Berenice Symbolism

“A girl got lost in the forest.” Odds are, that didn’t frighten you. In horror stories, it’s often times the details that ultimately make or break it. A good example is “Berenice” by Edgar Allan Poe in which a man does crazy and removes his wife's teeth to keep for himself.. Through its attention to detail, use of perspective, and aesthetic similarity to other gothic stories of its time, Poe sets up a horrific tone simply using the atmosphere. We see the protagonist’s close attention to detail when he begins to obsess over common things such as the curtains in his home. We as the reader realize that the protagonist is clearly incoherent to reality to fixate so intensely on something as simple as the curtains. Poe expounds the protagonist’s

What I mean by this is that the description of a location paints pictures in the reader’s mind and works to further implant the reader into the realm of the story. Take for example the following quote. “ there are no towers in the land more time-honored than my gloomy, grey, hereditary halls... in the character of the family mansion — in the frescos of the chief saloon — in the tapestries of the dormitories — in the chiseling of some buttresses in the armory — but more especially in the gallery of antique paintings — in the fashion of the library chamber — and, in the very peculiar nature of the library’s contents...” Now this is merely a brief example of the descriptive talents of Edgar Allan Poe, but the reader can quite clearly envision the protagonists home simply from a few lines of text. Given the importance of atmosphere in a horror story, it follows that great details such as this help to embed a feeling of fear in the

This is where the importance of backstory becomes a major portion of horror. It provides an explanation for why something happened, why people do what they do, and can be used to instill fear into the reader on it’s own. In “Berenice,” the backstory is simply the first portion of the story. It explains, in great detail, the protagonist’s relationship to Berenice early on in their lives as well as their experiences growing up together and her ultimate downfall due to an unknown disease. This helps give the reader a feeling of completeness as it gives reason to people's actions and insight to character’s minds. It’s always interesting being able to see a character transform over time into the person we see at the