Award Date
1-1-2002
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English
First Committee Member
Robert Dodge
Number of Pages
77
Abstract
This study focuses on an examination of madness in four short stories by American author Edgar Allan Poe: "Ligeia," "Eleonora," "The Black Cat," and "The Fall of the House of Usher." Using Walter Fischer's theoretical communication framework, the Narrative Paradigm, the four stories are examined for narrative fidelity and narrative probability in an effort to more fully understand Poe's treatment of madness in first person narrators; "Ligeia" and "Eleonora" are compared as stories of a lost lover and the subsequent possibilities for madness due to guilt over marrying someone else. Next, "The Black Cat" is examined with a focus on the narrator's madness driving him to seek more and more severe forms of self-punishment due to guilt over violent abuse of his pet cat. Finally, "The Fall of the House of Usher" is examined as a look into the process of folie a deux, or shared madness.
Keywords
Edgar Allan Poe; Mad; Narrative; Paradigms; Reality
Controlled Subject
American literature
File Format
File Size
1730.56 KB
Degree Grantor
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Language
English
Permissions
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Repository Citation
Burnett, Tamy Lynn, "Paradigms of reality in Poe's mad narrative" (2002). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 1476.
http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/xk27-smvo
Rights
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