Before we argue the relationship
between “The Tell Tale Heart” and the characteristics of the “Gothic” genre, we
must know what the “Gothic” genre is about. “Gothic Fiction”, also called as
“Gothic Horror”, is a mixture of “Romanticism” and “Horror”. Occasionally the
genre comprehends “Science Fiction” and “Adventure” as well. Usually “Gothic
Novels” are dominated with psychological and physical terror, mystery, ghosts,
haunted houses, castles, death, madness, secrets, curses, and Gothic
architecture. Also infamous characters including tyrants, mad people, magician,
imaginary creatures of horror, maniac, and bandits are found effortlessly in “Gothic
Fictions”. The “Gothic” genre is created by Horace Walpole, when he published “The
Castle of Otranto” in 1764. At that time the purpose of this genre was to
depict a theme of fear and terror in castles, mansions, ruins and monasteries
which are called Romantic architectures. The works of an American Gothic writer,
Edgar Allan Poe became a milestone in the Gothic genre due to his
innovative interpretation of it. Moreover a few examples regarding famous
pieces of Gothic literature during his times are “The Vampyre”, “Frankenstein”,
“Dracula”, and “Carmilla”. Therefore, Edgar Allan Poe must have been influenced
by this wave by the time he wrote “The Tell Tale Heart”. In this short
story we recognize a mad man who murders another person. He vandalize the
corpse and confess in a somewhat insane way to the police in the end. What’s
also interesting is that the main character keep on insist his mental
soundness. On the surface, he definitely wanted his story to radiate fear to
its readers, but I believe something more meaningful is covert under the
surface. I want to talk about the relationship between the murderer and the
murdered. The murderer calls the eyes of the murdered “the vulture eye”. Keep
in mind that when a vulture is in midair, they have the power to see thei
r prey, while the prey cannot sense the presence of themselves. However when the murderer holds his lantern right in front of the murdered person’s eyes, he now holds the power to see the victim while the victim’s sight is hindered by the bright lights of the lantern. Thus, the inversion of their positions could imply a revenge of the main character for immense oppression and tense vigilance exercised by the murdered. However I would love to discuss deeper matters of this short story in class indeed.
r prey, while the prey cannot sense the presence of themselves. However when the murderer holds his lantern right in front of the murdered person’s eyes, he now holds the power to see the victim while the victim’s sight is hindered by the bright lights of the lantern. Thus, the inversion of their positions could imply a revenge of the main character for immense oppression and tense vigilance exercised by the murdered. However I would love to discuss deeper matters of this short story in class indeed.
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