Literature has a way to reflect itself on the author who wrote the work. Many times reading a work of literature is not enough to understand what the author was trying to get across to the readers. “Tell-Tale Heat” by Edgar Allan Poe is a works of literature in which the reader must look more in-depth, specifically the author’s life in order to understand what he was trying to get across in his story. Using biographical and psychological criticism we will see that “Tell- Tale Heart” is a short story that reflects the life and subconscious desires of the author Edgar Allan Poe. Looking at his personal life we will compare his subconscious desires to the ones from the man in “Tell-Tale Heart” is which we will conclude that Edgar Allan- Poe’s
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In “Tell-Tale Heart we see the story of a man who is not mentally sound. By using psychological criticism, we can very clearly see that this man gave into his id because he is incapable of feeling and reasoning therefore he doe not have an ego and superego. In an article titled, “Western psychology and Muslim psychology in Dialogue” by H. Abu-Raiya, she explains the characteristics of the id, ego and superego. Abu- Raiya stated that according to Freud 1923/2010, “the three components of personality (i.e., id, ego, super-ego) operate in a different direction resulting in psychological conflict and anxiety, and a yearning for peace of mind” (Abu-Raiya, 333). In “Tell-Tale Heart” we can see that the speaker is very troubled at the end of the story, so much so that he has no peace of mind what so ever, “I gasped for breath- and yet the officers heard it not. I talked more quickly- more vehemently” (Poe, 406). The lack of peace in mind matches what, Abu- Raiya was stating in her article. Not only that, but the ego and superego are specifically there to protect you form acting on instinct and doing what your most basic desires ask you too. In “Tell-Tale Heart” the speaker says, “It is impossible to say how fist the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night… I think it was the eye” (Poe, 404). We see that …show more content…
After looking at his personal life we compared his subconscious desires to the ones from the man in “Tell-Tale Heart”, alike the speaker, Po also followed his subconscious desires which ultimately ended up causing his death. Edgar Allan- Poe’s short story was a fictional interpretation in which he accomplishes his real life desires. A work of literature is an extension of an authors real life. In order to rely understand what an author is trying to express to his readers it is essential to look into that authors own life. At the end of the day, many author write to express and relief themselves from their
In “Tell-Tale Heart we see the story of a man who is not mentally sound. By using psychological criticism, we can very clearly see that this man gave into his id because he is incapable of feeling and reasoning therefore he doe not have an ego and superego. In an article titled, “Western psychology and Muslim psychology in Dialogue” by H. Abu-Raiya, she explains the characteristics of the id, ego and superego. Abu- Raiya stated that according to Freud 1923/2010, “the three components of personality (i.e., id, ego, super-ego) operate in a different direction resulting in psychological conflict and anxiety, and a yearning for peace of mind” (Abu-Raiya, 333). In “Tell-Tale Heart” we can see that the speaker is very troubled at the end of the story, so much so that he has no peace of mind what so ever, “I gasped for breath- and yet the officers heard it not. I talked more quickly- more vehemently” (Poe, 406). The lack of peace in mind matches what, Abu- Raiya was stating in her article. Not only that, but the ego and superego are specifically there to protect you form acting on instinct and doing what your most basic desires ask you too. In “Tell-Tale Heart” the speaker says, “It is impossible to say how fist the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night… I think it was the eye” (Poe, 404). We see that …show more content…
After looking at his personal life we compared his subconscious desires to the ones from the man in “Tell-Tale Heart”, alike the speaker, Po also followed his subconscious desires which ultimately ended up causing his death. Edgar Allan- Poe’s short story was a fictional interpretation in which he accomplishes his real life desires. A work of literature is an extension of an authors real life. In order to rely understand what an author is trying to express to his readers it is essential to look into that authors own life. At the end of the day, many author write to express and relief themselves from their