Revisiting Domestic Violence in Poe's “The Black Cat”: The Narrator Between Psychological Struggle and Egoistic Masculinity
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1202.18Keywords:
gothic literature, domestic violence, Poe, unnamed narrator, egoistic masculinityAbstract
The present paper aims at demonstrating Poe’s depiction of domestic violence as a technique to demonstrate his chaotic loss in between his Psychological Struggle and his Egoistic Masculinity. It shows how readers sometimes get lost in search of a judicious cause for the extensive use of violence amongst the chaotic sociopolitical conditions that prevailed that period then. A psychoanalytical perspective was provided to unveil some of the hidden and unsaid facts within some of the gothic literary scenes that were analyzed and examined in light of the narrator’s internal struggle between his traumatic psychology and egoistic masculinity. Among others, the present researchers have found that there are intrinsic and extrinsic factors that genuinely contributed to the increasing scenes of persistent violence committed by the unnamed narrator, but not limited for alcoholism and the unbalanced psychological disorder as the narrator wished to display.
References
Al-hmdni, T. (2020). “In Search of the Cause of Violence in Edgar Allan Poe's ‘The Black Cat’”. International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation. 24 (10).33-47.
Al-Shiban, Afra. (2019). Animal Cruelty and Intimate Partner Homicide in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat". Retrieved January 23rd, 2020 from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338695292_Animal_Cruelty_and_Intimate_Partner_Homicide_in_Edgar_Allan_Poe's_The_Black_Cat
Ann V. Bliss. (2009). Household Horror: Domestic Masculinity in Poe's The Black Cat, The Explicator, 67:2, pp. 96-99.
Diamond, J. M. (2006). Masculinity Unraveled: The Roots of Male Gender Identity and the Shifting of Male Ego Ideals Throughout Life. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association 54(4):1099-130.
Flury, M, Nyberg, E, & Riecher-Rössler, A. (2010). “Domestic Violence against women: definitions, epidemiology, Risk factors and consequences”. The European Journal of Medical Sciences. 140 (w)1309-36.
Greene, Michael B. (2021). "Violence." Encyclopedia of Public Health. Retrieved April 08, 2021 from Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved January 27th, 2020 from: https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/violence.
Hester, V., & Segir, E. (2014). Edgar Allan Poe: “The Black Cat,” and Current Forensic Psychology. The Edgar Allan Poe Review, 15(2), 175–193.
Kennedy, P. (2021). Gothic Literature. Thoughtco. Retrieved January 23rd, 2020 from https://www.thoughtco.com/gothic-literature2207825
Kocsis, N. Richard, ed. (2008). Serial Murder and the Psychology of Violent Crimes. New Jersey: Humana Press.
Lombardi, E. (2020). "The Black Cat" Study Guide. Retrieved April 08, 2021 from https://www.thoughtco.com/the-black-cat-themes-and-symbols-738847.
Meyers, J. (1992). Edgar Allan Poe: His life and legacy. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
Piacentino, E. (1998). Poe's "The Black Cat" as psychobiography: some reflections on the narratological dynamics. Studies in Short Fiction, 35(2), p. 153-167.
Poe, E. A. (2013) Edgar Alan Poe Storyteller: Seven Stories. [Washington, D.C.]: Office of English Language Programs, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State.
Rata, I. (2014). An Overview of Gothic Fiction. Translation Studies: Retrospective and Prospective Views. 7 (17). Pp 104-114.
Reiss, A. J., and Roth, J. A., eds. (1993). Understanding and Preventing Violence. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Thomas, J. and Nigel, T. (2014). The Multidimensional Spectrum of Imagination: Images, Dreams, Hallucinations, and Active imaginative perception. Humanities. 3 (1): 132-184.
Wall, Raphael. (2020). “Stylistic Devices: An Analysis of "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan” Munich, GRIN Verlag. Retrieved January 22nd, 2020 from https://www.grin.com/document/901460.