Gothic Elements In The Tell Tale Heart By Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe fills each of his writings with gothic elements to capture the audience 's attention. He uses elements such as grotesque, claustrophobia and entrapment to give his writings a different feel. His gothic spin on his writings is what created the detective fiction genre, and gave his novels such praise. The elements showcased are in multiple of Poe’s novels and poems. Grotesque comes from the supernatural mutation of a character. In “The Tell Tale Heart”, the mutation in the old man was displayed in his eye. The narrator saw that his eye was, “all a dull blue, with a hideous veil over it that chilled the very marrow in my bones”, which caused the narrator to react in a negative form (The Tell Tale Heart 2). As the story progresses, The narrator’s rage against the man 's eye increases, which ultimately leads to the old man 's death. The narrator was fed up with looking into his “vulture” eye and strangled the man in the comfort of his home. The narrator saw this eye as a threat, as a mutation of a demonic creature. With this, he believed that the only way to get the image of this creature out of his mind was to murder the man altogether, to “rid (-- removed HTML --) of the eye forever” (The Tell Tale Heart 1). With the death of the man, the narrator is freed from the burden of the vulture that was haunting him. Grotesque is

Claustrophobia is also portrayed in Poe’s “Cask of Amontillado”, when Lord Fortunato is imprisoned and shackled to the wall in the catacomb by Montresor. Montresor wanted revenge on Fortunato, and by doing this he tortured him. The walls and atmosphere were damp and dark, creating a tomb for Fortunato and for fear to arise. The idea of Claustrophobia really kicks in when his, “loud and shrill screams” begin to echo inside his imprisonment, but has no way of getting help, or being heard. (Cask of Amontillado 4). Claustrophobia is seen throughout Poe’s work, while giving us an insight on how being trapped can cause fear and