The Black Cat: The Freudian Theory

Edgar Allen Poe’s The Black Cat along with many of his other works serve as a platform for him to indulge in his repressed fantasies, and live vicariously through his characters who represent the seemingly unrelenting conflict between his moral compass and subconscious desires. The main players in the majority of his tales seem reflect the Freudian components of his personality, which are constantly at war with one another. The Freudian Theory claims that childhood experiences and conflicts have a considerable amount of influence on the development of the individual’s personality; Poe’s loved ones, including his mother when he was barely two years old, died of Tuberculosis one by one, leaving him alone and desperate for familial love and …show more content…
He was raised by his stepfather, John Allen, shortly after the passing of his parents due to Tuberculosis. Poe’s relationship with his stepfather was “marked with volatility.” Poe and John Allen were both fiercely independent in mind, making conflict inevitable. The tense dynamics between Poe and his foster-father were ever present, but they exploded in 1827 when John refused to pay for Poe’s enrollment to the University of Virginia. As an outward expression of his disapproval, John “was not generous in the allowance given Poe to sustain him at school.” Poe, in turn, resorted to gambling to bolster his meager income, but ultimately failed, leaving him $2,000 in debt which he had no means of paying. In March of 1827, Poe discovered that John Allen had refused to cover his debts. This being the flashpoint of an unfortunate, drawn out conflict, the results of which drove John to cut Edgar out of his will. It would seem as though Edgar most closely relates to the narrator; the “nutty narrator” is an apparent motif in his work. The Black Cat and the The Tell Tale Heart bear striking resemblance to one another in this regard; therefore, it would seem as though Poe writes predominantly from the perspective of a psychopath because he is one at

Show More

Related Documents: The Black Cat: The Freudian Theory

Suicide: Suicide and Natural Suicide Rate Essay