Eva Izquierdo Acha

Pedro Santana Martínez

Facultad de Letras y de la Educación

Grado en Estudios Ingleses

2016-2017

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Facultad

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Departamento

TRABAJO FIN DE GRADO

Curso Académico

Different Dimensions of Death in Edgar Allan Poe´sFictional Worlds

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Trabajo de Fin de Grado

Different Dimensions of Death in

Edgar Allan Poe's Fictional Worlds

Autor:

Eva Izquierdo Acha

Tutor/es:

Fdo.Pedro Santana Martínez

Titulación:

Grado en Estudios Ingleses [601G]

Facultad de Letras y de la Educación

AÑO ACADÉMICO: 2016/2017

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ABSTRACT

The purpose of this essay will be to analyze the relationship between death and some

of Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories by dividing this study in three different sections

attending to the topics: death related to will through beauty and love; obsessions and

revenge. In each of these parts, the notion of death will be determined by the particular

characteristics of each topic, while providing examples and explanations taken from the

stories. I will deconstruct and rebuild the concept of death, examining the elements

individually and then how they work together as a whole. Finally, it will be also

possible to compare the results with other social/historical/religious points of view.

RESUMEN

Este ensayo tendrá como objetivo analizar la relación existente entre el concepto de

la muerte y algunos de los relatos cortos de Edgar Allan Poe, clasificando este estudio

en tres secciones temáticas diferentes: la muerte en relación con la voluntad a través de

la belleza y el amor; las obsesiones y la venganza. En cada uno de estos apartados, la

noción de muerte se verá afectada por las características particulares de cada tema,

ofreciendo ejemplos y explicaciones tomados de los relatos. Desmontaré y reconstruiré

el concepto de muerte, examinando los elementos individualmente y como estos

funcionan como un todo. Finalmente, también será posible comparar los resultados con

otros puntos de vista sociales, históricos y religiosos.

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INDEX

1. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………...page 4

1.1 Objectives……………………..……………………………………………...……page 4

1.2 Methodology and structure of the essay………….……………………………..page 5

2. EDGAR ALLAN POE’S LIFE EXPERIENCES AS LITERARY

INFLUENCES…………………………………………………………………………..page 8

3. SOME THEORETICAL IDEAS ABOUT POE’S WORKS AND STYLE………page 9 3.1 Gothic tradition: an overview………………………………………….………. page 9

3.2 Dark Romanticism: an overview……………………………………….………page 10

4. DEATH: DIFFERENT MEANINGS AND APPROACHES…………………..page 12 5. BEAUTIFUL AND DEAD: POE’S BELOVED WOMEN……………………..page 14

5.1 Berenice: the weak link………-………………………………………………...page 15

5.2 Eleonora: love beyond death……………………..……………………………..page 16

5.3 Ligeia: the fighter that defeated death…………………………..……………..page 16

6. DEATH AS AN OBSESSION TO OVERCOME OR SUCCUMB TO……….page 18 6.1 Happy consequences from bad situations: “The Premature Burial”……..….page 18

6.1.1 Thanatophobia: symptoms and treatment…………………………………….page 19

6.2 Obsessive characters doomed to be punished…………..……………………...page 20

6.2.1 Chain of events and analysis…..……………………………………………...page 20

6.2.2 “The Masque of the Red Death”: everybody is equal when they are dead.....page 20

6.2.3 “The Black Cat”: a jinx animal that can make your life miserable………....page 21

6.2.4 “William Wilson”: morality vs. vice………………………….………………page 22

6.2.4.1 The notion of Doppelgänger and the relationship between the William

Wilsons……………………………...……………………………………...page 24

7. DEATH AS THE SWEETEST REVENGE………………………………………page 26 7.1 The concept of death as determined by revenge…….………………………...page 26

7.2 “The Cask of Amontillado”: the grips of revenge and how to perform it…...page 26

8. GLOBAL ANALYSIS OF THE TALES AND THE CONNECTION BETWEEN

THEM……………………………………………………………………………….page 28

9. CONCLUSIONS……………………………………………………………………page 32

10. REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………page 33

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1. INTRODUCTION

First of all, it is necessary to point out that this essay will be focused on Edgar Allan

Poe’s work. My purpose is to analyze Poe’s fiction as related to the notion of death and

the different definitions that may be assigned to the term depending on the context.

Edgar Allan Poe is clearly one of the main references when talking about

supernatural, macabre scenarios and dark and sinister topics, and death plays an

important role within his fiction. He manages to thoroughly explore the issue and

provide different meanings that will be looked into within the following pages.

Moreover, since death is depicted in different ways depending on the story we read,

its definition will offer different dimensions and elements. In this vein, those meanings

will differ more or less from our own definition of the term, provided by our own

culture, fears and lifestyle. In this way, it will be possible to compare those views while

studying Edgar Allan Poe’s texts, in order to identify the similarities and differences.

1.1 Objectives

It is obvious that death is a key concept in Poe’s works and the purpose of this

analysis is to examine how the notion changes depending on the context and the

elements of the story. Does death play the same role in a love story or in a revenge tale?

As regarding these variations, Edgar Allan Poe offers a wide range of definitions; from

the prevalence of strong will after death to the suitable punishment for sinners either in

the judgment of the universe or of another mortal looking for revenge. In this way, we

have “Ligeia” as an example of a character whose determination for staying alive goes

beyond the boundaries of life and death. Meanwhile, “William Wilson” would be

focused on death as the final consequence of a relentless obsession with its own name,

representing not only the end of that harassment, but also some unexpected

consequences for the main character that, far from being freed (as he thought), provokes

the end of his existence as a human being. On the other hand, “The Premature Burial”

would represent death as an uncontrollable fear that traps the character in his own

anxiety triggered by the anguish that poses his disease; but, unlike the other stories, it is

this proximity of death that finally releases the character from his obsession.

Moreover, the context, the characters and their actions, even the tone will influence

the role played by death in each work and, as a result, it will be possible to identify it

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and its purpose within the plot. In this vein, taking as a starting point the huge

importance of death for the author, we will use his tales to define its role in each

situation, how he manages to modify the concept using certain elements for each

specific topic and story; and identify what makes each “death” different and special.

When dealing with the objectives of this essay, my purpose is to provide a study that

manages to offer the reader a good understanding of death and the dimensions it

embraces in Poe’s fiction. In order to do so, it is necessary to clarify which are the

elements involved in each case and how they are organized within the structure.

Furthermore, taking his texts as examples, I will be able to offer the reader practical

cases in which these structures are placed so as to show how death is assimilated in the

stories and how everything works as a whole. Furthermore, I will compare the different

scenarios and meanings in order to look for common and non-common features.

1.2 Methodology and structure of the essay

As regarding the methodology followed, this essay will try to deconstruct and

reconstruct the concept of death in Poe’s tales from the point of view of semiotics. This

science proposes that one idea or sign can change its meaning depending on the context

or the elements that surround it. In this way, each element and tale will be understood as

signs that could be interpreted differently as the context changes. I will analyze 8 tales

with different scenarios and contexts to obtain interpretations of death. It is also

necessary to mention structuralism when dealing with methodology, since it is based on

the idea of studying each element of a whole as related to the others. Structuralism

states that parts cannot be understood individually because they are structures inevitably

related with each other. Finally, this study is also based in the analytical, as well as in

the inductive method. The analytical method proposes a study based on the separate

analysis of the parts of a whole; while the inductive one obtains general ideas and

conclusions by means of the study of particular elements, in this case the 8 tales. Even

though I will not develop a thorough system of signs focused on Poe’s texts, I manage

to propose a solid base to start from.

Focusing on the structure of the essay, chapter 1 (Edgar Allan Poe: life experiences

as literary influences) attempts to summarize some of the facts, personal experiences,

literary works… that influenced the writer and his texts. Then, the second section of the

paper (Some theoretical ideas about Poe’s works and style), along with its subsections

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will provide some important features that define the author’s style and an overview on

the main genres in which his works are ascribed (Gothic Tradition and Dark

Romanticism), as well as the ideas that influenced his texts in one way or another. After

this general introduction, I will move on to the notion of death and the different

meanings it may have depending on the elements or contexts surrounding the issue in

chapter number 4 (Death: different meanings and approaches).

At this point of the essay, I will start an analysis of the different meanings using

Poe’s stories as examples to support the given explanations. In order to develop the

analysis of different approaches, I will divide the content in three sections depending on

the topics and interpretations offered; the first one (5. Beautiful and dead: Poe’s beloved

women) linked to beauty and women and how will can exist regardless of body and

after the physical death of the person, using “Ligeia”, “Berenice” and “Eleonora” as

examples.

The second point (6. Death as an obsession to overcome or succumb to) will deal

with death and obsessions, establishing a division between the obsessions that lead the

characters to a happy ending (6.1 Happy consequences from bad situations: “The

Premature Burial”) or those which cause terrible consequences (6.2 Obsessive

characters doomed to be punished in “The Masque of the Red Death”, “The Black Cat”

and “William Wilson”). When addressing “The Premature Burial”, the character

manages to live happily thanks to the same issue that provokes his obsession, the

proximity of death and the fragility of human existence. On the other hand, “The

Masque of the Red Death”, “The Black Cat” and “William Wilson” propose situations

in which the characters are doomed to be punished due to their sinful and evil nature. In

these stories, death is understood as the fair punishment for the characters’ mistakes, but

in some cases, other terrible fates are also viable to punish bad actions.

The last of the three subsections (7. Death as the sweetest revenge) will deal with

revenge taken by some characters by murdering others due to some offense or honor

debt between them (“The Cask of Amontillado”).

These eight short stories in were written between 1835 and 1846; some of them

belong to his first years as a writer, “Berenice” (1835) or “Ligeia” (1838) while others

were created during the last period, “The Premature Burial” (1844) or “The Cask of

Amontillado” (1846). Since the dates are so scattered, the fact of taking into account

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several stories involving different periods of Poe as a writer makes possible to have a

general understanding of his evolution and learning as a writer. In addition, they

manage to provide a good analysis of the relationship between Poe and death through

literature focusing on the previously mentioned approaches: after death-will-beauty,

obsessions and revenge.

As for the reasons that made me choose these eight tales in particular, I shall point

out to the thought that they would perfectly embody the ideas and suit the topics

discussed in the essay as the main motivation. Furthermore, my decision was also

influenced by my personal taste as a reader, leaving behind other Poe’s texts that would

also fit the first reason but wouldn’t be my favorites.

Finally, the last section of the paper will summarize the main conclusions taken from

the analysis of Edgar Allan Poe’s works in this document (8. Conclusions). Moreover, I

will also try to offer the reader a general view of, not only the parts in isolation, but the

whole. In this way, we can say that each chapter will be able to be understood by itself,

but it is important to compare the conclusions obtained within the sections to

completely fulfill the purpose of this essay, that is to understand death in each

individual scenario, but also how it changes from one situation to another. Therefore, it

is necessary to point out the similarities and the differences, and to reach conclusions

based on the comparison of the different interpretations Poe offers.

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2. EDGAR ALLAN POE: LIFE EXPERIENCES AS LITERARY INFLUENCES

An author can receive a lot of influences from a very wide range of aspects: social or

historical events, political ideas, other writers… But the most direct influence comes

from personal experiences which change our way of perceiving and facing life.

It is not surprising for those who know Poe’s troubled life that his works are so full

of darkness and pessimism. Besides, women were both a source of light and darkness,

warmth and suffering during his life1. As a result, he felt the need to look deeper into

the notion of death through writing: he explored theories about life after death, maybe in

an attempt to keep being hopeful about the future of his own dead people; or he could

use it to punish his own demons, since he wasn’t able to confront them in real life.

Apart from his personal experiences, Poe was influenced by a vast number of literary

sources. We can find that there is a classical inspiration mainly present in the theme and

form of the characters’ dialogues in texts such as “The Cask of Amontillado”, “The

Colloquy of Monos and Una” or “The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion”. In

addition, the verbal exchanges in “Eleonora”, “The Raven” or “Ulalume” also show this

classical influence. Apart from this, Edgar Allan Poe looked up to a wide range of

writings dealing with very different issues. Among these texts, we find works about

archeological explorations, together with travel literature, biographies of historical

figures, old religious texts (E.g. The Bible), scientific/pseudo-scientific writings2 or even

newspaper columns. Finally, it has been mentioned that encyclopedic works were also

an influence for Poe; for example: Isaac D’Israeli’s Curiosities of Literature, John

Lemprière’s Classical Dictionary or Jacob Bryant’s Works on Ancient Mythology.

1 Ackroyd, P. (2009). Poe: Una Vida Truncada. Barcelona: Edhasa.

Costa Bloomfield, S. (2007). The Everything Guide to Edgar Allan Poe: The Life, Times and Work of a Tormented Genius. Adams Media. Fisher, B. (2008). The Cambridge Introduction to Edgar Allan Poe. New York; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2 www.mathpages.com/home/kmath522/kmath522.htm (Accessed on 12/05/2016)

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3. SOME THEORETICAL IDEAS ABOUT POE’S WORKS AND STYLE

As regarding Poe’s style, we usually find his literary worlds full of darkness,

sometimes dream-like, with characters plunged into problematic events or struggling

against this whirlpool of misery that threatens to trap them forever. Taking these

elements as a reference, there are two major movements to which his literature is

ascribed: Gothic Tradition and Dark Romanticism.

3.1 Gothic tradition: an overview

It was born in the 18th century and Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto (1764) is

considered the first Gothic Horror novel. Nonetheless, its influence is even present

nowadays in many authors; for instance, Stephen King, Anne Rice or Barbara Gowdy.

« (…) the gothic castle, with its awesome antiquity, vast distances and famblings,

deserted or ruined wings, damp corridors, unwholesome hidden catacombs, and galaxy of

ghosts and appalling legends, as a nucleus of suspense and demoniac fright.» (Lovecraft

1927:8)3

According to Lovecraft, the Gothic Horror novel is going be clearly determined

by certain elements which will be present in almost every text ascribed to Gothic.

One of the first elements to take into account is the setting; the story should take

place in a castle or big mansion, a place that can offer the author different

possibilities to develop the story and that encourages the mysterious and dark

environment. Besides, there will always exist this threating environment, enhanced

by the unknown, where everything is possible, and that leads the character into

confusion and distorted perceptions of the reality. Ambiguity will also take part in

the characters’ perceptions, triggering doubt and psychological fear.

Depending on the story, these strange facts will have either a natural explanation

or a truly supernatural justification; so creepy sounds may be the regular sounds of

an old house or the step of an armor wandering around the place. In addition, those

supernatural facts can be shown subtly or clearly to the characters.

As regarding the role of the characters in the story, females are usually victims, so

they embody defenseless people, passive and innocent characters that are waiting to

3 Lovecraft, H. P. (1973). Supernatural Horror in Literature. New York: Dover Publications.

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be saved. However, they can also represent the threat and the danger for the “good”

ones. On the other hand, men adopt the role of the hero, the one who is there to save

the woman in distress; nevertheless, they can also be responsible for the woman’s

unhappiness.

Inexplicable events, strange sounds, unknown parentage, disappearances in which

people show up dead, prophecies you can’t run away from…, all these elements take

part in Gothic Horror and they encourage the heavy and mysterious atmosphere.

3.2 Dark Romanticism: an overview

Moving on to Dark Romanticism, the other keystone in Poe’s work, it emerged out

of the pessimistic feelings towards life and some influences from the earlier Romantic

literary movement; however, it was born as a reaction to Transcendentalism.

According to Phillips’s explanation of Transcendentalism4, they focused on the

bright side ignoring the less fortunate aspects of life. These authors thought perfection

was an innate quality of mankind and they wanted to go beyond ordinary life and

human experiences and “transcend” to reach the Divine Soul, God and spiritual

knowledge. Nevertheless, there were several ideas in which Transcendentalism and

Dark Romanticism agreed5. In this way, they both believed that nature and spiritual

forces are very powerful and they can be never controlled by science or rational

thought. Furthermore, they believed in the individual’s free thought and growth through

art. As a result, both streams of knowledge agreed in their essential mantra: Intuition

and spontaneity are superior to intellect and rational thought.

On the other hand, Gamer helps to provide a good understanding of Dark

Romanticism, or Anti-Transcendentalism6, which found Transcendentalism way too

optimistic and self-centered in mankind, nature and God’s divine power so they

replaced divinity and wisdom by sin and self-destruction. In addition, Dark Romantics’

distorted Transcendentalists concepts, turning them into something dark and mysterious

closer to their ideas.

4 Phillips, J. (2005). Romanticism and Transcendentalism: 1800-1860. New York: Facts on File. 5 www.brighthubeducation.com/homework-help-literature/999608-romanticism-versus-transcendentalism/ or www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/culture-miscellaneus/differerence-between-romanticism-and-transcendentalism/ 6 Gamer, M. (2000). Romanticism and the Gothic: Genre, Reception,and Canon Formation. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press

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Dark Romanticism characteristics embrace pessimism as a much more useful and

powerful force than optimism. In this sense, they thought that spirituality is not always

something good or harmless for humans, and they prefer focusing on the dark side of

human essence depicting them not as perfect or divine-like, but as full of sins and evil

inclinations. Moreover, their works explore conflict between Good and Evil and the

psychological consequences of madness, guilt or emotional disruption.

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4. DEATH: DIFFERENT MEANINGS AND APPROACHES

In Poe’s fiction, death can be strongly related to love (“Ligeia”); it can also become

an obsession for the characters (“The Premature Burial”), or it may be depicted as the

result of a criminal event either as a punishment for the victim sins or an accident (“The

Cask of Amontillado”/”The Black Cat”). In addition, he also puts aside the general

definition of death as something that determines the end of life, the physical existence in

its plainest definition, since, in his opinion, will and mind can exist separately. In this

vein, he thinks that the mind can still live after the body’s death so that the single

absolute death is the loss of that will/mind. This concept is clearly depicted in “Ligeia”,

in which the purpose of this Lady Ligeia is the continuation of the mind after the death

of her body.

These definitions describe the notion in a way that differs from our own

understanding. When Poe “kills” a beautiful woman, the event is described as very

romantic and full of meaning, whereas when dealing with death as a consequence of

vengeful feelings, it represents a very legitimate action in the eyes of the culprit or a

way to outsource the character’s uncontrollable inner whirlpool of emotions.

Leaving fiction aside, the idea of death has had many different interpretations

throughout history depending on social groups, races, religions or historical periods. As

regarding religious groups, Catholicism offers a way out of death, redemption of your

soul through Jesus Christ and righteousness in order to reach heaven and eternity: “I am

the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,

and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”7 In this way, Muslims also

deal with it in a similar way; for them, your actions in life will decide whether you

deserve heaven or hell. Hinduism, though, offers a different point of view. They believe

that their spirit will reincarnate in another physical body (human or not) after death; and

that new birth will be determined by the karma created by good and bad actions. For

Hindus, the ultimate purpose of life is to achieve freedom from this material world and

reach Nirvana/paradise.

Talking about different periods of history, death has a different role depending on the

moment to which we are paying attention. Nowadays, death is not a very pleasant idea,

7 The Bible’s St. John 11:25-26

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not even for religious people; nobody wants to die just because they think they are

going to reach heaven or an eternal holy existence, least of all someone who does not

believe in these religious promises. Nevertheless, there were times in which death was

something attractive and desired. From the 8th to 11th centuries, Vikings explored and

raided wide areas mainly across northern, central and eastern Europe. Nordic people

were not afraid of war, since violent conflicts were part of their lifestyle; fighting when

raiding new lands granted them huge spoils, as well as a well-earned reputation of fierce

and relentless fighters. Heathens strongly linked death to religion and they were even

eager to die in battle or as a sacrifice to their Gods. Similarly to Christians, they also

had a “heaven” for those who managed to meet Gods’ expectations. They believed in an

afterlife in Valhalla, feasting with the Gods and gathering with their dead family and

friends; however, this paradise was only for war heroes, brave fighters and those who

were considered “True Vikings” (strong, fierce, devoted to Gods…).

Finally, the XXI century western definition of death understands it as a very simple

event. Death and life depend on each other, and one cannot exist without the other.

Death is the ultimate consequence of life, the ending of whatever we may have done in

the earthy world and the mankind’s equalizer putting aside races, social status or faith.

According to this definition, death would be more associated to a natural process

lacking any ambiguity of meaning than to something caused by another human being or

psychological disorder as in Poe’s stories. As regarding life after death, the closest

references to this topic are related to religion and the idea of resurrection through faith

and devotion to God.

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5. BEAUTIFUL AND DEAD: POE’S BELOVED WOMEN

Edgar Allan Poe has always had a special place for women in his tales. In these

stories, women are linked to death as well as to beauty and the reader can easily notice

that they are different, special, attractive and mysterious. Those central characters are

depicted in similar ways; as I have said before, all of them are extremely beautiful as if

they were angels in Earth. They also have a special aura around them that fascinates

everyone, specifically the main character/narrator who seems to feel a growing fixation

for her. Berenice, Ligeia and Eleonora among others follow these patterns. They are

extraordinary women due to their beauty, intelligence or both. It is also noticeable the

influence of Poe’s wife, Virginia, in these characters since the narrator seems to be in

love with that woman he describes, usually his cousin too.

In this section, I will attempt to define the way in which females are linked to death

and the elements that support this relationship in the stories. Somehow, these female

characters represent life, brightness, hope and beauty; on the other hand, there is death,

darkness and deterioration. One will encounter the other in a fight: the result is always

the same, Ligeia, Berenice and Eleonora end up dead, but not in the same conditions. I

would classify these characters according to these conditions in which their death takes

place, along with the events that follow that moment:

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5.1 Berenice: the weak link

From my point of view, Berenice should be placed on the third step of the graphic

because she is the weakest female. Berenice is the one who offers less resistance when

death comes to take her. Sickness consumes her without encountering any obstacle and,

little by little her identity is completely erased. As time goes by, she is less Berenice and

resembles more a corpse than a living person while sickness distorts her true self, taking

everything that would allow us to recognize her.

As for Egaeus, Berenice’s bethroted, he witnesses this deterioration and experiments

more and more rejection towards Berenice, as sickness kills her. Moreover, in The

Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe, Benjamin Fisher proposes that Egaeus

description would answer to the Gothic character stereotype and his nature would be

extremely literary due to certain characteristics: his name coming from one of

Shakespeare’s stories or his birth in the library of the house. Besides, we can’t be sure

about his true feelings when describing his relationship with Berenice: does he truly feel

that rejection or is it only an excuse to avoid the intimacy their marriage would bring?

To provide a possible answer to this question, Fisher talks about that literary origin and

that his view of life could have been determined by a Gothic lens through which he

observes everything, along with a predilection for gloom that could have doomed this

romantic relationship from the start (Gothic pattern based on dramatic and tragic

situations present in these stories).

Apart from that, we can also notice the growing fixation he has for Berenice’s teeth,

more prominent as sickness progresses. The attraction is such that Egaeus ends

swallowed up by the teeth’s image and experiences a process similar to the external

breakdown of Berenice, affecting his soul and morality. Egaeus’ inner deterioration

makes him able to commit reprehensible actions such as opening Berenice’s coffin and

taking her teeth, provoking at the same time the destruction of the emotional bond

between them created by their closeness when Berenice was alive. In this way, the non-

existence of this bond and her weak will make impossible for Berenice to return to her

lover Egaeus after dying as Eleonora and Ligeia do.

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5.2 Eleonora: love beyond death

Following this line of reasoning, Eleonora should be in this second step because of

her determination not to succumb to death, although she faces the reality of its

immediacy. In addition, those promises the couple makes will go beyond life and death

tying them, and confirming Eleonora’s existence after passing away. The story depicts

this second chance after we leave the earthy world, it deals with the idea that soul/will is

preserved after the end of our physical existence. Moreover, it is also noticeable that her

soul seems to be connected with that nature and landscapes she loved in life, since when

her lover leaves the place, this nature withers with his departure and union with another

woman.

The story ahows two different relationships, and from one to another, there is an

evolution shown by their constituent elements. As regarding the narrator’s relationship

with Eleonora, we can see how this young love is born and develops in an idyllic and

rural environment. It is full of youthful passion and the lover’s inexperience in life

makes them extremely innocent; however, this first love is left behind with Eleonora’s

death. The character moves on and finds Ermengarde with whom he has a much more

mature love in a more realistic environment, an urban setting. Besides, in this second

relationship the lovers have evolved as human beings, managing to keep a certain level

of maturity and a balance state as adults.

5.3 Ligeia: the fighter that defeated death

Finally, Ligeia is on the first step of the scheme. Clearly, she is the one who offers

the fiercest fight against death, getting to the point of taking some sinister and dark

decisions in order to get her life back. We come back again to the idea of strong will

surviving death:

« “And the will therein lieth, which dieth not. Who knoweth the mysteries of the will,

with its vigor? For God is but a great will pervading all things by nature of its intentness.

Man doth not yield him to the angels, nor unto death utterly, save only through the

weakness of his feeble will” Joseph Glanvill» (Poe 1984:262)

They believed in the separate existence of body and soul (body is only a container for

the soul during a certain amount of time, so the existence of the soul does not depend on

the existence of a physical body) and in life after death. In this way, “Eleonora” and

17

“Ligea” are similar, they both deal with life after death that a strong will may grant

access to. On the contrary, “Berenice” shows that weakness leads you to the absolute

death.

In the story, Ligeia’s eyes are strongly highlighted and linked to her will and

intelligence. They will be a central element in the tale due to this relationship with her

inner world and the idea of body vs. will. In this case, she seems to hold a perfect

balance between beauty and knowledge; and sickness has a different effect on her than

in Eleonora and Berenice. It sharpens her reason and will, making clear that she is going

to offer a great resistance since she is determined to live. When Ligeia has finally

passed away, the character moves on and marries another woman, Rowena; but Ligeia’s

memory is still with him, showing remains of her strong presence when being alive.

Establishing a comparison between the character’s relationship with Ligeia and

Rowena, we can see how different they are; they fulfill different aspects of the

character’s needs. On one hand, Ligeia represents an admirable inner world conveyed

through her face (which holds her mind/will) and eyes (windows into the soul), feature

that overshadows the others and contains her essence, proving her identity when she

revives8 («“Here then, at least,” I shrieked aloud, “can I never—can I never be

mistaken—those are the full, and the black, and the wild eyes—of my lost love—of the

lady—of the LADY LIGEIA!”» (Poe 1984:277). On the other hand, Rowena’s

attraction is purely based on her external appearance. In this way, Fisher states that

«“The narrator’s turning from one wife to another may symbolize a shift from desire for

mind to desire for physical attractiveness/sex, but Rowena’s attractions soon prove

dissatisfying, as indicated by the brief period till she sickens”» (Fisher 2008:76). Ligeia

has a strong desire for life that forces her to fight back and wait there in order to pounce

on the first chance to recover what she considers to be hers, the place Rowena has taken

as his man’s wife along with her life.

8 Deshell, J. (1997). The Peculiarity of Literature: An Allegorical Approach to Poe’s Fiction. Madison:

Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.

18

6. DEATH AS AN OBSESSION TO OVERCOME OR SUCCUMB TO

By and large, obsessions are not good for us. They sometimes show how important

other things are and that there is no point in getting fixated on something that won’t

provide us any good; however, in other cases the obsession becomes so strong that it is

too late to let it go without any consequences, and they happen to consume the

characters. Moreover, the object of these obsessions can embrace different ideas or

things, but in this essay I will focus on the link between obsessions and death.

The characters who are haunted by this phenomenon often develop that fixation

depending on what they fear the most. In this way, death can be a great motivator for an

obsession since it is a very common fear inherent to the human being. It might be linked

to other ideas, for instance, something that threatens our way of life or the things we

care about. In Poe’s stories, the character who suffers this kind of situation often has a

corrupted soul, something in his life that leads him into making the wrong decisions.

As regarding the results for those who live according to these impositions and rules,

along with the role played by death in these situations, I have established two different

kinds of stories: the ones which offer a solution and those in which the characters are

doomed to failure.

6.1 Happy consequences from bad situations: “The Premature Burial”

The tales in which obsession and corrupted characters are involved usually end up

badly; they are caught by their obsessions or happen to suffer a terrible fate.

Nevertheless, there is also room for happy endings. In “The Premature Burial”, the

protagonist suffers a disease that leaves him in a state that resembles death for an

indefinite period of time; which provokes him a constant fear of being buried alive. He

is so focused on this issue that he forgets how to live freely without the anxiety and

dread. One day, he wakes up in the dark not being able to move, so he thinks he has

finally been buried alive as he expected. However, the situation isn’t what it seems to be

and it is taken by the character as a wake-up call. From this moment onwards, that fear

would never stop him from living as was his desire. Here, the author offers a way out of

the situation whereas the other characters seem to be condemned.

19

6.1.1 Thanatophobia: symptoms and treatment

Thanatophobia: unusual or abnormal fear of personally dying and/or being dead that

impacts the otherwise “normal” or healthy functioning of the person possessing this fear

that might appear disproportionate to an outsider relative to the actual risk or threat the

individual faces.

This definition corresponds with the medical term given for the psychological

disorder (thanatophobia) of those who have an irrational and unmanageable fixation

with death. It is in our nature to suffer from this fear, but we have to accept it to move

on with our lives. Nonetheless, this controllable fear might become more problematic if

we pay it too much attention, finally developing an obsession. This death obsession will

plunge the patient into a constant anxiety, since he tends to turn every aspect of his life

into a potential danger, directly related to death. The person will think that he lives in a

hostile environment, idea that will worsen the anxiety he felt at first, affecting both the

psychological level and the physical one (sickness, pain, shortness of breath,

acceleration of cardiac rhythm…).

In the story, we have a character that suffers from this phobia due to his disease. As I

have explained in the previous paragraph, from a medical point of view this problem

can extremely affect one’s life; in this case, the character is so worried about death and

how to avoid it that he just doesn’t realize that he is losing the opportunity to live a full

and free life.

So, what can the character do to free him from the slavery this obsession imposes to

him? It is necessary an external motivation that can finally take him out of the darkness,

a life-changing experience related to that irrational fear. He wakes up finding himself in

a dark and small place, he can’t move, he feels as if he was tied up with no ability to

move his arms or legs. His obsession makes his mind jump out to the “obvious” answer,

his worst fears have come true and he has been buried alive and even worse, no one of

the caution measures he took in the past are at his reach (the bell he could ring from

inside the coffin, the windows, the unlocked door of the crypt…). Then, when he is

about to panic, he finds out that the situation was not such. As a result of this realistic

experience he learns a valuable lesson; it is not worthy a life in which you are worried

about how to prevent death. He finally accepts the fact that he has to live with that

illness and that there is no point in attempting to avoid the worst case scenario he has

20

imagined. Furthermore, this story also provides a lesson to the reader: seize the day,

carpe diem, don’t let anything stop you from living your life the way you want,

especially if those obstacles you may encounter have to do with fears or prejudices.

6.2 Obsessive characters doomed to be punished

On the other side of the coin, there are stories in which obsessions lead the characters

to a terrible fate, usually related to death. This kind of characters ends up consumed by

the object of their fixation. Some examples of tales this category embraces would be

“William Wilson”, “The Black Cat” or “The Masque of the Red Death”. No matter if it

is an evil double, a cat, or death itself, obsessions often go beyond our control, and in

the end, the characters are not able to avoid the misery of a terrible fate, an ironical

ending considering what they were obsessed with.

6.2.1 Chain of events and analysis

The three examples have a similar structure; there is a corrupted character/group of

characters (or in the process to be corrupted) whose actions are often sinful and

reprehensible. Then, something happens, and their whole lives will be determined by

this new event or element. In the end, this situation will end up provoking something

very bad for the characters, destroying them and their lifestyle. As a result of the events

witnessed by the reader, it is clear that the bad consequences are some sort of

punishment for those bad decisions the characters took, as well as their lack of morality

or righteousness.

6.2.2 “The Masque of the Red Death”: everybody is equal when we are dead

Looking at each example individually, I am going to start with “The Masque of the

Red Death”:

21

As you can see in the scheme above, the characters’ fear is what finally kills them,

making the story’s development is pretty ironical and cruel since your fate will always

catch you.

6.2.3 “The Black Cat”: a jinx animal that can make your life miserable

When comparing “The Black Cat” and “The Masque of the Red Death”, we find

some similarities as well as differences. On one hand, the characters in “The Masque of

the Red Death” try to avoid the plague attempting to protect themselves by living in

isolation in the keep, whereas in “The Black Cat”, the protagonist does not intend to

avoid the animal or stay away from him; on the contrary, after killing his pet, he starts

to look for another black cat similar to the first one. In this case, it is not rejection what

he feels, but attraction for the object of his fixation. Another difference takes place in

the ending, since the characters punishment is not death; in “The Black Cat”, he is

caught by the police for having murdered his wife, being turned in by the cat he hates.

CHARACTERS:

Group of aristocrats leaded by

Prince Prospero

SINS:

Vanity Lust Class-biased

Laziness Greed

FEAR/OBSESSION:

The Plague

ENDING:

They get infected with the plague and all of them die

22

The graphic above shows that “The Black Cat” and “The Masque of the Red Death”

share their structure: a corrupted man, a sinner, who can’t get rid of an idea or element

ending up in an obsession that finally will destroy him. This story is an example of

human nature shifting toward bestial behavior as we can see in “Metzengerstein”, “The

Raven” or “Hop Frog”.

6.2.4 “William Wilson”: morality vs. vice

Talking about the third story, William Wilson introduces the same structure than the

previous ones; however, “William Wilson” has a more complex development. First of

all, there’s an evolution in the obsessions of the characters from one story to the other:

in “The Masque of the Red Death”, fear has to do with an inanimate element, the

plague, while in “The Black Cat” is an animal, a living being. In “William Wilson”, we

encounter another person, a much more capable rival than an illness or a cat. A human

being like this double is able to hurt another person in a much worse way than an animal

or a disease; a human being can identify your weak points, and take advantage of them

to hurt you.

The relationship between the William Wilsons is very tricky; we only know the

original’s point of view and yet his feelings are too complex at some points of the story

to understand his way of thinking and his connection with the double. It looks like there

is a love-hate relationship, W.W. feels attraction and rejection towards the other, he

would prefer not facing his double again and at the same time, he can’t let him go.

CHARACTER:

The man

SINS:

Alcohol Pride

Anger Selfishness

FEAR/OBSESSION:

Black cats

ENDING:

Police catches him for having murdered his wife thanks to the black cat

23

In previous stories, we find that corrupted souls get obsessed with something; in

“William Wilson” though, the character is a kid when he encounters his rival, and it

exists a parallel developing between his personality (from child to adult) and his

relationship with the other kid. The obsession does not punish a character for being a

sinner or a corrupted person at first, it is part of him and it grows up inside him like the

other aspects of his personality, existing at a deeper level. It is when he becomes an

adult and a corrupted person that W.W.2 comes back to haunt him.

As regarding the structure, we have the same elements and tone one more time:

Parallel development

(sins-obsession)

Will is one of the major elements of the story and it is given by the title, as well as

the name that the main character gives himself: William Wilson Will, I am, Will’s

son9. Poe deals with a character from childhood, and as so, we are able to witness his

will’s education. During this learning process, there is a second kid named William

Wilson that embodies his own conscious and inevitable connection to the protagonist.

The progress of the events in the plot makes us realize that, what we really have is

degeneration, a regression showed by the many evil actions he performs as a teenager

and adult. At the end, he loses his temper and stabs his double in order to get rid of him,

but he can’t live without conscience (a major component in his will), so, with this final

sin, he condemns himself and loses all possibility of redemption for his soul. 9 Fisher, B. (2008). The Cambridge Introduction to Edgar Allan Poe. New York; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

CHARACTER:

William Wilson

SINS:

Vanity Anger

Pride Selfishness

Lust Greed

FEAR/OBSESSION:

His Doppelgänger (the other William Wilson)

ENDING:

The character murders his double and realizes that means his own death too.

24

Furthermore, according to Benjamin Fisher in his work The Cambridge Companion

to Edgar Allan Poe, there is an inherent tension in the text that places the reader in a

state of suspended indecision never solved; “Is the narrator’s double in William Wilson

an actual rival, the physical embodiment of a metaphysical conscience or a projected

hallucination based on guilt?” (Fisher 2008:73). The reader is not able to decide whether

taking the story literally or figuratively.

6.2.4.1 The notion of Doppelgänger and the relationship between the William Wilsons

As I have mentioned in the graphic, Poe uses the notion of Doppelgänger in this

short story, but including some variations to the original definition of the term. Its

meaning would be similar to double-goer, a double or replica of a living person.

“William Wilson” is a good example since the main character and this double almost

seem the same person.

As I have said before, the fact that the character’s obsession is related to another

human being offers a wider range of possibilities than in the previous stories. The

replicant always stands in W.W.’s way when he is determined to get something,

appearing in those shadowy scenes in which the protagonist’s aims are related to dark or

immoral purposes; idea that reinforces the theory of W.W.2 being W.W.’s

consciousness or moral voice, destroying his plans when he tries to build something

around lies or fake values (loyalty, gallantry, ability…).

As regarding the complex relationship between them, there’s rejection, but also

admiration and respect during the academy’s days. As W.W. grows up, this second

W.W. is no longer around, so he is not able to play the role of Jiminy Cricket letting the

main character fall into a vicious existence devoted to pleasure and bad habits that can

easily remind the reader of Oscar Wild’s Dorian Gray. When they meet again, W.W.

has become a corrupted man; sin is part of him and his whole lifestyle is threatened by

his old schoolmate’s appearance whose only purpose in life is to thwart his evil plans

and prevent him from keeping his sick way of life.

Moving on to the way in which the obsession affects the character, this time it is not

the character who is so obsessed with something that he can’t let go, but the other way

round; this second W.W. chases him and the character is not able to get rid of him.

Furthermore, what finally drives him crazy till the point of stabbing his replicant is this

25

oppressive and relentless harassment that risks the only lifestyle he has ever known and

satisfied him. In the end, the obsession pushes him to kill his personal stalker, event that

will have the unexpected consequence of putting the protagonist’s existence to an end.

In this sense, we can understand the replicant’s death as an end to W.W.’s existence as a

human being. Taking into account that the double seems to stand for the character’s

moral voice, his murder is equal to his own destruction. Furthermore, it is said that only

reason and conscience differentiate us from animals; so what is W.W. without that

conscience but a mere animal guided by his instincts?

In this particular case, the character is dehumanized by his own decisions, someone

that decides to silence the voice of his morality in order to live a hedonist and self-

centered life. As I have mentioned before, this character resembles Dorian Gray when

talking about this lifestyle and they finally face the same circumstances of

dehumanization and misery. They live according to animals’ rules, but they are not;

they are anthropomorphic, but they are not humans since their essence is missing, soul.

They are stuck in the middle of a nonsense existence full of empty pleasures and dark

shadows, being forced to deal with a fate worse than death.

26

7. DEATH AS THE SWEETEST REVENGE

In this section of the paper, I will analyze death linked to revenge, and how

characters use it in order to satisfy their thirst for vengeance. For this purpose, I will

take “The Cask of Amontillado” so as to illustrate how death works taking this approach

into account.

7.1 The concept of death as determined by revenge

In this case, death is not peaceful or romantic as we can see in “Ligeia” or

“Eleonora”; instead, it would be closer to “The Black Cat” or “William Wilson”. There

is violence since the characters are murdering others due to some outstanding debts or

issues between them. In addition, death is also linked to the pleasure the murderer gets

from planning and executing the killing and his revenge; every detail and step bring him

closer to his final aim, paying back some humiliation or insult. In this sense, the fact of

cheating the other in order to make him fall into his elaborated trap is already a winning

that states the murderer’s intellectual superiority over the other who completely

deserves that fate that is about to be fulfilled (in the killer’s opinion). Finally, another

important aspect of the revenge is that when it is on the verge of being completed, at the

point of no return, the murderer has this need of being acknowledged by the one who is

going to die for his perfect performance of the revenge.

7.2 “The Cask of Amontillado”: the grips of revenge and how to perform the

perfect crime

In “The Cask of Amontillado”, there is a character who has always felt humiliated by

his “friend” Fortunato in many ways until he decides to take revenge and pay him back.

To do so, he takes advantage of his many weak points, identifying vanity and pride as

the outstanding ones, as well as his taste for good wine so as to lure Fortunato into his

spider web.

It is very noticeable that the character enjoys every detail and strategy he uses to

cheat Fortunato and that excitement is extremely important, even more than the

culmination of his plan when he is building the wall to trap him. By doing this, he is

establishing his superiority over Fortunato, showing the reader (who knows his real

intentions) how enjoyable this is for him. He uses Luchesi to this purpose:

27

« “As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchesi. If anyone has a critical turn, it

is he. He will tell me---” “Luchesi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry.”» «“I

perceive you have an engagement. Luchesi---” […] “And as for Luchesi, he cannot

distinguish Sherry from Amontillado.” » (Poe 1984:849)

Fortunato is so proud that he cannot stand that he chooses Luchesi over him,

especially when talking about wines and Amontillado. In this way, the more mentioned

Luchesi is, the more decided is Fortunato to see the Amontillado, whatever it takes.

Another element used in the same way as Luchesi is Fortunato’s cough; they are forced

to go to the vaults to see the Amontillado, but this can be harmful for Fortunato’s

sickness, and that’s why the main character is constantly asking for the wellbeing of his

friend (although he is not interested at all):

« “It is not the engagement, but the severe cold with which I perceive you are

afflicted. The vaults are insufferably damp. They are encrusted with nitre.” “Let us

go, nevertheless. The cold is merely nothing. Amontillado!” » « 6“Come” I said with

decision, “we will go back; your health is precious […] We will go back; you will be

ill, and I cannot be responsible” “Enough,” he said; “the cough is a mere nothing; it

will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough.” » (Poe 1984:849-850)

As with Luchesi, every (fake) attempt to make him go back only increases his

determination to go on. Besides, using Fortunato’s cold as an excuse he starts to drink

Medoc in order to “defend us from the damps”. Alcohol only makes him more

vulnerable, as well as unconscious of what is happening and, as a result, he becomes an

easy prey.

In the end, Fortunato finally understands what is happening, but it is too late for him

to save his life. So as to completely fulfill the vengeance, Fortunato needs to realize he

has being fooled by someone he believed to be inferior to him; that is what represents

the greatest pleasure for the murderer, to be acknowledged by the victim as what he has

proved to be: intelligent, sharp and superior to the victim.

28

8. GLOBAL ANALYSIS OF THE TALES AND THE CONNECTION

BETWEEN THEM

After examining the stories and topics individually, I will try to provide a general

understanding of the notion of death by means of the following graphics. In this vein,

each short story will answer the same questions in order to obtain some general

conclusions and understanding about Poe’s way to modulate and interpret death.

(Graphic 1) BERENICE ELEONORA LIGEIA

TOPIC Love / Beauty

WHO DIES? Berenice Eleonora Ligeia

WHY? Illness

NATURAL/ UNNATURAL REASONS

Natural Natural Natural

OTHER BAD CONSEQUENCES

Main character’s madness

- Rowena’s death (poisoned)

ENDING (POSITIVE/NEGATIVE)

Egaeus’ madness due to Berenice’s death

Main character’s freedom from Eleonora’s ghost

Ligeia’s resurrection and reunion of the couple

29

(Graphic 3) THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO

TOPIC Revenge

WHO DIES? Fortunato

10 Even though the aristocrats die from the Plague (natural reason), Poe depicts the illness as one more character in a red Masque; so actually, the deaths look like murders

(Graphic 2)

THE PREMATURE

BURIAL

THE MASQUE

OF THE RED

DEATH

THE BLACK

CAT

WILLIAM

WILSON

TOPIC Obsession Obsession/ Revenge

Obsession/ Revenge

WHO DIES? Nobody Aristocrats &

Prince Prospero Wife & first cat

William Wilson 2

WHY? - Illness

Main’s character bad temper & obsession

W.W. decides to end up the situation and kills W.W. 2

NATURAL/ UNNATURAL REASONS

- Murder10 Murder Murder

OTHER BAD CONSEQUENCES

- Ironical death Prison & Ironical ending

Lose of human essence and values

ENDING (POSITIVE/NEGATIVE)

Main character’s Freedom from his obsession

Plague kills everyone under Prince Prospero’s protection

Main character goes to prison (turned in by the cat he hates)

Main character’s dehumanized due to W.W.2’s murder

30

WHY? Main character’s revenge

NATURAL/ UNNATURAL REASONS

Murder

OTHER BAD CONSEQUENCES

None

ENDING (POSITIVE/NEGATIVE)

Main character achieves his revenge

feeling satisfied and relieved

First of all, we identify three groups depending on the main topic of the story, a

graphic for each one, because they will mainly determine the different meanings

provided for the term “death”. The second way in which we can classify these tales will

be depending on the kind of death suffered, which leaves “The Premature Burial” out

since there is no death to be categorized. Following this line of reasoning, “Eleonora”,

“Berenice” and “Ligeia” belong to the group of natural deaths, whereas “The Masque of

the Red Death”, “The Cask of Amontillado”, “William Wilson” and “The Black Cat”

fall under the homicide set.

After this classification, the next question that requires an answer is: Which criteria

decide how the characters should die? Looking closer to the people in the stories, we

notice that the murdered characters are sinners who deserve some kind of punishment

for their evil actions. Taking as an example, “The Cask of Amontillado”, Fortunato is

arrogant and vain; tired of being humiliated, the protagonist decides to kill him. In

“William Wilson”, W.W.2 is part of the main character, so his death represents

something bad for the protagonist, as if he would have committed suicide. On the other

hand, “The Black Cat” shows the character’s wife murder, but she does not fit the sinner

prototype who is murdered; in this case, the death of an innocent is used as a way to

punish evil. Furthermore, sinners seem to provoke their own ending, as if their bad

actions would generate “bad” karma, and therefore, bad consequences. Besides, this

punishment is often ironical; for instance, the aristocrats in “The Masque of the Red

Death” die from the illness they were so desperate to be protected from. In this way, the

murderer in “The Black Cat” is turned in by the cat he hates.

31

On the contrary, natural deaths are only for good people. They do not deserve to be

murdered as a punishment for their bad actions because there are no bad actions as far

as the reader knows. Deaths in “Eleonora”, “Ligeia” and “Berenice” are peaceful and

silent; though destructive, they are not violent, so they aren’t provoked by anyone’s

desire for revenge or bad temper. Apart from this, the illness is equally lethal; it has

these women as its objective and sickness consumes them beyond recognition until they

die. At the same time, these elements mix up with the idea of the after-death existence,

proving that no one is condemned to die if you keep a determined desire to live. In this

vein, we can see how Berenice’s weak will has no chance to survive whereas

determination and passion grant an eternal existence, even resurrection.

Finally, “The Premature Burial” does not exactly fit in any of the previous

descriptions because there is no death to analyze. It depicts a situation in which a man is

obsessed with death, which makes impossible for him to seize life. When telling

between good and bad people, the character in this story would be identified as a good

guy. He has good intentions and makes no harm to other people. Moreover, the situation

he is living is not his fault, so it is not a punishment. At the end of the story, the main

character gets what he deserves, a happy ending; he gets rid of his obsession and he is

finally able to live as he wants.

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9. CONCLUSIONS

As I have shown throughout this essay, death has a lot of interpretations in Poe’s

short stories. It can illustrate the idea of existence after death by means of a strong will

or soul (“Ligeia”), it can also represent the ironical ending of someone who suffers a

well-earned death involving his worst fears (“The Masque of the Red Death”) or it can

even make us realize how important is to seize the moment only by showing how easily

we can perish jeopardizing our most carefully calculated plans (“The Premature

Burial”). In addition, in the last section of my analysis, we can understand death as the

logical consequence of a passionate desire for revenge.

Nevertheless, we are fortunate enough not to live in Edgar Allan Poe’s stories. In the

ordinary world people usually listen to reason and manage to put aside their feelings,

swallowing whatever they really think of their enemies. On the other hand, Poe’s worlds

are dominated by passion and instincts; feelings and desires are always above reason or

logical thinking. In this way, their actions are hasty and irresponsible; as a consequence

to such behavior, death is a very common outcome to the stories; the author manages to

show the purest nature of men. In fiction, law has little or no influence in people’s

decisions, and it seems that if someone hates another, the culprit has to be terribly

punished according to the offended part’s judgment.

In such an environment, death is a common element which Poe masters. In this way,

he is able to give it different roles and purposes that highly influence the characters’

lives and behavior and, at the same time, show the reader that we are not so different

from these fictional characters when we face this extreme situations and feelings

without taking into account reason or morals.

Finally, we have also learnt that, in Poe’s stories, good people and bad people, guilty

and innocent or morality and immorality have defined consequences. The writer plays

the role of God and he is in charge of punishing evil and rewarding good. In this vein,

he provides us with a lesson: you need to be good in order to expect good consequences.

Although, in the real world, that is not always true.

33

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