Fractured minds : the unravelling psyche of the narrator in Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories

Abstract

Edgar Allan Poe, the renowned American author, poet, and literary critic, is widely celebrated for his macabre and gothic fiction, which continues to captivate readers with its exploration of psychological horror. What sets Poe apart from other writers is his ability to explore the human psyche, even preceding the theories created by Sigmund Freud. This dissertation investigates how Poe explores the themes of obsession and guilt to portray the unravelling minds of his narrators, eventually positioning them as unreliable. By analysing the tales ‘Ligeia’, ‘Berenice’, and ‘Morella’ in accordance with obsession, this dissertation will give a deep analysis in relation to obsessive desire, repression, and female objectification, drawing on Freudian concepts such as the unconscious. Whereas the short stories of ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’, ‘The Black Cat’, ‘The Imp of the Perverse’, and ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ will be explored through the theme of guilt and its manifestations, both psychological and supernatural. Hence, both themes together provide a set example for unreliable narrators, which acts as the catalyst for the unravelling of the psyche. Therefore, this dissertation argues that obsession and guilt serve not only as the central thematic concerns for a character's descent into madness, but also as structural mechanisms that foreground the unreliability of the narrator, reinforcing Poe’s nuanced depiction of the fractured human mind.