This bachelor paper is generally concerned with the mental states of the characters in selected tales by Edgar Allan Poe, specifically The Tell-Tale Heart and The Black Cat. The aim of this thesis is to analyze the two stories from a narratological point of view and determine whether or not their narrators can be considered reliable and whether are not they can be considered insane.
Anotace v angličtině
Tato bakalářská práce se obecně zabývá psychickými a duševními stavy postav ve vybraných dílech Edgara Allana Poea. Cílem této práce je analýza dvou povídek, konkrétně Zrádné srdce a Černý kocour, z hlediska naratologické teorie a zjištění, zda mohou v nich figurující vypravěči být považováni za spolehlivé a zda mohou být považováni za šílené.
Klíčová slova
Poe, insanity, narratology, The Black Cat, The Tell-Tale Heart, mental health,
This bachelor paper is generally concerned with the mental states of the characters in selected tales by Edgar Allan Poe, specifically The Tell-Tale Heart and The Black Cat. The aim of this thesis is to analyze the two stories from a narratological point of view and determine whether or not their narrators can be considered reliable and whether are not they can be considered insane.
Anotace v angličtině
Tato bakalářská práce se obecně zabývá psychickými a duševními stavy postav ve vybraných dílech Edgara Allana Poea. Cílem této práce je analýza dvou povídek, konkrétně Zrádné srdce a Černý kocour, z hlediska naratologické teorie a zjištění, zda mohou v nich figurující vypravěči být považováni za spolehlivé a zda mohou být považováni za šílené.
Klíčová slova
Poe, insanity, narratology, The Black Cat, The Tell-Tale Heart, mental health,
Firstly, the historical / cultural context should be summarized concentrating on selected definitions and tropes of Romanticism, Gothic fiction and finally American Dark Romanticism. What social and psychological issues influenced these genres, especially in late 18th and early-mid 19th century America? Relative to this general background, more specific various definitions and figures regarding what was seen in the period as "reason" and "insanity" should be described as represented in American mass culture and particularly in American fiction and non-fiction using specific examples from essays, speeches, novels and short stories. Finally, in the longest and most important part of the BP, the background issues described earlier should be used as tools in the analysis of one or two of Poe's short stories of different genres in terms of how reason / insanity are represented. Poe's legacy in American (and other) literature in this area can also be outlined.
Zásady pro vypracování
Firstly, the historical / cultural context should be summarized concentrating on selected definitions and tropes of Romanticism, Gothic fiction and finally American Dark Romanticism. What social and psychological issues influenced these genres, especially in late 18th and early-mid 19th century America? Relative to this general background, more specific various definitions and figures regarding what was seen in the period as "reason" and "insanity" should be described as represented in American mass culture and particularly in American fiction and non-fiction using specific examples from essays, speeches, novels and short stories. Finally, in the longest and most important part of the BP, the background issues described earlier should be used as tools in the analysis of one or two of Poe's short stories of different genres in terms of how reason / insanity are represented. Poe's legacy in American (and other) literature in this area can also be outlined.
Seznam doporučené literatury
POE, E. A. Tales of Mystery and Imagination. London: Harper Press, 2011.
FEDER, F. Madness in Literature. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980.
RIEGER, B. M. Dionysus in Literature: Essays on Literary Madness. Bowling Green: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1994.
DAYAN, J. Fables of Mind: An Inquiry into Poe's Fiction. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.
HAYES, K. J., ed. The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Seznam doporučené literatury
POE, E. A. Tales of Mystery and Imagination. London: Harper Press, 2011.
FEDER, F. Madness in Literature. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980.
RIEGER, B. M. Dionysus in Literature: Essays on Literary Madness. Bowling Green: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1994.
DAYAN, J. Fables of Mind: An Inquiry into Poe's Fiction. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.
HAYES, K. J., ed. The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.