The Black Cat, By Edgar Allen Poe

Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “The Black Cat,” depicts a male narrator who begins to be malicious due to his ongoing consumption of alcohol which in turn, results in his ultimate demise. In summarization, the narrator commits multiple heinous crimes under the influence of alcohol and that can eventually portray his lost of sanity. Furthermore, by studying Sigmund Freud’s Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis along with Poe’s short story, we can perceive the short story on a psychoanalytical level. Therefore, through the lens of psychoanalysis, it is noticeable that the narrator uses alcohol as a vehicle to represses his emotions, however, it only causes him to be more violent which results in his murders of his beloved cats and wife.

The Black Cat is one of Poe’s most memorable stories. The story was first published in 1843, edition of The Saturday Evening Post. This like a study of the psychology of guilt, paired with other works by Poe. “Near the beginning of the tale, the narrator says he would be "mad indeed" if he should expect a reader to believe the story, implying that he has already been accused of madness” (Cleman). Poe is creating a sense of confusion for the readers and making them think more about the story before reading. The story is centered around a black cat and the idea of deterioration of a man. From his prison cell, the narrator is writing the story about his life which is falling apart. He has a love for animals, and for his wife that he married young. One of the things that he takes on as a hobby, is

Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Black Cat” is a tale of a man who suffers from alcoholism. In this tale the protagonist whose name is never revealed is deranged by his addiction. The story begins with the narrator describing his love for all his pets. He says “I was especially fond of animals, and was indulged by my parents with a great variety of pets. With these I spent most of my time, and never was so happy as when feeding and caressing them.” (Poe p.1) Although, the narrators’ personality alters when his beloved black cat becomes a falling victim to his atrocity. After arriving home intoxicated one night the man seized his cat Pluto and proceeded to carve out one of the cats’ eyes from the socket. As he awoke the next morning to this frightful appearance, he began to notice his descent into insanity. In “The Black Cat” the narrator was aware of his increasing irritability. His disregard for the feelings of others, and peculiar actions were leading into a downward spiral that became transparent for the narrator as well as the reader. Consequently, the violence manifested towards not only the animals, but his wife as well. At the end of the story he had brutally murdered his wife and hid her rotting corpse in the walls of the cellar. The central idea of this story is illustrating the ill effects of alcoholism or as the narrator describes as “fiend intemperance”.

“The Raven” and “Annabel Lee,” by Edgar Allan Poe, are two poems about eternal love and despair. Poe shows the speaker in both poems dealing with the passing of their lover and how they are coping with it. These poems have a different theme from one another; yet have similarities relating to eternal love. In “The Raven” the speaker is very sad, lonely, and is feeling great sorrow from the loss of his loved one. In “Annabel Lee” the speaker is not so much sad, but rather grateful for the chance he had to be with the one he loves because he knows that their love is eternal and fully embraces it; whereas, the speaker in “The Raven” is constantly reminded by the raven that his love will never go away, in which drives him completely mad. Both poems show how these speakers truly care for their love, but also show how the death has affected their mental state.

He doesn’t know what to do. He’s going crazy and can’t control himself. He needs help. Can anyone stop him? In “The Black Cat,” Edgar Allan Poe shows the narrator’s perverseness that takes over the character’s mind which leads him to making the wrong decisions. The main character drinks too much to the point where he cuts out one of his cat’s eye. After hanging it, another cat appears and acts like the first one which annoyed him to the point where his anger and perverseness is out of control causing him to attempt to murder his cat not only failing but killing his wife instead. Poe uses symbolism, irony, and simile to reveal that the main character’s perverseness is getting in the way of letting him make the right decisions.

Poetry has long been an art form that has entertained readers for many years. Edgar Allen Poe, a poet from the 1900’s, is known for his deep dark poems. He wrote many poems that are now considered classics. One of his greatest works, “The Raven”, was written in 1845; just two years before his wife Virginia Clemm died of Tuberculosis. The entirety of “The Raven” is confined in a man 's chamber. It is a December winter and it is midnight. The narrator, the person who resides in the chamber, is reading a book: glooming over the recent death of his wife Lenore when he hears a sound at his door. After finding no one there, he hears a whisper that says “Lenore.” He returns to what he was doing, but a bird flies in. The bird is a black raven, a bird one would typically find menacing. He is inquisitive and begins to ask the bird questions : “What is your name” to which the bird responds “Nevermore.” Near the end of his questioning he asks, “Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn, It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore - Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels name Lenore?” This questioned if he ever get to meet Lenore again and the bird replies “Nevermore.” Finally, the man asks the bird if he will ever leave and once again the bird replies “Nevermore.” Throughout the poem, Poe uses literary elements to produce an aura of wackiness and despair.

The Romantic movement was the denial of the sensible and logical thinkers in favor of the free and the dramatic thinkers. In his literature, Poe stressed practical elements didn’t have a place in literature or art. The subject should deal with the feelings, and the greatest

In “The Black Cat,” Edgar Allan Poe presents the concept of sanity versus insanity. The narrator had mental issues, and because of that he grew to be a very dangerous, abusive, and murderous person. When one reads the story, it becomes clear that he had some kind of mental illness, which made him insane. The narrator in “The Black Cat,” was evidently insane therefore it was not fair for him to be held criminally responsible for his actions. There were moments in the story when the narrator took serious moments very lightly, as if he was not aware of how significant they were.

Poe’s The Black Cat is essentially an extended metaphor for insanity, specifically resulting from obsession, and the psychopathic complexity of human nature. Through the narrator’s reactions to and Poe’s incorporation of various symbols, the struggle the narrator faces with his conscience and moral surface. The symbols that Poe employs, especially those relating to the black cats, work together to form the convention of horror and suspense, as well as to convey the alteration of morality through factors such as substance abuse and perverseness (Lazim 60). For example, the color of the cats, black, is typically associated with aspects such as evil and death, both of which are embedded within the narrator and his story.

In “The Raven,” poet Edgar Allen Poe employs a variety of literary devices such as imagery and symbolism. Poe uses these devices to portray the mood of the poem. Throughout the poem he discusses the problems he is having with the loss of his wife.

The death of a loved one leaves a void in a person. The narrator of The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe experiences this void after the loss of his love Lenore. The narrator is isolated from the world until a raven appears before him. The events and dialogue that follow are what makes The Raven such a legendary piece of literature. The gothic poem The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe is an example of repetition and shift.

Edgar Allan Poe was a brilliant Gothic writer, as he was always able to create a sense of terror throughout his works. If one looked at Poe’s different writings, one would find similarities in the Gothic elements, yet each one is unique. “The Black Cat” and “Berenice” are good examples of that. Although both of Poe’s stories “The Black Cat” and “Berenice” contain the Gothic elements of the supernatural, villains driven by passion, and horrific events, they are different in terms of Gothic setting, omens and shadows, and obsessions.

Romanticism was a major movement in early 19th century that took roots in every art from across the Western world. One literary artist influenced by Romanticism was Edgar Allen Poe, an American author of poems and short stories that have become well known. Poe’s works are best known for their emotional intensity, a trait that is shared by all great works of other romantic writers. One work of Poe’s collection, “The Cask of Amontillado,” perhaps best exemplifies this trait, and other aspects of Romanticism.

"The Black Cat", in which the narrator related a series of "most wild" yet "most homely" events he went through, is one of Edgar Allan Poe's masterpieces. The narrator first told readers that he had loved animals so much that he was often laughed at by his companions. He and his wife had many pets, among which a giant black cat called Pluto was their favourite. But it has all changed since he became an alcoholic. He suddenly lost his temper and his love for animals. He began to abuse them, including Pluto. He digged out its eyes because the cat, out of terror, bit him, and then he hung it because he thought Pluto was avoiding him. That night his house caught a fire and they were reduced to an old house due to poverty. One day he found a cat

A man who has abused his pets and killed his wife is sentenced to death, but were these transgressions made in the clarity of mind or was it an act of madness? In the short story THE BLACK CAT by Edgar Allan Poe, we follow the ramblings of a man who is sentence to death on the very next day for his act of murder. Do not take his ramblings to heart as he is an unreliable man but see for it what it really is. The beginning of the story starts out in a jail cell where the narrator is hours away from his death. He says that he wants to recount the events that placed him in this predicament. Since the day he was born, he has been noted for the docility and humanity of his disposition and these qualities flourished as he grew older. He marries a woman who shares his likeness of animals, and they have adopted abundance of pets. His favorite was a black cat named Pluto. The narrator starts drinking and his personality traits change to a detestable person. He begins to abuse his wife and pets verbally and physically. One night while intoxicated, he believes the cat is ignoring him so he grabs it by the throat. Frightened the cat bit his hand, which angered the narrator so he took a pen knife and cut out one of its eyes. A few days later, he is overcome by a guilt and perverse impulse to hang the cat from a tree in the garden even though he knew it was wrong. That same night his house caught on fire and he lost everything. The next day he returns to the burned down house and sees a