellect, he attributes his trait of “perverseness” to an imagined supernatural force (the Imp), which is the exact critique he makes of scientific reasoning.
By Edgar Allan Poe
A Dream Within a Dream
A Dream Within a Dream
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Annabel Lee
Annabel Lee
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Berenice
Berenice
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Hop-Frog
Hop-Frog
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Ligeia
Ligeia
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Tamerlane
Tamerlane
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The Black Cat
The Black Cat
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The Cask of Amontillado
The Cask of Amontillado
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The Conqueror Worm
The Conqueror Worm
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The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
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The Fall of the House of Usher
The Fall of the House of Usher
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The Gold Bug
The Gold Bug
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The Haunted Palace
The Haunted Palace
Edgar Allan Poe
The Lake
The Lake
Edgar Allan Poe
The Man of the Crowd
The Man of the Crowd
Edgar Allan Poe
The Masque of the Red Death
The Masque of the Red Death
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The Murders in the Rue Morgue
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
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The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket
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The Oval Portrait
The Oval Portrait
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The Philosophy of Composition
The Philosophy of Composition
Edgar Allan Poe