Antony Brouwer ENGL 2170 Lucas Tromly 31 March 2007

If Only You Would Believe Me: A Discussion of Setting in Edgar Allan Poes The Black Cat and Ligeia. (The title is clear, references the text, and attempts to add a creative hook 5/5) In Edgar Allan Poes stories The Black Cat and Ligeia, the narrator begins with assurances for the reader. In Ligeia the reader is immediately confronted with the narrators problematic memory, yet he claims upon the topic of his love my memory faileth me not. (Ligeia,1544) In The Black Cat the narrator admits that his story is full of madness, yet, mad am I not. (The Black Cat 1593) Both are obsessed with convincing the reader that they speak in earnest and that their tale is true. The drive to earn the readers trust impacts how each story unfolds. The setting of each narrative offers insight into the desperate need of each narrator for authenticity. Poe uses setting drastically differently in each story. In Ligeia the setting is a means to an end for the narrator, and his descriptions of the abbey are within his control, making them suspect. In The Black Cat the narrator is in prison

Brouwer 2 and the setting of the story is a tool for the reader to decipher his motives. In both stories, evaluating the uses of the setting, raise questions as to why the narrators are telling us their stories and reflect their need for the reader to believe them. (My introductory paragraph clearly states a thesis and makes it clear to the reader what the rest of the essay is going to be about. However, the paragraph is extremely long and does little to capture the attention/interest of the reader. It is lacking a hook of any kind.) In Ligeia the narrator makes the setting into a tool, altering the details of the abbey, making them horrific and sinister. The narrator uses setting to emphasize the sinister and fantastic, describing the surroundings, which should be static and without motive, as supernatural forces. He describes the ghastly luster of the light coming through the window and the ceiling as built of gloomy-looking oak and as a melancholy vaulting. (Poe, Ligeia 1548) These terms describe the bridal chamber as if it were alive. The chamber becomes another of the supernatural forces at work. The room is decorated with figures that bore the appearance of ideal monstrosities, surrounding the narrator with an endless succession of ghastly forms. (1548) The chamber becomes a dangerous and sinister place that the narrator describes as if it were hellish, not the place where someone would be married. Yaohua Shi points out the peculiarity of the narrator's use of metaphors. Shi goes on to say the function of a metaphor, any book on rhetoric would tell us, is

Brouwer 3 to make the unfamiliar familiar through a comparison . . . In "Ligeia," however, the move is often from the less unfamiliar to the more unfamiliar. (Shi 5) This argument is useful in understanding the narrators motives. By making the setting abstract and outside the realm of the familiar, the reader becomes further invested in the terror of the story. This discomfort is crucial to becoming wrapped up in the psychological horror of the narrative. By manipulating the setting, the narrators fascination with the supernatural is forced upon the readers interpretation of the story. (This paragraph is full of direct evidence from the text. The balance between evidence and explanation is perfect and each idea is presented concisely and with clarity.) The setting of Ligeia is also useful for interpreting the narrators obsession with authenticity and its effect on the narrative. From the beginning the narrator points out that his memory is feeble. (Poe, Ligeia 1543) This problem with memory is contrasted with his fixation on the detailed relating of the supernatural events of the story. The narrator is concerned with authenticity, attempting to distract the reader from his issues with memory by obsessing over details of the abbey, using grand and excessive descriptions. He describes a censer as hung by many perforations so contrived that there writhed in and out of them, as it endued with a serpent vitality, a continual succession of parti-coloured fires. (1548) The

Brouwer 4 narrator describes an inanimate object as a writhing serpent, using language that evokes the devil. The serpentine quality makes the censer, which is a device for burning incense, seem to be proof of a supernatural or religious presence within the chamber. The images of serpents and fire also makes the censer, which hangs in the center of the room above the body of Rowena, resemble a kind of devilish alter, which is meaningful considering the death and rebirth of Ligeia. The narrator has problems with memory yet is able to give the minutest details of the bridal chamber. The excessive details call into question the narrators reliability. Is he truly able to remember the events with such clarity, or does he inject his stories with supernatural elements to manipulate the reader? The narrator is preoccupied with making clear that his memory is a source of truth. He states before describing the chamber, I minutely remember the details of the chamber-yet I am sadly forgetful on topics of deep moment. (1548) The contradiction helps to explain the necessity of such sinister language. By being detailed yet also using language to emphasize the supernatural, the narrator is assuring the reader that he is a trustworthy source, and that the supernatural is at play. The setting of Ligeia reveals the way the narrators obsessions with the supernatural and with truth, effect the details of the narrative. (This paragraph is full of direct evidence from the text. The balance between evidence and explanation is perfect and each idea is presented concisely and with clarity.)

Brouwer 5 As in Ligeia the narrator of The Black Cat is obsessed with the authenticity of his story, seeking to persuade the reader that supernatural events are what caused the crime. Susan Amper argues His tale is a fabrication, by which he seeks to conceal the true nature of his crime, exactly as he sought in walling up his wife's body to conceal the fact of the crime. (Amper n.p.) I would contend that there is something much more complex going on and the setting of the story helps to make this clear. If, as Amper suggests, the narrator only seeks to prove his innocence, than why does Poe have him point out that he is doomed to execution. As readers we know that he is in prison and awaiting death, and our opinions matter little to the eventual fate the narrator, so then why does the narrator care what we think of him? Amper argues that it is simply to deceive the reader, but Poe has made it plain there is no gain to him doing so. We are made aware of his doom by the setting of the story, and this also allows for another possibility to explain his obsession with authenticity; perhaps the narrator believes what he is saying is true. The narrator stresses his continuing struggle with alcoholism, claiming it caused in him a radical alteration for the worse. (Poe, The Black Cat 1593) This claim that his behavior had changed due to his alcoholism is important because he points out early on that his story is nothing more than an ordinary succession of very natural causes and effects. (1593) The first of these causes is his alcoholism and this gives it a special importance. This theme is continued and moments when he commits horrific acts coincide with his drunken state. The fact that his alcoholism is closely

Brouwer 6 intertwined with his sanity forces recognition of its importance. The narrator never offers his alcoholism as anything more than an incidental part of his story, but Poe has used the setting of the prison to ground the reader in the reality of the narrators position. He is a murderer condemned to die, but one looking to explain himself. By discussing his drunken behavior in a seemingly offhand way, the narrator offers two possibilities for his insanity. Whether by alcohol induced madness or actual supernatural activity the narrator absolves himself of responsibility. The setting offers one last clue to the condition of the narrator. While throughout his story he was drunk we know he no longer has access to alcohol. While alcoholism may have led to the murder of his wife, it does not explain why he is telling his story. Is it simply for the sake of deception, which seems a pointless endeavor, or because he is concerned with the reader believing his story, possibly because he believes it as well or has truly gone mad. The setting of The Black Cat alters how the reader reacts to the narrator, giving us reason to trust him or to doubt. Do we believe the narrator, as readers are prone to do, or does the setting of the story determine how we interpret the events? The futility of the narrators obsession with convincing us of the truth of his tale, is expressed by the setting, which impedes our readiness to believe. (This paragraph is lacking in concrete evidence. More direct quotes from the text would make my points clearer. This paragraph is also too long, making it difficult to properly understand the point being made.)

Brouwer 7 Edgar Allan Poes stories, The Black Cat and Ligeia are full of ambiguities and mystery that prohibit a definitive answer to the motives of the narrators. Being denied an easy answer makes their obsessions with convincing the reader all the more relevant, because the reader is unsure of what to believe. What drives these men and do their storys contain truth? The setting of each story expresses the contradiction of their obsession with authenticity, as by examining the setting of the story, it becomes even harder to take the events at face value. Just as they may lie to us to convince us of the truth, we find less truth the harder we look for it. (This conclusion restates the thesis in a clear and direct manner. It does not add new points for discussion. It restates the text being discussed. The final sentence is creative and attempts to present a final thought to the reader.)

FINAL THOUGHTS This is where you will write your final thoughts. Reflect on your work and make it

Brouwer 8 clear what you have noticed can be improved about your writing. Any major editing issues can be discussed here.

Brouwer 9 Work Cited Amper, Susan. Untold Story: The Lying Narrator in The Black Cat. Studies In Short Fiction 29.4 (1992): n.p. Web. 24 March. 2010. Poe, Edgar Allan. Ligeia. Norton Anthology of Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: Norton and Company, 2007. 1543-1553. Print. Poe, Edgar Allan. The Black Cat. Norton Anthology of Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: Norton and Company, 2007. 1593-1599. Print. Shi, Yaohua. The Enigmatic Ligeia. Studies in Short Fiction 28.4 (1991): n.p. Web. 24 March. 2010.