Poe's The Murders In The Rue Morgue

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A Different Vision about the Short Story: The Murders in the Rue Morgue George Eliot said, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. This quote is always true even when it is a horror book. There is a criticism analysis article, ‘To Make Venus Vanish’: Misogyny as Motive in Poe’s ‘Murders in the Rue Morgue’, which is written by Joseph Church. This article is written about his judgment on the author because of the author’s sexual discrimination. In his article, there are two remarkable points that I agree with: Poe’s discrimination is revealed by the way he mocks Madame L’Espanaye’s wealth, and also the way he ends up the terrible death without any punishments. On the other hand, I disagree with the idea Poe’s discrimination is displayed via the way those victims were murdered. Foremost, I agree with Joseph when he considers Poe is discriminating against women by some reasons. In this tale, Madame L’Espanaye has no husband, so the daughter has no father. They have adapted to the life without a man because they are strong enough to be self-reliant. However, Poe has a different thought; he expects women subordinate themselves to men. Instead of singing a praise of the strength of those ladies, he scorns the legitimacy of the ladies’ …show more content…

No matter how complicated that case was, the murderer finally has to pay for what they did. But, in Poe’s tale, although the old lady and her daughter were murdered terrifically, the story end up without any punishment. It is unfair to the victims; the killer, orangutan, is an animal, so it does not take any responsibilities for the death of Madame L’Espanaye and her daughter. The sailor finally catches the orangutan and “obtained for it a very large sum” although he should be the person who takes all the responsibility for those ladies’ death. Consequently, though Poe’s tale is well-known as an attractive story, I still cannot accept the death of those women is neglect as an