Gothic Story

Poe’s “The Black Cat” as an Example of Gothic Story Edgar Allan Poe, who lived a short and tragic life, was mainly known for his gothic stories embedded in the atmosphere of terror and suspense, with insane protagonists placed in gloomy settings. He is considered to be a horror-master and his literary output renders him a father of the detective story and one of the most prominent gothic story writers (Fisher 2004: 81). The Black Cat, first published in 1843 in The Saturday Evening Post (Sova 2007: 35), is one of many visible instances of Poe’s talent in writing gothic fiction.

Beyond the shadow of a doubt, it is an excellent example of a gothic story due to its numerous features characteristic of this genre (Hayes 2004: 85). Although gothic fiction is a genre which was born in England at the end of the 18th century, it was soon well-received in the United States, where it influenced a wide array of writers. It was primarily based on the European Romantic Movement but over the course of time, tragic and supernatural dimensions were added to these stories as the leading themes in America. The genre has a number of characteristics, one of which is the setting.

Main protagonists are usually placed in an old, abandoned castle, with secret chambers and passages. The action of gothic stories take place in dark, spooky and dismal places. The plot is very often mysterious and some unexplainable events occur on regular basis. Gothic authors try to produce an atmosphere of suspense in their works by creating unpredictable characters, who struggle with madness, anger and acts of panic, in order to threaten the readers. The characters’ state of mind, their feelings and emotions, frequently take precedence over the plot.

Ghosts and supernatural events are more than common in gothic texts and so are the tormenting visions and unlucky omens that often haunt the main characters. What is more, female characters who appear in such stories, for instance, are often put in distress, threatened and dominated by enraged males (Childs and Fowler 2006: 99-100). The Black Cat is a story narrated by an unnamed storyteller who at the very beginning, claims to be totally sane and rational and states that he is sentenced to death and will be killed the following day.

Thus, he wants to reveal his dark secrets and make a confession to unburthen his soul (Badenhausen 1992: 487). From the start, the reader is made to perceive the narrator as an average man who loves his wife and is a great admirer of animals. The story, set in an ordinary house with nameless characters, changes over the course of the action into a thorough description of the narrator’s mental state and his acts of madness. Still, no further details on the lives of the main protagonists, including their profession or age, are provided as the story unfolds.

The storyteller, due to his addiction to alcohol, becomes an abusive monster who ends up murdering his wife while attempting to kill the cat (Fisher 2004: 209). The narrator’s wife is a character whose love to animals, as opposed to her husband, is unconditional and unwavering. By following the gothic convention of literature, The Black Cat can be read as a story of the clash of masculinity and femininity (Fisher 2004: 86). One of features of the gothic fiction, as mentioned above, is presenting the female character in distress.

Gothic writers very often try to present the relations between the tyrannical and impulsive male and a feeble and helpless female. The narrator in The Black Cat was, as a young boy, a very tender and delicate man (Stark 2004: 260). Nonetheless, his behavior over the course of time changed drastically. Heavy drinking alters his life as well as the lives of his nearest ones including his wife and pets. Still, no information on why the narrator hits the bottle is given in the text (ibid: 260-261). The shift in his behavior is very abrupt and unexpected.

The plot progresses so quickly that it is hard to see when exactly the storyteller becomes a mad man. “I grew, day by day, more moody, more irritable, more regardless of the feelings of others”. The bullied wife faces the acts of violence of her husband tacitly and she seems to be subordinated by him, perhaps even afraid of rebelling against him. The couple does not have any children and the wife has no one who would support her and stand up for her in front of her cruel spouse (Bliss 2009: 97; Badenhousen1992: 493; Sova 2007: 36). The narrator bluntly says, “I now blindly abandoned myself, my uncomplaining wife, alas!

Was the most usual and the most patient of sufferers”. Pluto, the animal from the title and, simultaneously, the object of the narrator’s madness, is a key character in the story. In the narrator’s mind, his favorite pet turns all of a sudden from a lovely little friend into a beast which frightens him. “A faithful and sagacious cat”, as described at the beginning, used to be the best playmate of the narrator. For many long years, they enjoyed spending time together. The horror of the pets and the wife begins when the narrator starts to drink alcohol.

Nevertheless, he admits that he is aware of the dramatic change in his behavior caused by the addiction and he sees that he has started treating his wife and his pets badly (Sova 2007: 36). One night, after returning home drunk, the narrator gouges the cat’s eye out using a pen knife. A horrible deed, described in one sentence, is followed by a paragraph starting with “When reason returned with morning” in which the narrator describes his internal feelings after committing the act and the feeling of guilt which vanishes as soon as he starts drinking again.

The above cited sentence proves the narrator’s awareness of the brutality of his actions, but the subsequent events show that at the same time, he does not feel any remorse (Bliss 2009: 97). Still, one morning, not long after cutting out the eye, the narrator, on a spur of a moment, hangs the cat on a tree in the garden. His explanation is utterly illogical: with tears in his eyes he says, “Hung it because I knew that it had loved me, and because I felt it had given me no reason of offence; – hung it because I knew that in so doing I was committing a sin” (Sova 2007: 35).

The latter citation clearly proves the Gothicism of the story. A mad man murders an innocent cat only because it was good. A deed so illogical that it cannot be explained rationally. One bloody act, aimed at playing on emotions, giving a thrill, kindling the feeling of terror and cruelty in readers, is just a beginning of the murdering path that the narrator takes (Bliss 2009: 98). The night after committing “the deadly sin” the fire breaks up, burning down the dwelling place of the storyteller, destroying his fortune, and leaving him in despair.

The next day, a strange figure, an apparition of a gigantic cat, appears on the wall, the only wall that survived the fire. To explain the strange figure on the wall, the narrator suggests that the cat was thrown to the room by someone at the night of the fire and as he puts it, “the falling of other walls compressed the victim of my cruelty into the substance of the freshly-spread plaster; the lime of which, with the flames, and the ammonia from the carcass, had then accomplished the portraiture as I saw it”. Not long after killing Pluto, the narrator finds another cat during one of his bar crawls.

The cat looks surprisingly familiar: it has similar fur in dark color and it lacks one eye, just like Pluto. There is, however, one significant difference between these two cats. The second one has a white spot on its fur which at first sight, according to the narrator, is just a spot, but with time, it starts to look like gallows to him (Bliss 2009: 97). The spot on the cat’s fur, as well as the sign on the wall after the fire that occurred the night after hanging the first cat, can be perceived as an omen – a supernatural element in the story.

The fate of the second cat is also different than Pluto’s. Another day, the narrator together with his wife are in the caller doing some housework, an ordinary situation that ends in a dramatic way. The cat, all at once, appears under his owner’s feet nearly tripping him over. In the act of an unrestrained rage, the narrator takes an axe attempting to kill the cat- the beast. His wife prevents him from committing the murder and in consequence, the killing punch strikes her head (ibid: 98). (…) I withdrew my arm from her grasp and buried the axe in her brain. She fell dead upon the spot, without a groan”. The narrator in only two sentences describes the killing of his own wife. Not only is he imperturbable after perpetrating the brutal murder, but he also becomes preoccupied with the problem of how to get rid of the body instead of showing some grief after his wife’s death. He considers several possible ideas, even “cutting the corpse into minute fragments, and destroying them by fire”.

The husband, and from now on also the coldblooded killer, considers defacing the body of his once beloved wife just to cover up the entire murder of his. The idea of burying the body in the wall of the cellar is a recurring theme in gothic stories. Poe used this idea also in The Cask of Amontillado, for example (Badenhousen 1992: 490). “I had walled the monster up within the tomb! ” The last sentence of the story emphasizes the gothic mystery visible in the work. An act of burying the wife in the wall must have taken the narrator some time.

How could he miss the fact that the cat hid itself in the gap while he was immuring his wife? How did the cat manage to survive four days behind the wall without the fresh air and any food? The questions to which answers remain shrouded in mystery are major characteristic of this genre. To recapitulate, the story of the cat and its mad owner is undeniably a masterpiece. Each sentence in the text is meaningful and each needs a scrutiny to properly interpret the whole work. The gothic literary convention is mostly visible in the main character, who happens to be the narrator of the story.

He scares the reader by being unpredictable, rage-driven and unreliable. Moreover, the pace of the story, keeping the reader in a lasting suspense, and the presence of numerous omens make The Black Cat one of many very elaborate examples of Poe’s gothic stories. References Badenhausen, Richard. 1992. “Fear and Trembling in the Literature of the Fantastic: Edgar Allan Poe’s The Black Cat”, Studies in Short Fiction 29, 4: 486-498. Bliss, Ann V. 2009. “Household Horror: Domestic Masculinity in Poe’s The Black Cat”, The Explicator 67, 2: 96-99.

Childs, Peter and Roger Fowler. 2006. The Routledge Dictionary of Literary Terms. London: Routledge. Fisher, Benjamin Franklin. 2004. “Poe and the Gothic Tradition”, in: Kevin J. Hayes (ed. ), The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe. London: Cambridge University Press, 72-91. Sova, Dawn B. 2007. Critical Companion to Edgar Allan Poe: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts on File. Stark, Joseph. 2004. “Motive and Meaning: The Mystery of the Will in Poe’s The Black Cat”, The Mississippi Quarterly 57, 2: 254-263.

Vignette of You Situated within a certain mansion, buttressed by stone walls covered in mould, therein lies a portrait. This portrait, caked in dust, had lost the vibrant splendour of which it attained years ago. It depicts a grandiose mansion, windows smiling brightly as candle light filtered through them, creating an atmosphere of joy and merry-making. However, such beauty was sadly hidden, for it was hung in the most depilated part of the mansion, which no one roams.On the other side of the mansion though, is a couple, gazing lovingly into each other spiritual windows, as each was deeply lost in the emotions tumbling within their hearts, a girl and her fiance.

The female, a lady in her twenties dressed in an ostentatious dress, as was the fashion of the nineteenth century at that time, looks innocent and intensely infatuated with the man. The man boasted charming features yet failed in the finance department. Nevertheless, they resembled a perfect couple. The girl’s name is Akina.Akina was a greenhorn in the realm of love and naivete caused her to pour out her heart and soul to her maiden love. On a fated night, Akina tossed and turned in her bed. Sleep evaded her for no apparent reason.

Acting on a whim, she decided to explore the huge mansion which she knew as home. She wandered along the corridor till she reached a fork leading towards two different hallways. One led to the drawing room which she frequently visited as a child. The other was a path which was deserted. Some said that it was haunted. Others said it was a never ending path leading to a void.Akina felt a shiver run down her spine.

She did not know what suddenly gave her a desire for an adventure, what boosted her courage and what caused her legs to move on their own accord down the secluded path. She walked down the path, passing by various mysterious doors and passages till she came face to face with a door. The door was like no other and it towered over her. Somehow she could feel an aura around the place that gave her goose bumps but at the same time beckoned her to go in. Her curiosity got the better of her and she stretched out her hands, gripping onto the knob…Behind the door was a large musty room that was spaciously empty, bar some old furniture placed here and there. But what caught her attention was a curtained area, shrouded in darkness as it gave off a vibe of secrecy, inviting her curious self towards it. She approached it gingerly, grasping the maroon curtains before setting her heart, and pulled back the curtains, revealing a framed painting, though faded over time.

The colours were faint and the details smudged, yet it still held Akina in awe, for she had an eye for paintings.Placing her fingers upon the mansion depicted there, she wondered what it life would hold in store in such a splendid manor. Perhaps it was this very mansion in the past, or perhaps it was from the imagination of the artist which caused her to feel drawn to the mansion in the ruined painting, wishing to see the interior of the merry-looking structure. Suddenly, she felt a jerk upon her arm, and as she looked down, she noticed that her hand was passing through the painting, with no trace of a tear on the said object itself!She let out a wholly scream, panicking as she attempted to wrench her arm back out, hoping that this was all just a dream. However, to her dismay, it was not. This was proven when she bit onto her other hand; the pain coursing through her veins was enough to allow her to separate reality from fiction. Against her will, she was unceremoniously yanked into the painting, leaving an empty room once again, with strange footprints in the dust leading to the painting, and stopping there.

Akina flopped onto the ground, blinking her eyes as she glanced dazedly at the scene before her, attempting to discern the flamboyant lights and decorations, before pushing herself off the pebbled path leading to the gates. Standing awestruck, she glanced at the towering, taking in every detail as she immediately recognised it as the mansion from the painting. Although worry was etched on her mind, she was curious, and instead decided to explore. Maybe the return route was hidden somewhere in the castle, perhaps similar to the one she had just left; it was a common occurrence in books.Approaching it tentatively, she caught a glimpse of the interior: a party of some sort going on, with individuals accompanying their partners in a waltz tempo of threes, spinning around each other slowly in a romantic fashion, as the band played from a corner of the large hall. She crept in, careful to go along the sides of the wall, lest she be noticed. However, it was not long before she bumped into a lone individual, his face covered by a golden mask, intricate black designs adorning it.

She felt frightened, as thousands of questions raced through her mind, one after the other, “What would he do?Does he know that I am intruding? What if he does? Would he throw me out? Would he believe my story? ” As these frantic questions went through her mind, the man inquired demurely, “Are you lost, my lady? ” Shell-shocked, Akina merely nodded. “I see you lack a mask and a proper dress; this is a masquerade ball. However, I happen to be in possession of an extra mask, and my sister would have a spare dress in her room –I’m certain the size would fit. I would be happy to offer it to you. Would you accept it? Deciding that this was the perfect opportunity to fit in, Akina smiled, and though feeling a bit imposing, accepted his offer politely. She was led to a bedroom, as the male handed her the mask and dress before proceeding outside to let her change. Akina blinked her eyes for a few times, attempting to adjust to the dimness of the richly furnished room.

Her eyes swept the room, beholding its contents. A glittering candelabrum, adorned with gleaming gems of a pearl and sapphire, was the only light source in the room. It emitted a faint glow, illuminating her awestruck face.The candelabra was suspended precariously over a queen-sized bed, of which thick layers of silver satin was laid upon, complete with lace-trimmed fluffy pillows. The bedpost was finely-polished mahogany, exquisite designs engraved upon its shiny surface, its translucency endowing an aura of mystery to it. She then turned her attention towards the dress, laid upon the magnificent bed. She held out the dress, gasping for the dress took her breath away in its unearthly splendour.

Intricate designs swirled against the gleaming pearl white background.She stepped into it, careful not to ruffle the finely ironed silk. It was a perfect fit, a second skin on her. The train of the dress, frilled and curled elegantly, pooled around her ankles, sweeping the marble floor. She spotted a pair of stylish heels that seemed to have miraculously appeared at the foot of the bed. Warning bells were ringing incessantly in her head. She definitely did not see the out-of-world handsome guy bring those in but she brushed them off as her over-reacting.

The 4-inch heels were cadet grey with a layer of gloss.They were a comfortable fit, enough to avoid scraping her skin. Balancing herself by clutching onto the teak bedside table, adorned with an ornamental vase of queer cyan roses, she wobbled to the door, trailing her hand along the wall, for fear of falling over. Maintaining her equilibrium, she lifted her mask, indigo-based propped by a dowel, as soft entrails of feathers rimmed the edges, akin to flurry snow white fur, as an impeccably placed dove feather embellished the top corner, flaunting its beauty as it bounced gracefully with every step she took.Opening the door, she beamed a smile as she noticed the astonishment that took residence in the other’s eye. Adonis was bewitched by the dazzling dark-haired beauty that stepped out of the room. She resembled a fallen angel with her beauty and innocent smile.

As soon as he found his voice, he found himself asking if he could have the pleasure of dancing with her. As she placed her petite hand on his palm to show her consent, Adonis felt a shiver surge through his body. He was sure of it He was in love.He could feel it in his veins, coursing through his whole body as his heart thumped against his ribs, urging him on while he led her by her hand back to the hall, wary to slow his pace to allow his lady to comfortably walk in her heels. He had politely queried if she wanted to switch her present heels to more comfortable footwear but she had insisted on wearing this pair, her fierce determination showing in her eyes. As the music played, he led her in a waltz, catching her with strong and sure arms whenever she stumbled, careful to prevent her from tripping and twisting her ankle.Akina was over the moon, enjoying herself immensely with this attractive stranger.

Her heart raced around him but she brushed it off thinking that it was just her being excited and tired from all the dancing. The song changed and the stranger led her to a drinks booth and offered her a drink to which she accepted immediately. “Sorry, I didn’t seem to have caught your name. ” the young man lamented jokingly. Akina blushed cheek tainted a rosy pink, “Akina. Yours? ” she asked. “Adonis.

” a low rich voice answered her. As the night passed on, Akina relaxed more around Adonis.At a balcony, the sound of laughter could be heard from a couple. Zooming in, one would realise that the couple is Akina and Adonis. “Akina, I cannot hide my feelings for you anymore, your beauty and character entrails me so. Akina, I love you. Would you accept my love? ” Adonis proposed kneeling down.

Only then was Akina pulled back into reality, she was already engaged to someone, what is she doing frolicking here? Being in denial, she did what her natural instincts told her: To run. ” She picked up her dress and ran towards the place from which she appeared from.Hoping that what she thought was right, she hurriedly approached a picture of a mansion that looked eerily similar to hers and reached towards it. She was once again pulled into the picture but this time not unwillingly. Once she was back to her mansion, she ran up the halls back to her bedroom. Only when she stepped into the confines of her bedroom did Akina allowed her tears to flow freely. What was happening to her? She felt so safe with Adonis she had forgotten about everything else.

Nothing was going to make her visit that mansion again, she mused.After visiting Adonis, she realised how disgustingly love blind she used to be to her fiance. Her fiance hardly cared about her feelings, hardly concerned about her welfare, and would rather spend time making money than with her. Why did she only realise all these now? She remembered her late mother telling her before that someone who truly loves you would never hesitate to sacrifice anything to save you in times of danger, even his life. Akina may be a bit clumsy but she was not dim-witted. Thus, she conjured a plan, in the slight hope that she was wrong about her fiance.One day, when there was a party at her house, she purposely set off a fire, far from the crowd, and punched the fire alarm.

Panic immediately ensued and everyone rushed to escape, pouring out of the manor in a stream. She then pretended to be trapped in a corner of the house. “Darling! Save me, I’m trapped! ” Akina shouted. Her finace however was engrossed in saving everything that was valuable to him in the house and only replied to her, “Sorry sweetie, try to wait for a while. I’ll get to you as soon as I save these things. ” Akina was heartbroken.Her fiance whom she though was in love with her does not value her above material things.

A fiery beam dropped right in front of her, hot ripples of air blowing against her face, the fire trapping her for real this time. Her pleas and shouts for help became more desperate but nobody ever come to save her. Without thinking she screamed, “Adonis, help me, please! ” She never did thought that he would come but he did, carrying her bridal style back to his mansion for safety. After they arrived at his mansion, Adonis collapsed. The masquerade party was still on.Akina clutched him, attempting to shake him awake. When he finally woke up, he was tucked in his bed, with Akina at his bedside, sobbing.

How would she know that travelling out of the picture would take away a lot of his life source? The doctors said that he would not be able to make it and that they should be prepared for the worse. Akina cried her heart out. Why? Why only when she found her true love, god has to take him away? Is this her punishment for not realising earlier? Akina touched his face, after receiving his consent; she removed his intricate mask, which he was still wearing.He was fine-looking, his looks beating every model she knew. As her last gift, Akina planted a tear-stained kiss on his pale lips. She would fulfil his last wish to carry on life… As she arrived back at her mansion, Akina vowed that she would never replace Adonis in her heart. Akina carried on with her life but seemed soulless.

The happy bubbly girl before became apathetic. She broke off her engagement with her fiance and shut herself in the mansion, leaving the mansion only when necessary. Situated within a certain mansion, buttressed by stone walls covered in mould, therein lies a portrait.This portrait, caked in dust, had lost the vibrant splendour of which it attained years ago. It depicts a grandiose mansion, windows smiling brightly as candle light filtered through them, creating an atmosphere of joy and merry-making. However, such beauty was sadly hidden, for it was hung in the most depilated part of the mansion, which no one bothers to venture. Beside it, in a similar frame of gold, is a portrait of a handsome male.

On the plague below was engraved, in neat writing: Adonis Clarities; risked his life to save his loved one but passed away in the attempt to do so; 1321-1342…