The Tell-Tale Heart By Edgar Allan Poe

“The Tell-Tale Heart” is one of the many famous short stories written by Edgar Allan Poe. It portrays the characteristics of Dark Romanticism. The stories of this kind mainly focus on the darker side of the human spirit and often deal with emotions like depression and grief. The Dark Romantic Movement is based on the notion of self- destruction and original sin. This concept describes that mankind is capable of doing evil deeds and the thirst of revenge can be brutal. In context to The Tell-Tale Heart excerpt, Poe demonstrates how a person’s inner turmoil and fear can drive him insane, which highlights an attribute of the Dark Romantic Movement. Hence, the features of the Dark Romantic Movement, reflects in the story, Tell-Tale Heart.
One
The narrator tends to have illusions about reality. He believes that he has a supernatural power which a mad man cannot have. He illustrates that, “I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell” (Poe 3). He indicates that his sense of hearing is very good and believes that the disease has augmented his hearing capacity even more. This is significant because the narrator lives in a fantasy world and hence feels that he is in fact hearing things. As he creeps closer to the old man he hears his heart beat thumping louder. Though the narrator can clearly hear the chest of the old man thumping louder, he goes on with carrying out his plan. He narrates, “Now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I knew that sound well, too. It was beating of the old man’s heart” (Poe 6). The speeding of the old man’s heart reminded the narrator of himself being in such a terrified situation in the past. The significance of this quote is that even though the narrator knew that what he was going to do would cause an immense pain, he did not stop himself instead he continued to perform the task. Through the obsession of the old man’s eye, Poe portrays the supernatural and fantasy aspects of the Dark Romantic
Through the story, it is understood that the narrator is suffering from a mental disorder which simplifies the idea that killing the old man will relieve him from the crime he did in the past which feared him looking at the evil eye of the old man. He is not quite sure as to how the idea of killing the man occurred to him. But as it came to him he made an initiative to bring this evil thought to an action. The narrator further explains by disclosing, “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” (Poe 3). The narrator clarifies that his motivation was neither passion nor desire for money. He further explains that he does not have any hatred against the old man as he loved him. The narrator does not disclose the exact nature of the relationship he has with the victim. He states that he has no other reason to kill the old man since the old man never insulted him or treated him wrong. This signifies that the narrator is trying to defend his thoughts by referring the eye of an old man to be evil but not the old man. Once again, he is trying to convince his audience that his actions are justified and therefore denies the consequences of his actions. Through the story, He admits what element of the old man’s body drove him to take such a vital decision of killing the old