Unit-2--The-Cask-of-Amontillado

高等教育出版社ContentsAbouttheAuthorandHisWritingUnderstandingtheText♦Theme♦Characterization♦LanguageandWritingstyleQuestionsforFurtherThinkingFollow-UpAssignmentAbouttheAuthorandHisWritingEdgarAllanPoe(1809–1849):anAmericanpoet,novelist,shortstorywriter,essayist,playwright,editor,literarycriticandaleadingAmericanRomanticist.Bestknownforhispoetryandshortstories,particularlyhistalesofmysteryandthemacabre,Poewasoneofthecountry’searliestpractitionersoftheshortstoryandisgenerallyconsideredtheinventorofthedetectivefictiongenreandisfurthercreditedwithcontributingtotheemerginggenreofsciencefiction.Hewasthefirstwell-knownAmericanwriterwhotriedtoearnalivingthroughwritingalone,butthisengagedhimintoafinanciallydifficultlifeandcareer.AbouttheAuthorandHisWritingHeisoneofthefirstAmericanauthorsofthe19thcenturytobecomemorepopularinEuropethanintheUnitedStatesandparticularlyrespectedinFrance,inpartduetoearlytranslationsbyCharlesBaudelairewhosetranslationsbecamedefinitiverenditionsofPoe’sworkthroughoutEurope.AbouttheAuthorandHisWritingAsaliterarycritic,hehasthereputationofbeinga“tomahawkman”.FellowcriticJamesRussellLowellcalledhim“themostdiscriminating,philosophical,andfearlesscriticuponimaginativeworkswhohaswritteninAmerica”,whichsuggestrhetoricallythatheoccasionallyusedprussicacidinsteadofink.PoeinPopularCultureManyofPoe’sshortstorieshavebeenadaptedintofilms,andPoehimselfalsohasappearedasafictionalizedcharacterinthemovies,oftenrepresentingthe“madgenius”or“tormentedartist”andexploitinghispersonalstruggles.Manysuchdepictionsalsoblendinwithcharactersfromhisstories,suggestingPoeandhischaractersshareidentities.Poe’sDeathOnOctober3,1849,PoewasfoundonthestreetsofBaltimoredelirious,hewastakentotheWashingtonMedicalCollege,wherehediedonSunday,October7,1849.Allofhismedicalrecords,includinghisdeathcertificate,havebeenlost.NewspapersatthetimereportedPoe’sdeathas“congestionofthebrain”or“cerebralinflammation”,commoneuphemismsfordeathsfromdisreputablecausessuchasalcoholism.Buttheactualcauseofhisdeathremainsamystery.Poe’sWell-knownShortStories“TheMurdersintheRueMorgue”“Morella”“TheFalloftheHouseofUsher”“Ligeia”“Metzengerstein”“Berenice”“TheBlackCat”“ThecaskofAmontillado”“TheMysteryofMarieRoget”“TheGoldBug”“ThePurloinedLetter”Poe’sGenrePoe’sbestknownfictionworksareGothic,agenrehefollowedtoappeasethepublictaste.InhisGothicstories,hefirstdestabilizesthereaderbyusingunreliablenarrators:madmenandliars,initiallyrationalmenwhohavetheirrationalismthoroughlysubverted,menwhobyallcommonsensicalstandardsbedead.Poe’sGenreInPoe’sstories,thesourceofmysteryandanxietyissomethingthatremainsinexplicable.PoetearstheGothictaleoutoftherationalistframeworkitpreviouslyinhabited,andhemakesitamediumforexploringtheirrational,evenflirtingwiththeanti-rational.Assuch,hemakesitascentralandvitaltotheRomantictraditionas,say,thelyricpoemorthedreamplay.Poe’sGenreElementsofGothicnovel：UsuallysetinMedievaltimesDark,mysterious,eviltoneDarkcastles,palaces,chambers,hauntedmansionsBlood,pain,death,crueltyEroticismandcharacterswithaberrantpsychologicalstates.Eventswhichareuncanny,macabre,ormelodramaticallyviolentborderingbetweenrealityandunrealityTheseelementsalwayscometogethertoemphasizethesenseofevil,toevoke“terror”versus“horror”inthereaderbecauseofsituationsborderingreality/unreality.SometimesGothicnovelmaylackaMedievalsettingbutwilldevelopanatmosphereofgloomandterror.Thiskindofnovelisoftenusedtoteachamessage.Poe’sGenreBeyondhorror,Poealsowrotesatires,humortales,andhoaxes.Forcomiceffect,heusedironyandludicrousextravagance,ofteninanattempttoliberatethereaderfromculturalconformity.Healsoreinventedsciencefictionandisrecognizedastheoriginatorofdetectivestory.Poe’sThemeMostrecurringthemes:▼questionsofdeath,includingitsphysicalsigns,theeffectsofdecomposition,concernsofprematureburial,thereanimationofthedead,andmourning.▼disintegrationoftheselfOtherthemes:▼Popularpseudosciencessuchasphrenologyandphysiognomy,whichaimedspecificallyatmass-markettastes.▼subconsciousconditionofthemindbeneaththesurfaceofnormalexistence.▼Thedeepabyssoftheunconsciousmentalactivityofthepeople.Poe’sLiteraryTheoryPoe’sliterarytheoryismainlypresentedinhisessay,suchas“ThePoeticPrinciple”and“ThePhilosophyofComposition”,etc.Hebelieved:▼workswithobviousmeaningsceasetobeart.▼Brevity,compressionandfinalityareessentialforthequalityofshortstories.Poe’sLiteraryTheoryThewritershouldcarefullycalculateeverysentimentandideatoachievesingleeffect.Theveryfirstsentenceoughttohelptobringoutthe“singleeffect”ofthestory.Nowordshouldbeusedwhichdoesnotcontributetothe“pre-established”designofthework(compression).Theshortstorymustbeofsuchlengthastobereadatonesitting,soastoensurethetotalityofimpression.Ataleshouldendwiththelastsentence,leavingasenseoffinalitywiththereader.Poedislikeddidacticismandallegory,thoughhebelievedthatmeaninginliteratureshouldbeanundercurrentjustbeneaththesurface.Healsostronglydislikedtranscendentalideas.UnderstandingtheTextSummary“TheCaskofAmontillado”isoneofPoe’smostwell-knownhorrorstories.