Edgar Allan Poe ( )

Teaching Objectives: Know something about the life and major works of Edgar Allen Poe; Understand the definition of Gothic Novel; Know something about Poe’s theory on short story and his writing style; Learn to analyze The Cask of Amontillado (theme, style and character portrayal).

Edgar Allan Poe A. novelist, poet, critic; B. good at writing Gothic and detective fiction, father of western detective stories; C. father of psychoanalytic criticism; I. Life

D. His aesthetics has influenced such French symbolists and advocates for “art for art’s sake” as Baudelaire; E. His writings have influenced such writers as H. G. Wells, T. S. Eliot and William Faulkner.

II. Major Works: Poetry: 1 The Raven (1844) 《乌鸦》 2 Annabel Lee 《安娜贝尔丽》 3 The Sleeper 《睡美人》 4 A Dream Within a Dream 《梦中梦》 5 Israfel 《伊斯拉菲尔》 6 The Bells 《钟》 7 Sonnet – To Science 《十四行诗 -- 致科学》 8 To Helen 《献给海伦》 9 The City in the Sea 《海中的城市》

Short stories 1 MS. Found in a Bottle (1833) 《瓶中手稿》 2 Tales of the Grotesque and the Arabesque (1839) 《荒诞奇异的故事》 3 The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841) 《毛 格街血案》 4 The Fall of the House of Usher 《厄舍古屋 的倒塌》 5 The Cask of Amontillado 《一桶白葡萄酒》 6 Ligeia 《丽姬娅》 7 The Purloined Letter 《窃信案》

8 The Man of the Crowd 《人群中的人》 9 The Tell-Tale Heart 《泄密的心》 10 William Wilson 《威廉. 威尔逊》 11 Black Cat 《黑猫》 12 The Imp of the Perverse 《变态的小鬼》 13 The Gold Bug 《金甲虫》 14 The Mystery of Marie Roger 《玛丽. 罗热 疑案》 15 The Masque of the Red Death 《红色 死亡的化妆舞会》

III. Gothic Novel The Gothic novel, or “Gothic romance” flourished through the early nineteenth century. Authors of such novels set their stories in the medieval period, often in a gloomy castle, and made plentiful use of ghosts, mysterious disappearances, and other sensational and supernatural occurrences; their principal aim was to evoke chilling terror by exploiting mystery, cruelty, and a variety of horrors.

The term “gothic” has also been extended to denote a type of fiction that a. develops an atmosphere of gloom or terror, b. represents events which are mysterious, horrible, or extremely violent, and c. often deals with abnormal psychological states.

IV. Writing Style: Poe’s style is traditional. It is much too rational, too ordinary to reflect the peculiarity of his theme. He is good at generalizing. He is not easy to read. He lays stress on brevity and imagination.

V. Poe’s Theories for the Short Story: a. The short story should be so brief as to be read at one sitting. b. The first sentence ought to help to bring out the “single effect” of the story. c. No word should be used which does not contribute to the work. d. A tale should reveal some logical truth, and should end with the last sentence, leaving a sense of finality with the reader.

The Cask of Amontillado 阿芒提拉多的酒桶

Discuss the questions: 1. What is the theme of the story? 2. What do you think of the first sentence? 3. What is the pretext Montresor uses to lure Fortunato to his wine cellar? 4. Montresor takes advantage of Fortunato’s strong and weak point in order to realize his plan of revenge. What is F’s strong point and what is his weak point?

5. What symbols can you find in the story to indicate death? 6. How does the author put forward the development of the plot? 7. What do you think of the last sentence of the last paragraph? 8. What kind of person is Montresor? What about Fortunato?

VII. Characters: Both of Fortunato and Montresor had weaknesses in their personality. The weaknesses of F is apparent, while that of M is rather hidden. F gave himself airs and looked down his nose at M. He didn’t realize his weaknesses and foolishness until he was dying in the cellar. But it was too late. In the end, he could do nothing but wait for death in despair and agony, and his hysterical howling could not save him.

Montresor, was aware of the whole process from beginning to end. He laid his snare just hoping F to fall into it. He wished that he could see F’s death, but he hid his real intention with insincere humbleness. M: experienced, cunning, cruel, ruthless, hide a dagger behind a smile

Theme Revenge Exploration of a criminal ’ s psychology It is a revenge story that discloses the major characters ’ criminal psychology (on Montresor ’ s part) and defected personalities (speaking of both Montresor and Fortunato).

Symbols objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. “ Fortunato ” the Carnival setting the descent into the wine cellar The coat of arms

1. Fortunato ’ s name Poe uses Fortunato ’ s name symbolically, as an ironic device. Though his name means “ the fortunate one ” in Italian, Fortunato meets an unfortunate fate as the victim of Montresor ’ s revenge. Fortunato adds to the irony of his name by wearing the costume of a court jester. While Fortunato plays in jest, Montresor sets out to fool him, with murderous results.

2. the Carnival setting symbolizes the social liquidity and freedom from social restrictions

3. the descent into the wine cellar The two men ’ s underground travels are symbolic of their trip to hell, or say, moral or physical descent. Fortunato---killed---physcial descent, go to hell, die Montresor---killer---moral decadence, to be punished and go to hell

4. The coat of arms Explain how Montresor ’ s family motto is related to the story? To the actions of Montressor? The shield features a human foot crushing a tenacious serpent. the foot represents Fortunato the serpent represents Montresor.

The End