This online article reviewed the many theories that surround the death of Edgar Allen Poe to date. The articled emphasized that the alcohol theory is the most commonly accepted cause of death recognized by majority of people. Even Poe’s good friend J.E. Snodgrass felt binge drinking caused his death. Other critics argued Poe was a victim of cooping, a practice that entailed bribing him with alcohol, thus forcing him to vote repeatedly in polling booths for a particular candidate, as Balitmore’s elections were notorious for political uproar and extortion. This would explain the conditions under which Poe was foundOthers suggested Poe died of other medical ailments ranging from brain tumors, heart disease, tuberculosis, rabies, epilepsy,
By Edgar’s middle years he was an alcoholic and ruined many jobs. The Black Cat and the Cask of Amontillado were stories that relates to his alcoholism. The Black Cat
Second, Poe also could’ve died from alcohol poisoning because of his past history of alcoholism. Before being found delirious outside of a tavern, Poe had an addictive personality, such as to gambling and over drinking. Poe also
Edgar Allan Poe's poems are mostly about death and sadness as well as losing the ones he loved; because he had dealt with so much death in his life to write about, and he shows that in his poems. Poe does say something in his poem 'The Raven' that is linked to his alcoholism where he tells his character (himself) to "quaff" which means to drink. What the poem means by "quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore" refers to his alcoholism, by drinking so much 'potion' (alcohol) to forget his late wife Lenore ( Virginia) that just passed away. And the raven is a form of symbolism telling his character (Poe) that his wife is never coming back home, and he needs to realize that she's never coming back from the dead.
The Black Cat is a short story that shares a tale of a man and his cat, Pluto. The man was once kind and loved animals, but due to a large intake of alcohol, he becomes aggressive towards not only his wife, but Pluto as well. The narrator explains his change of heart by saying, “I grew, day by day, more moody, more irritable, more regardless of the feelings of others. I suffered myself to use intemperate language to my wife. At length, I even offered her personal violence.”
A critic who has reviewed Anabelle Lee, John Cowper Powys has said Poe expresses "a certain dark, wilful melancholy,"(bookrags.com). This is usually perceived as being an after effect of losing his mother, his wife, and any other important person. Poe has a certain depressing aura that follows almost every piece of his. Another critic, Alwin Templar, was quoted saying “It certainly contains all the ingredients necessary to satisfy the appetite of any Poe enthusiast – an enigmatic narrator, alcohol and the effects thereof, […]” (wordpress.com). Poe’s addiction to alcohol most likely had a role in The Black Cat, as it was a story with a character who seemed to always be
The narrator got another cat after this and became even more insane in the way he felt about this black cat.
The narrator of The Black Cat also shows symptoms of anti-social personality disorder. His lack of remorse and questionable behavior or relationships with his pets. He talks about how he loves animals and has loved them ever since he was a child, but had difficulty in connecting with other people. He only chooses to show kindness and allow his “kind” nature to “the unselfish and self-sacrificing love of a brute” (Poe, n.p.). As critic John Cleman said, “his exceptional sweetness can find a reciprocating perfection of fidelity and kindness only in the mindless devotion of animals” (Cleman,
Alcohol and pets don't get along; if you don't believe me, just ask Poe The story starts with depicting the, gentle, narrator's and his wife's love for their pets, especially the extreme liking they have for their black cat. The narrator is first pictured as a very docile human being who loves his wife and his animals, but the situation quickly changes from good to catastrophic. Soon, our animal loving friend gets transformed into an alcoholic pet hating bastard; he starts to drink more and then beat his wife and his pets senseless. The situation was clearly shitty, but then he committed the absolutely irreparable.
Edgar Allan Poe addresses the dark and gruesome side of human nature in his writing “The Black Cat”, which during that time and even now are perceived as radical ideas. This dark human nature is displayed in Poe’s writing as the narrator recalls the happenings of a most erratic event. The narrator, a pet lover with a sweet disposition, in this story succumbs to the most challenging aspects of human nature including that of addiction, anger, and perverseness. To the Christian believer, human’s sinful flesh leads people to do wrong because that is their natural tendency.
The narrator is confined to his path of madness and drunkenness. The narrator’s irritation gets worse, and he attempts to kill the new cat. His wife interjects, and the narrator kills his wife in anger. He chooses to hide his wife’s body in the walls of the cellar.
The narrator of “The Black Cat” is an alcoholic. By mistreating his pets and wife, he demonstrates how his addiction affects him. Alcoholism itself is an act of insanity because alcoholics see things in an entirely different manner than sober people. The narrator had a sufficient childhood and had a great deal of pets. Once he grew addicted
In the gruesome short story “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allen Poe a nameless narrator tells his story of his drunken and moody life before he gets hung the next day. The intoxicated narrator kills his favorite cat, Pluto and his wife with an axe. Soon enough, the narrator gets caught and there he ends up, in jail. Although, most readers of “The Black Cat” have argued the narrators insanity, more evidence have shown that he is just a moody alcoholic with a lousy temper.
In “Household Horror: Domestic Masculinity in Poe’s ‘The Black Cat’,” Ann Bliss analyzes the domestic violence committed by the story’s narrator “through the lens of gender construction,” to argue it is motivated and escalated by his sense of “failed masculinity” (96). Bliss first explains that the narrator’s sense of “failed masculinity” is rooted in “feminine traits” he exhibited as a child. The narrator was consistently made fun of as a child and displayed his “feminine traits” through his “docility,” “humanity,” and “tenderness of heart” (96). Further explained, the narrator is of mother like quality and has a “mother and child” relationship with his cat, “The dependent nature of the relationship between owner and pet-resulting in an “unselfish and self-sacrificing” love (254) – resembles that between mother and child, the fact that the narrator’s wife exhibits similar love for animals reinforces the maternal nature of this relationship” (96).
Compare/Contrast paragraph Edgar Allan Poe’s stories “The Black Cat” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” have similarities and differences. Some of the similarities are in the way the story was told and the narrators’ mindset. As a beginning, the stories have lots of common things in the way they were told. They are both written in first-person point of view and they both start from the prison. For example the main character in “The Black Cat” said “My immediate purpose is to place before the world, plainly, succinctly, and without comment, a series of mere household events.
