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Box # 108
Sandra Cash
Professor Bouchard
ENG 132
Paper # 3 Insights into Poe’s Writings
February 1, 2012
Insights into Poe’s Writings
Poe’s stories are well written, even though they are morbid. Poe is great at setting the
mood of his stories. He makes the mood gloomy, depressing, no hope, and dark. This helps in
foreshadowing what is to come next in the story. In the perspective of new historicism, Poe has a
common theme in his stories about people being buried alive. In Poe’s day, it was so common
that people were being buried alive that people made a “Society for the Prevention of People
Being Buried Alive” ("Premature Burial In The Nineteenth Century"). Also, when Poe has
women in his stories he does not give them any characteristics, they are rather plain and boring.
This is also seen in the perspective of feminist, but in a negative way.
Poe has this great talent at setting the mood for his stories. For example in “The Fall of
the House of Usher,” he writes this:
“… upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain – upon the
bleak walls – upon the vacant eye – like windows – upon a few ranks sedges – and upon
a few white trunks of decayed trees – with an utter depression of soul which I can
compare to no earthly sensation more properly than to the after-dream of the reveler upon
opium – the bitter lapse into everyday life – the hideous dropping off of the view. There

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was a sinking, a sickening of the heart – an unredeemed dreariness…” (Lawrense, p.
149)
This just gives you a feeling of hopelessness, depressing, and sad place. He also uses this for
foreshadowing. A good example of this is in “A Cask of Amontillado,” he again sets the mood by
this, “Its walls had been lined with human remains, piled to the vault over head, in the fashion of
the great catacombs of Paris.” (Lawrense, p. 146) This foresahoweds what is going to happen to
Fortunato.
Poe also has a common theme that the characters are buried alive. From the perspective
of new historicism, this is probably because in Poe’s day this was a common. Doctors back then
did not know a very accurate way to tell if a person was actually dead or if a person was in a
coma. Due to this, doctors accidentally pronounced a person dead when they were not dead. This
became so common that people founded a “Society for the Prevention of People Being Buried
Alive” ("Premature Burial In The Nineteenth Century"). I think Poe just played up on this fear,
when writing “Cask of Amontillado,” and “The Fall of the House of Usher.”
When Poe has women characters, he makes them very plain, flat, with no personality.
This can be seen through two perspectives, first the new historicism perspective and then the
feminist. Through the historicism perspective, this is still the time where women are supposed to
be good wives, take care of the kids, and stay in the house. This is probably why Poe does not
give his women characters any personality, and makes the flat. In “The Fall of the House of
Usher,” the sister of Roderick seems to be more of an after thought. She is only mentioned a few
times throughout the story. When Roderick says that she was buried alive, trying to get out, he
mentions her in almost as an afterthought. Another good example is in “The Black Cat.” The
narrator’s wife is only mentioned again only a few times. The narrator says he has a wife while he

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talks about how his life used to be, how good of a wife she was to him even when it must have
been hard, and lastly when he kills her.
A feminist would be greatly upset with Poe; he does not give his women characters any
personality, he makes them keeps them in their stereotypical places, and they are weak. The
relationship between men and women in “The Fall of the House of Usher,” is a brother and sister
that live together since the sister never got married. Once again, this implies that women are not
allowed to live on their own and they have to have a husband. Another example of relationship
between men and women is in “The Black Cat,” the relationship is between a husband and wife,
in which the wife is a good wife that stays at home. Another issue for feminist would be that the
main characters in Poe’s stories is always the men, the women are more of a side thought.
Poe is very talented writer, his stories are very well written, even though they can be a bit
gruesome. He has a special talent for setting the mood of his stories. He makes the mood
depressing, filled with no hope, and dark. He also uses this to foreshadow what is to come next in
the story. Poe has a common theme in his stories about people being buried alive. The perspective
of new historicism could explain this, since it was something that did happen in Poe’s day.
Another thing that is could be explain by the culture of his day is the fact that he does not give his
women character’s any depth or personality. This would and does offend a person who has a
perspective of feminist. It makes women look weak, and that their place is in the house.

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Works Cited
Poe, A. Edger "Cask of Amontillado" DiYanni, Robert. Literature: Approaches to
Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Madison: McGraw Hill, 2008.144-148.
Poe, A. Edger "The Fall of the House of Usher" DiYanni, Robert. Literature:
Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Madison: McGraw Hill, 2008.149-161.
Poe, A. Edger "The Black Cat" DiYanni, Robert. Literature: Approaches to Fiction,
Poetry, and Drama. Madison: McGraw Hill, 2008.137-143.
"Premature Burial In The Nineteenth Century." Web. 1 Feb 2012.
<http://www.members.tripod.com/DespiteThis/death/prebur.htm>.