Edgar Allan Poe's Perversion

For the purpose of this Essay I shall analyze four of Poe’s short stories; “The Black Cat,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” The Masque of The Red Death,” and “The Tell-tale Heart.”

Although numerous critics have different views on Poe's writing style, I believe that Harold Bloom hits the mark rather appropriately when he says that "Poe

"The Cask of Amontillado" is a powerful tale of revenge. Montresor, the sinister narrator of this tale, pledges revenge upon Fortunato for an insult. Montresor intends to seek vengeance in support of his family motto: "Nemo me impune lacessit.” (p.283) On the coat of arms, which bears this motto, appears "a huge human foot d'or, in a field of azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are embedded in the heel." (p.283) It is important for Montresor to have his victim know what is happening to him. Montresor will derive pleasure from the fact that as Fortunato hangs in darkness surrounded by imminent death he realizes what has happened to him and will see how his greedy craving for wine brought about his impending doom, as well as notice that his would-be-murderer gave him ample opportunity to escape. In structure, there can be no doubt, that both Montresor's plan of revenge and Poe's story are carefully crafted to create the desired effect.

"The Cask of Amontillado" is a consciously constructed story so that every detail contributes to irony, both dramatic and verbal. Dramatic irony occurs when the reader becomes painfully aware of what will become of Fortunato even though the character continues his descent into the catacombs in pursuit of the Amontillado. Poe further adds to this effect by calling the character Fortunato, who is anything but fortunate, and by dressing him in a clown or a fool's costume since Montresor intends to make a fool of him as part of his dark plan.

No one escapes death. Human happiness, as represented by Prince Prospero in “The Masque Of The Red Death,” seeks to wall out the threat of death through an artificial ignorance; however, at the end of the story we are reminded that death comes "like a thief in the night," (p.47) and even those who seek peace and safety shall not escape. Having the Red Death take on a humanoid form enhances the effect of dread as righteously death is put upon those that should have served as the protectors of their people.

And still Poe looked upon these forces, often mistaken by the scholars of Poe’s and our time, as moral evil, differently. Rather, in his stories he explores the counterpart to creativity, insisting that humans are predisposed towards the perverse, which is much like a radical impulse imbedded in the human mind, uncontrollable, and at times a rather irresistible condition. To be perverse means to do wrong for wrong’s sake. The cultured person may easily miss Poe's point here if moral associations to the word ‘wrong’ override Poe's intent. For Poe, wrong is wrong simply because it is perverse, not because it says so in the Bible, or because it is defined as such in a court of law. The compulsion to do evil is not a personality trait; it is present in every person, and the question is merely how much control we have over it.

In “The Black Cat” alcohol is not what causes the protagonist to become sordid, rather it serves as a catalyst to a most unfortunate, yet unavoidable state. In “The Cask Of Amontillado” the average reader may mistake Montresor’s revenge as perverse, yet one mustn’t confuse evil with perversion, for an act of revenge is evil, while the motivation to such a deed is the truly perverse element in Montresor. “The Masque Of The Red Death” exemplifies perversion at its purest; to withdraw into the recesses of the prince’s sanctuary is cowardly and irresponsible, however not necessarily evil even in the slightest, for the fear of death is a powerful emotion to behold. The perversion of the situation is revealed by the lifestyle of the noble people in their castle, ignorant of the outside world, feasting and celebrating, dancing and laughing, oblivious to the needs, the aches, the torturous convulsions experienced by those they reign.

As in other Poe stories, biting and mutilation appear. The narrator of "The Black Cat" first becomes annoyed when Pluto "inflicted a slight wound

Some topics in this essay:
Black Cat, Hindu Buddhist, Red Death, Tell-tale Heart”, Cask Amontillado, Black Cat”, Fiend Intemperance, Red Death”, Harold Bloom, Prince Prospero, evil eye, red death, poe’s stories, poe's story, natural causes, black cat, “the black cat”, cellar wall, black cat”, “the black, ordinary succession, “the tell-tale heart”, masque red death”, ordinary succession natural, succession natural causes,