The Horror of Sanity: Edgar Allan Poe's Exploration of Mental Boundaries in the Select Gothic Narratives

The gothic fiction generally represents certain horror and instability of
mind. The name Gothic is a genre that revolves around mystery, horror, psychological
implication by using external perception of atmosphere, supernatural use and
symbolism. These are external factors that affect the horror and mystery in the minds
of human beings. The madness, obsession and unreliable narrators are normally
explained by the psychological depths that are usually characteristic of this genre.
It is also a reflection of the restriction, staleness, gloom and inner struggle. Edgar
Allan Poe is gothic and possesses the depiction of madness and mental instability. The
paper discusses precarious borders between sanity and madness in the few readings of
Edgar Allan Poe The Tell-Tale Heart, The Fall of the House of Usher and The Black
Cat. Through such short stories, the light has been shed on such narrative techniques
of unreliable narrators, psychological symbolism and rotting setting to demonstrate
inner conflict revealed by gothic mystery and horror. The gothic ethos and environment
propel the characters to the borderline ofsanity and are usually followed by the feelings
of guilt, obsession and sorrow. The horror strikes the characters and makes them lose
their sanity. The loss of rationality under a heavy burden of guilt and obsession is one
of the elements dramatized in the fiction by Poe (Bloom).
Human psyche is usually irrational facing the mystery and horror. The atmosphere,
settings, supernatural and symbolism in these works emphasize the gothic conventions
to reveal the mental illness and irrationality of the human psyche.