36 LITERATURE The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe Literature along the way The Tell-Tale Heart is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. It was first published in a Boston weekly magazine in 1843 and is now widely considered to be a classic example of Gothic literature1 and one of Poe’s best-known short stories. To get a taste of what the story is about, read the extract below considering the following questions: 1 What time of day is it? Where does the scene take place? 2 What is your impression of the narrator? 3 What do you think is going to happen to the old man? 4 What elements of Gothic literature can you spot in the extract? 1 […] I scarcely breathed. I held the lantern2 motionless. I tried how steadily I could maintain the ray3 upon the eye. Meantime the hellish tattoo4 of the heart increased. It grew quicker and quicker, and louder and louder every instant. The old man’s terror must have been extreme! It grew louder, I say, louder every moment! – do you mark me well I have told you that I am nervous: so I am. And now at the dead hour of the night, amid the dreadful silence of that old house, so strange a noise as this excited me to uncontrollable terror. Yet, for some minutes longer I refrained5 and stood still. But the beating grew louder, louder! I thought the heart must burst. […] The old man’s hour had come! With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern and leaped into the room. Now read and listen to parts of the story. Answer the questions after each part. 2 TRUE! – nervous – very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses – not destroyed – not dulled6 them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearken7! and observe how healthily – how calmly I can tell you the whole story. It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture8 – a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so, by degrees – very gradually – I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever. 05 1 1 Gothic literature: contains elements of horror, death, decay and a gloomy/ mysterious atmosphere 2 lantern: Laterne 3 ray: Lichtstrahl 4 hellish tattoo: hier: höllisches Pochen 5 to refrain: sich zurückhalten 6 to dull sth.: etw. abstumpfen 7 to hearken: (old-fashioned): horchen 8 vulture: Geier What evidence is there that the narrator is insane? What stylistic elements does Poe use to illustrate the narrator’s insanity? What is the narrator’s motive for killing the old man? Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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