Poe’s Typical Short Story Strategies

Abstract

Edgar Allan Poe, a great mind of the Romantic era, experimented with the genre of the short story as no other American writer before him had. He claimed that the short story should be read over a period of time ranging from half an hour to an hour or two in order to keep the unity or totality of effect unspoiled. Poe’s typical stories, especially those written in the Gothic vein, present an allegory of a dream experience unveiled in the narrator’s disturbed mind with a hypersensitive, “bi-part soul” hero or heroine who is afflicted with a mysterious disease and eventually dies. However, a typical Poean short story also implies recognizable techniques such as the use of a comical or satirical mode, a copulative ending to the story, repetition of a key word at its beginning and masterful use of audio-visual effects. This paper will try to point out some of the most notable narrative strategies in Poe’s most famous short stories.

DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2014.v4n4p312