ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -His fascination with death can be traced back to the death of those he loved in his life, including his mother, step-mother, and wife. Poe conveys his fixation through his narrators in short stories, whether they kill based on fear, hate, or anxiety.

Detailed explanation-2: -Edgar Allen Poe (1809-49) shifted the boundaries of fiction in the genres of detective stories, science fiction, and tales of horror. Death-especially fear of it-is a recurring theme in Poe’s work. This fascination may result from Poe’s own losses: his parents died before he was 3 years old.

Detailed explanation-3: -Gothic Tales Initially, Poe wrote burlesques of the Gothic story, but soon began to write seriously in the Gothic vein. Gothic tales often involve circumstances of mystery and horror, a general atmosphere of gloom and doom, and elements like dungeons, ghosts, and decaying castles with secret passageways.

Detailed explanation-4: -His view of death may have been filled with darkness, foreboding, and disillusionment.

Detailed explanation-5: -In “The Tell-Tale Heart, ” Poe revolves the plot around a raving individual who, insisting that he is sane, murders an old man because of his‘ “vulture eye”. The three main gothic elements that are evident in this story are the unique setting, the theme of death and decay, and the presence of madness.