The Protagonist’s Insanity and Unreliable Narration in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart”

Term Paper , 2014 , 11 Pages , Grade: 1,0

American Studies - Literature

Edgar Allan Poe published his short story "The Tell-Tale Heart" in 1843 when there was an ongoing discussion about the insanity defence in the United States. The notion of "moral insanity" or "partial insanity" was proposed, being a type of insanity that twists a person’s moral faculties only, not their intellect. This new legal definition of insanity made it possible to exculpate those who had committed a crime in a rationally planned way but were unable to comprehend its moral depravity. In this paper, the terms "insanity" and "madness" are used with respect to the protagonist of "The Tell-Tale Heart" and are presupposed to refer to the idea of moral or partial insanity.

The quintessence of the arguments put forward is that the reader’s belief in the protagonist’s insanity is created by unreliable and subjective narration. To begin with, the narrative situation of the story is analysed by applying different established categories of narratology and by identifying the narrator as unreliable. Then, the narrator’s unreliability is interpreted with regard to his intention of wanting to appear sane, his subjectivity caused by that intention, and his unconsciously conveyed insanity.

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Analysis and interpretation of the narrator in “TTH”
2.1 Analysis of the narrative situation
2.1.1 General classifications
2.1.2 The narrator’s unreliability
2.2 Interpretation of the narrator’s unreliability: intention, subjectivity and insanity
2.2.1 The narrator’s intention
2.2.2 The narrator’s procedure to realise his intention
2.2.3 The narrator’s unreliability as a result of utter subjectivity
2.2.4 The narrator’s insanity as a result of unreliable narration

3. Conclusion

4. Works cited

• College: University of Tubingen (Englisches Seminar)
• Course: Proseminar I: Introduction to Literary Studies
• Grade: 1,0
• Author: Alexander Lauer (Author)
• Publication Year: 2014
• Pages: 11
• Catalog Number: V465938
• ISBN (eBook): 9783668942127
• ISBN (Book): 9783668942134
• Language: English
• Tags: Edgar Allan Poe, unreliable narration, narrator, insanity, The Tell-Tale Heart, narrative structure